#ihtl

CTJL MONACO, MONTE CARLO 1.30M CLASS – 3:15PM

And so she found herself astride on another midnight black stallion, several years after her soulmate had retired from showing. They were each others’ complete opposites; where he was grouchy, Capri was kind. Where he was demanding, Capri was lenient. Where he was strong, Capri was gentle. Yet they both gave Iris that indescribable, unsurmountable feeling in the saddle. She hadn’t found him in any other horse before, until now. She experienced a mixture of melancholy and euphoria when they were about to enter their first international show together, as her memories of someone so different yet so alike, blended in with what was yet to come. Even though this was a big moment for the two of them, her mind still couldn’t grasp the earlier events of the day, it all came back to her in dizzying glimpses; surprise, anger, confusion … Her name sounded in the speakers and she came out of her haze as she spun her head around and briefly locked eyes with the source of all the chaos in her mind. She gently shook her head, took a deep breath and put all her focus back on Capri; on the bubbly texture of the rubber reins in her hands, of how the sun glistened against his neck, the squeaking sound of a saddle she had sat in so many times before on a different dark horse. She softly nudged the black stallion, ears pricked forward, and entered the Monte Carlo show jumping arena together; for the first time.

CTJL STOCKHOLM (Iris Hammel – Eilwen VX) She had been passing by the Olympic Stadion arena every day on her way to the stable for her riding classes after school, during her entire adolescence. She had been fantasizing about riding here ever since she was a little girl; to enter the hallmark with all the other giants such as Peder, Malin, Henrik, and Rolf-Göran. During the entire show season, this was by far the most nervous she’d ever been. The stakes were high, competing on her own soil this time, while simultaneously fighting to stay at the top of the leaderboard. There were a lot of people she wanted to make proud; her parents, her sister Elina who had come to watch her compete for the first time ever since she stepped away from the equestrian world many years ago, her kind and empathic trainer, and the entire Swedish nation, of course. So sure, she wanted to leave a mark on an arena as historical as this one, but she had never expected that mark to be tomorrow’s headlines reading: ”Swedish Rider Finishes Clear Round Without Bridle!”

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Sometimes accidents happen and this time it was a bridle not properly fastened. They were approaching the final combination when Lillan’s bridle came undone, bobbing to the left and right as Iris tried to keep the grey mare’s head as still as possible so she wouldn’t get smacked in the face with both bridle and earnet. In a millisecond, Iris decided to impulsively try to finish the course anyway as the last two fences came rushing up at an ungodly speed and Lillan, bless her, was such a good and loyal horse who, through the course of this show season, had started to trust Iris enough to keep going, bit still in place, to finish the course. Knowing what a sensitive horse she was, this show had proven to test her horse’s loyalty towards her, and even though Iris completely humiliated herself (again!) at a big competition, she couldn’t help but feel incredibly grateful to having been granted a horse with such a big heart and courage as her little grey whirlwind. With all the odds against them, they still managed to clear the round, bridle or not.

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CTJL CREMA

The rays of the golden hour sun was shining upon the arena in Crema as day shifted to afternoon, and that magical warm Italian light made the dust particles in the air sparkle like little stars, dancing hastily whenever movement was present. The sunlight cast long shadows as it continued to scorch, so late into the afternoon. For sensitive and attentive horses such as Lillan, those long shadows could prove treacherous in the arena, creating threatening shapes of demons and ghosts alike. Fortunately, that’s where her blinders came into play. It was excruciatingly hot, and if Iris thought so, she could only imagine the heatwave her horse was fighting against, flying over jump after jump in front of a drowsy audience, equally as affected by the warmth as the competitors in the show ring. She had thought many times about not going, as this horse was clearly not accustomed to the warmth of the Lombardian interland, but being in the company of an Italian herself, it was almost out of the question to diss his homeland for the discomforts of temperature, and she knew the repercussions of her actions would be disastrous. So off to Italy they went …

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