Spring's come for the Equus Sims forums, which means competition season is in full swing! The new forums are absolutely fantastic, but with classier holdings comes classier shows  to compete at--so this time around, I have to read through the rules carefully to make sure I know what I'm doing!

Now that LEC Espresso is happily registered with the Hunter Jumper Club on the new site, he and Margo have entered their very first A-Rated show! As of right now, Margo is still participating in shows as a member of the Lawrence Equestrian Riding Academy; she'll probably be representing them until she graduates from High School.

Without further ado though, here's Margo's entry:

 Here, seen approaching Jump 2--

 And here, taking jump 5b (Obviously, haha!)--

 This shot is a little tricker to decipher, but she's taking a rollback after jump 4, to procide to jump 5a.

Here, Margo lets her hair loose and steers Bean back to the stables--while he smirks cheekily at the camera.

Having been absent from the Equus community for so long, I decided that to get my mind back into things I'd make my poses from scratch again (even the ones I didn't need to)... And, well, it proved a little more challenging than I thought. Even though I'd wager they look fairly decent from the angles I caught, there's still some parts of each pose I'm not really that pleased with, so it may be a little while until I release them to the public. I certainly would like to, though.

As for editing, I did a few things different this time around than usual:

First, I used the Amber Action from Florabella Spring Set I, as well as some of the other additives from that set. I don't use those actions a lot because they're fairly overpowering on Sims screens, but because Appaloosa Plains has so much variation in color, and the jumps are also all quite varied, I felt having something to tone down all the shades and mellow them would  be better than my normal actions, which focus on enhancing colors rather than subduing.

Second, I used motion blurring on the legs to try and get more impression of movement. I'm not sure if it's working as intended, but I'm happy with the result, so oh well. :)

Third: I did a bit more hair editing than  usual, which hopefully turned out alright... I am not as good as some, but at least Bean's mane is nice and short. I also edited clothes for the first time in the "jump" picture, to give the jacket some lift in the back. Doesn't look too bad.

Anyways, I am SO excited to be back in the Equus scene--there's always so much going on, and getting Margo involved makes her feel like a part of something so much bigger than just Desperate Sims. I already have so many plans for Margo's future, being able to involve so many wonderful people in them makes me a happy camper indeed. ♥

Cheers!

This is a bit of an older event that took place in May of last year, but I never posted the eventing pictures in a separate post.

Margo May Kane and LEC Espresso

Daisy de Wynter and Mumba

Placement
1st Place	Daisy de Wynter & Mumba
2nd Place	Margo May Kane & LEC Espresso

It was a bit of a clean sweep from the LEC Academy riders, but it cemented a very unhappy unease between Margo and Daisy. Neither of them have been able to compete in Equus competitions for close to a year--hopefully they can get back into the "reins" and start mastering the art of riding again soon! (But hopefully aren't pitted against each other too soon!)

As the event's description: "Cross Country tests the speed, strength, and endurance of the horse and the skill of its rider. The Queenstown Spring Cross Country Trials is hosted this year by none other than Shoreline Hill Stables. The trials will consist of two different classes, each judged separately. Entrants must submit three pictures of horse and rider over three different obstacles."

I decided to go with a Twinbrook setting for this event, since there doesn't seem to be a lot going on there and the flat-land swamp area seems pretty ideal for Cross Country; however, this idea turned out to be a bit problematic, since a lot of the swamp is unrouteable terrain and I couldn't place lots in any of the ideal places to put obstacles.

So, I went with a "simple" approach; the first picture is on a tiny batch of routable terrain I could find, where I used the Pose-Player add-on to orient the horse/rider (total pain in the arse--never doing that again), the second I edited one of the fishing holes to be less deep and with a jump at the end; then the last one, just a standard jump in one of the emptier, flatter areas of the swamp.

I really tried to go for easier obstacles than I have with previous jumping competitions, since I feel I might've gotten a little ahead of myself when I was making poses before. It's still not quite novice level, but closer. I can't wait until Margo actually learns to ride in Desperate Sims though, so I don't feel so guilty making her all uber.

Well, except that last jump! I actually wanted to make a larger fumble, showing her actually falling off (though in this instance she does fall off, she just hasn't yet), but I really liked how the pose turned out so I just used it anyways.

The stance/water in the second image is based off of this picture; the poses in the third/fourth are based off of this one.

PS: Don't you love how in the third picture, Bean is just like, "Lookit me, I'm gorgeous, let me pause and catch this  breeze to show off my beautiful profile," and Margo's like, "OMG OMG OMG WAT IS HAPPENINNNGGG."

Bean. You are the ultimate troll. ♥