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Post by Dagur on Aug 12, 2017 6:24:09 GMT
| | He sat there upon his horse looking as proud as ever, Miuna was just one of the thoroughbreds he rode into shows and her amber champagne bay coloration turned several heads. He also owned gypsy vanners and had just recently bred two of his horses that gave him a strawberry roan beauty. Normally he did shows with gypsy vanners but with this particular one being a hunter jumper course he was in need of a far lighter breed. 4 vertical jumps, 2 oxers, and three crossrails were lined about the ring, his eyes slowly tracing the route he would have to take. His horse was with good strides, twelve feet per stride and here he was counting the strides it would take between each jump through the route. Several sharp turns were throughout the course and there was one rollback at jumps 5 and 6, the turn there was going to be difficult for his stride. There was also a bending line between jumps 8 and 9 which were always interesting to do and jumps 3 and 4 were lines with only room for maybe two strides before needing to jump.
Before he knew it they were calling up the next rider and he watched with interest, knowing he was going to be the third competitor up to the ring.
He watched as the first one went through the jumps, knocking down the front pole at vertical jump 3, a difficult jump to pull off as it was turned off right from the ring after jump two. He shifted in his saddle, watching with interest as they made it through with very little difficulty after that one. Their time was good, 37.78 seconds out of a 50 second allotted time. The second competitor went up and he watched, the arena quiet so they wouldn't spook the horses they were riding. They made it through and again jump number 3 was knocked down, they clipped jump number 6 but the pole stayed up. They were a bit faster than the first rider, 37.56 seconds for their time. He swallowed, nervous of this course and its difficulty level.
He spurred his horse into the arena, looking out from underneath his helmet. His hair was pulled back into a low pony tail and a small braid done in his bangs. He was in white riding pants a maroon riding jacket with high black riding boots. His horse was decorated for the occasion of course, half of hunter jumper courses being how good you looked upon your horse. Miuna's bridle was decorated with large circles of metal that came down the bridge of her muzzle, decorative metal plating running along the bridle. He was using barrel reigns, hating the english reigns and how thin and long they were. A corona was being used rather than a bulky saddle pad and a decorative breast collar wrapped around her front decorated much like her reigns. He did have to use a drop nose band on her in order to keep her from opening her mouth and taking hold of his reigns. He was nervous and excited, the announcements of him and his horse slowly being spoken over the crowd as he waited to start the competition.
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Post by Hiccup on Aug 12, 2017 6:52:09 GMT
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Hiccup Haddock
The Chief Has Returned...
It was weirdly quiet when he flew over the more populated Isle of the Living, like everyone was either inside or elsewhere, and he couldn't entirely figure out where they all could have gotten off to until he spotted a large gathering, the crowd around the arena was hushed, and his interest was immediately piqued as he pulled the hold on the saddle to turn their course towards the arena, doing a once over as he watched the first rider going through, too high up for the Night Fury's presence to be of any concern to the horses below, he had very little experience with the beasts, they were beautiful, but the only encounter he'd had was with one attached to a carriage. He was impressed, unaware that these animals could do things like this.
It was around the end of the first rider's run that he noticed a familiar form perches on one of the horses down there, his good eye widening with interest as he did another round, tugging the hold to land carefully on the roof of one of the buildings that offered a rather marvelous top down view of what was going on. Dagur had never made mention of anything like this, or the fact that he was involved in...Whatever this was...Which was odd, given that it seemed like something the man would enjoy boasting about. He was aware that several people had noticed him watching from above, the pair were difficult to miss, but he was more concerned with what was going on below as he watched the second rider go through, leaning forwards in his saddle so far that he nearly slipped right off, Toothless bumped his head back to steady the man, and he rubbed a hand over his head, never looking away from the arena.
He didn't know what was going on, was it a competition? It sure looked and sounded like one, regardless, the course looked intense for what he could guess, he looked curious when Dagur's name was spoken, slipping off the saddle to get a better look, dangling his legs over the side of the building he'd landed on as he leaned forwards to watch eagerly.
"Hiccup" - "Toothless"
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Post by Dagur on Aug 12, 2017 7:19:25 GMT
| | As the speaker went over the time limit and course layout that already had been memorized Dagur noticed a particular Nightfury and rider in the sky. He smiled, already feeling the need to impress the dragon rider with just what he was capable of on the right mount. He cast a glance over to Hiccup, a smirk on his face before setting it in determination at the course.
He spurred his horse into a trot around the ring before picking up to a canter towards the first vertical jump. Up out of the saddle, hands at the mane, back lined with the horse and eyes forward. He soared over the jump, landing and turning towards jump 2, another vertical, both jumps 1 and 2 being singles. Once again he went over, his horse giving a small shake of her head as he turned towards jumps 3 and 4. He swerved, hooves sliding in the sand before he jumped clipping the vertical jump slightly but the pole stayed up. One hoof beat, two, and over the first crossrail. He turned once again heading straight towards 5 and 6, ready for the rollback. Over vertical jump 5 and swerve before going over a crossrail at jump 6. He swerved towards jump 7, the first Oxer at 4'6''. He held his breath, just brushing over the jump before landing and heading towards jump 8. Up and over the crossrail before speeding down towards the last jump, the last oxer standing at 4'7''. He flew over it, lining himself up just in time for the jump.
Dagur with a 30.89 second run.
He smiled and trotted off, the low clapping being more than enough for his pride to swell. He hoped out of the 15 of those competing he landed in the top three, wanting to show off just for their special guest. He slid off of his horse once outside the ring, leading it out to the pasture with the others that had already gone through the course. He could still easily hear the scores being called out one by one, even over his slowly calming breaths. His horse began to graze and he pet her absentmindedly, thinking to himself on how he could improve his oxer and vertical jumps, almost forgetting who had been watching from above.
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Post by Hiccup on Aug 12, 2017 7:36:30 GMT
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Hiccup Haddock
The Chief Has Returned...
He'd scrambled to his feet as he watched Dagur start up on the course, holding onto Toothless to keep himself from sliding off the side of the slanted roof. He didn't really know what any of these jumps meant, but he could tell enough by the way the horse moved and the concentration on Dagur's face that it was a difficult track, and he was impressed even if he didn't know anything about horses or the competitions they rode in. He could appreciate the grace that the animal had when it cleared those impressive jumps, and he half wondered how it felt to be where Dagur was, it looked like fun, that was for sure.
When Dagur cleared the last jump, Hiccup forgot himself, throwing his arms up with an enthusiastic whoop before he lost his balance and slid halfway down the roof, lucky that Toothless' reflexes were quick enough to catch the ridiculous man by the metal leg before he could take a nasty tumble right off the side. The only damage being a few missing tiles from the roof. When he was situated back on his feet, he looked down to notice Dagur leading his horse off, climbing on Toothless' back before taking flight to follow Dagur out the the pasture that he was leading his horse to.
His landing was smooth, and didn't kick up a terrible amount of fuss before he slid off, clapping with enthusiasm as he approached.
"That was impressive...I mean I had no idea what was going on...But you were brilliant!"
He rose a brow as he studied the man in his full riding gear, eyeing him over and chuckling softly. He really wouldn't have expected this from him, but now he was curious, and filled with about a million different questions, so he started with something fairly simple.
"What's her name? And why didn't you ever tell me you were so good at...Whatever that was?"
"Hiccup" - "Toothless"
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Post by Dagur on Aug 12, 2017 8:18:53 GMT
| | Dagur's attention snapped back to taking care with his horse as Toothless came in for a landing, luckily they weren't making to much noise or anything so the horses stayed relatively calm. A score was announced and he looked in the direction to catch it. 35.67, a good score from what he could tell, the course was not an easy one after all. He blushed at Hiccups excitement and praise, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips before he relaxed, he was always a bit jumpy after competing in a hunter jumper match from all the adrenaline that he felt. He was able to let out a chuckle at the childlike innocence behind the questions, fully ready to geek out about one of his passions.
"Glad you enjoyed it, her name is Miuna and it just never really came up much. Competitions just started and I was going to write you but lost track of time, training takes up most of my work hours now. Things seemed to have calmed down in the royal world though, makes for a nice vacation."
He laughed, giving her shoulder a soft pat before continuing to pet her. He might as well give Hiccup a little lesson on what he was doing.
"This competition is using a discipline called hunter jumper, a discipline is basically what type of horse riding you're doing. I prefer hunter jumper or show jumping for english style and western I do pole bending. ah...um, show jumping is sort of like this but is less speed and turn filled and pole bending is weaving in and out of poles as fast as physically possible without knocking them over. You can pet Miuna if you'd like, she's pretty gentle but watch her flank, she'll get a litte nervous when you do that."
He smiled and gave her a pat before hugging her head, happy that she let him do this. She sniffed his boots before lifting her head to sniff him at nose level and he couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
"I got lucky, some horses let you hug on them and others don't. She's normally pretty sweet but stubborn, have to keep a drop noseband on her. She's a thoroughbred by the way, horses come in all shapes and sizes with tons of breeds. I normally ride gypsy vanners and thoroughbreds like her, they're my favorite to show in although gypsy vanners are a nightmare to groom thanks to all their hair."
He chuckled and listened as they announced another score, 31.09. That one was close to his in a big way and he instantly tensed, the threat of loosing heavy in his mind since a lot of skilled riders were here to compete.
"The way they determine the winners is by time, you get a four second penalty whenever you knock a pole down off one of the jumps. I came close a couple of times so I'm a little worried I might loose, there are some pretty good riders out today. I shouldn't expect any less after all, this is just the entrance match for the larger shows. So long as I come in at least third I should be able to get in by the skin of my teeth."
He bit his nail, thinking over it as another score was called 34.57 and he took a breath.
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Post by Hiccup on Aug 12, 2017 8:38:26 GMT
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Hiccup Haddock
The Chief Has Returned...
Toothless seemed to catch on that horses were nervous animals more than his rider did, so when he came up beside Hiccup, he took care to lighten his footsteps and avoid any startling motions or noises, only sniffing gently at the large animal with curious eyes. This wasn't the Night Fury's first encounter with horses, though whatever memory he might of had of them before was lost to the turbulence of time and rough landings, the scent was familiar, and not just from the couple of times he'd seen them here on the Isle of the Lost.
When Dagur got going, he really got going, and Hiccup found himself hanging on every word, it was fascinating, and he didn't hesitate to reach a gentle hand to run it over the soft animal, eyes still trained on her rider as he tried to absorb everything that Dagur was saying. He got most of it, though it was clear by the look on his face, and the way his one eye stared a little bit in confusion, and a little bit in wonder, that some of it went right over his head, he was always eager to learn something new, and this was certainly a lot of new somethings to learn.
"not terribly unlike dragons in that respect then, eh?"
He was referring to his comment about the many breeds and shapes and sizes, returning the best commentary he could give, given that he was flying blind in a conversation he knew nothing about. He was impressed by how thoroughly Dagur seemed to know this subject, inside and out, it was certainly something he would need to know more about, Hiccup knew dragons inside and out, this was uncharted territory, and he was fairly eager to learn more.
He could tell that he was nervous as he listened to them calling out scores that he didn't know the meaning of, of course, his unspoken question was answered when Dagur went into detail about that as well, it was nice, having his questions answered before he needed to ask them. These competitions seemed much more serious than anything he'd ever seen done with dragons, if Dagur's nerves were anything to go by, and he laughed softly to try and ease the tension in the air.
"Well, you've certainly found a subject you know more about than I do, I'm way out of my element here, but it's interesting, and I'm kind of eager to know more...Hard to deny pretty animals like this..."
"Hiccup" - "Toothless"
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Post by Dagur on Aug 12, 2017 9:05:47 GMT
| | He smiled at Hiccups comparison to dragons, although he did find horses to be prettier than the reptiles he wouldn't deny their similarities. Another score was called out. 31.78, that was close as well and he took a breath. 7 riders in total including himself, 8 more riders left and only 3 of them would move on to the next show. He listened as Hiccup spoke before laughter escaped his lips.
"I guess so huh? If you think Miuna is pretty wait until you see Ephemera, she's gorgeous! Her coat is a light palomino color and her eyes are such a pretty blue, not to mention she has all the grace that a gypsy vanner has, I use her as a low show jumping horse and pole bending. If you'd like I could teach you how to ride a horse, heck Miuna will let you on her and I can just have her walk you around."
He chuckled and gave her a pat, a soft snort coming from the horse. Another score was called out, 32.45 and he sighed hoping he would come in first this time.
"Actually, after this show I have a little one I'd like you to meet. Its a colt, born about a week ago and I think you'll like him. We call him Ariuk and he's definitely gonna be a looker, strawberry roan gypsy vanners end up looking really nice when they get older."
He gave Miuna a small kiss on her nose and chuckled before patting her saddle.
"I was being serious, if you want to you can walk her around the pasture. She's pretty calm and takes a lot to spook her so it shouldn't be difficult at all, I don't recommend trotting though since she gains speed fast. I'll help you up."
He smiled and offered his hand, wanting to show just how graceful a horse could be.
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Post by Hiccup on Aug 14, 2017 23:36:20 GMT
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Hiccup Haddock
The Chief Has Returned...
He nodded vaguely at some of the terms that he didn't entirely understand, but when he mentioned Hiccup getting on this one's back and riding her, he have a soft whistle, not that was a tempting offer, he'd ridden a lot of different dragons, but this seemed like an entirely new experience, and he was fairly eager to learn a new trick or two from the man who seemed to know a lot about this subject, it was admirable, and clear that he cared a lot about this. His eyes lightened with interest when he mentioned a baby.
"Really? Well I'd love to meet him! I can never say no to babies..."
That covered any kind of babies, even human babies even if he never had any idea what to do with them. He looked thoughtful when he made the offer a second time, chewing on the thought for just a moment before nodding and reaching out a hand to run it over the horse's nose, giving Dagur a bright eyes smile.
"I'd love to give it a shot, uh...This wont give me any issue, right?"
He gestured to his metal foot, eyeing the footholds on the saddle with a curious eye. Toothless' saddle was made with that being accounted for, of course this could be a pointless observation, but it was worth asking anyway.
"Hiccup" - "Toothless"
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