MOVE SHEEPIE

Show: Relay Endurance Race
Team number: 002
Team name: Team Avatar
Rider: Gabriel Nordstrand (Phase 1)
Horse: Falkens Good Witch Gone Wicked
Extras:
1. How it starts out
3. The Bet
4. A serious talk about serious things
5. EPIC TRAINING MONTAGE


He had never actually been to Norway before.  Odd, right?  The country was right next door, and plenty of Swedes visited the country.
Many even worked there for a summer or two in their youth.  But in all his adventuresome ways, it had never really crossed his mind
to check out the rest of Scandinavia; he had just skipped that and gone over the ocean instead.  Luckily, Norway wasn't going anywhere,
and now was as good a time as any to explore the country.

Now, to be fair, "exploring the country" was limited to riding up a mountain and then back down it again this time.  But that still counts
as sight-seeing!  And the sights... were honestly kind of similar to Sweden.  But he hadn't seen these particular trees before!  Or that
lake!  And the mountains were different!

Nah, Gabriel was pretty content right now.  Riding along in the countryside, just him and his trusty mare, enjoying that crisp autumn
air... this was the life.  He shifted his weight a little in the saddle, making himself more comfortable.  The tack was modified to be more
light-weight and flexible so Wicked wouldn't get tired too quickly or experience any sore or chafing points.  Gabriel had insisted on
using western-styled endurance tack instead of switching to a more English variant, even though it wasn't the preferred norm in the
pro circles.  So what?  He wasn't a pro, why pretend to be one?  This was what he and his horse felt at home with, and when
your butt is in the saddle for six hours, that factor is pretty important.

As Wicked plodded along the trail, Gabriel wondered if he should be hurrying up a bit.  He felt like this was a good pace, but was it
really?  They couldn't go too fast though, or Wicked wouldn't pass the vet check later.  Still, it would be nice to win, if only
to make the car ride home more bearable.  Those kids hated each other.  Or at least he was pretty sure they did.  They never
talked about it, or about anything.  Mostly Gabriel did all the talking.  He was pretty good at that.  Maybe a good placing here would
help them warm up to each other, or as much as Nadiyah the Human Iceberg could ever warm up to anything.  As for Benjamin,
Gabriel honestly kind of forgot he was there sometimes.  He was just so quiet, so pliant.  All Gabe wanted was for everyone to be
friends and-

What the heck was that.  Were those... sheep?

Yes.  Yes they were.  An entire flock of them, standing squarely on the path.  There was no way for them to be more in the way.
It was like they had planned it.  Were sheep smart enough for that?  Or dastardly enough?  They seemed too cute and fluffy to be
capable of cunning malice, but so did baby shetlands and trusting those things was a mistake you always regretted making.

But Gabe had a secret weapon that the sheep hadn't foreseen.  Reining in Wicked slightly, he patted the mare's neck.  "They aren't
cows, but farm animals are all kind of the same, aren't they?" he said breezily.

Wicked, of course, said nothing, but her eyes remained fixed on the sheep.  If a horse could smirk...

Gabriel gave her a nudge of his heel and lowered the reins, and needing no further encouragement, Wicked bolted towards
the sheep.  The floofy flock scattered in terror at the sight of the menacing black monster charging them down.  She made
quick work of clearing the path, crouching down on her haunches like a panther whenever a stray sheep didn't quite get the
message and chasing them into escape routes through the bushes.  The mare needed almost no direction from Gabriel,
putting her natural herding instincts to good use. 

The path cleared, she halted, panting slightly.  A handful of sheep lurked in the bushes, staring at her balefully.  However, they
made no move to come closer, and Wicked strode onwards like a satisfied queen.  "You are an absolute delight, you know that?"
Gabriel chuckled, patting her neck fondly.  "Come on, Benjamin's waiting for us.  And," he added in a whisper, "I have carrots
back at the trailer.  We can share them when we get back." 

What more motivation could they need?
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Note, if you're interested in the overarcing storyline of this, read 2. That's not how you spell "team" as well when reading the other extras.  That part does not pertain to this particular team, but it's still relevant.  We were going for an epic two-team rivalry but it turns out we suck at getting stuff done <.<  This and my other main entry were pretty much every second of free time I had over the past few months.  School chewed me up and spat me out.

ANYWAY.  I think I like this.  Getting better at digital every time I attempt it.  (Maybe humans too?)  No specific references used, I sketched out the sheep and realized I had no idea what sheep really look like so shoutout to OakBrookeStables for lending me her ovine photos and knowledge to help me fix their anatomy.

Gabe is sort of adorkable but his brain really needs to shut up when I'm trying to write story stuff.

Cookie if you get the title reference.


The next part of this is MistyHills' entry.  It's fantastic.  Go fav it.  Write appreciative comments.  See how Benji feels about things. 
 The Light At The End Of The Tunnel



<sup>::Full storyline links below::
1. How it starts out
2. The bet
3. That's not how you spell "team"
4. A serious talk about serious things
5. EPIC TRAINING MONTAGE
6. MOVE SHEEPIE (YOU ARE HERE)
7. The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
8. Alces alces alceeyoulater</sup>