High Steppin'

High Steppin'

Colored pencil

Horses are one of my very favorite animals. My fondest memory of one was from the movie King Arthur(2004). There are lots of horses depicted throughout, but the scene that sticks in my mind to this day occurred near the end where Arthur and his horse rides out of the castle to warn the leader of the Saxons gathered outside.
The scene opens with a close-up of the castle gates slowly opening. It's an overcast and foggy day, so you can't see much. You see nothing come forward for a few seconds, then you hear a horse neigh and metal hitting metal. A rider emerges from the fog--it's Arthur and his horse. A few seconds go by and we see him ride up to the leader of the Saxons. Arthur identifies himself and gives the leader this advice: "leave this ground Saxon, or I promise you my face will be the last thing you see on this Earth".
The Saxon leader's response: Finally, a man worth killing.

Competitive Dressage
I discovered dressage, a sport in which horses are trained to do choreographed movements, while researching horses. I then watched some videos of performances, looked up information on the sports section of the Olympics website, and did some reading on the US Dressage Federation site.


(image of an event list at a typical local competition)

Creation notes
This piece was difficult, due to the amount of details in the scene(notice the spectators?), but it was a joy to do.

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Over to you now: What's your fondest memory of a horse? Ever been to a dressage competition?