Still Speedin'

BPEC Blackbird in Regal Stride 1st Racing Event
(4 year old Thoroughbred mare)
Race: Deadman's Stakes (Day 2, 4yo, any gender) // Starting number: #3 // Jockey: Lukas Oliver Grey (17 years)

They had trained almost every morning for the past few months, with a couple races in between, but it had been a while since Birdy had been racing properly since she had stepped on herself and had to be kept out of racing for almost two weeks because her leg would get swollen while galloping.
Lukas yawned, sitting in the trailer on their way to the race. He was used to getting up early in the morning, since they usually trained in the mornings before he had to go to school (skipping a few classes he didn't need in the mornings didn't really bother him either. He didn't need school, not when he had racing), but this morning had been extremely early. Zac had woken him up around two in the morning, giving him barely four hours of sleep (thanks to him talking to Envy for hours on a Skype call). Now the two of them were sitting, huddled together in their seats, Zac sleeping with his head on Lukas' shoulder, and Lukas had his head leaned on Zac's, barely able to keep his eyes open. They had been driving for a few hours now, and the sun was rising behind the mountains. They still had many hours to drive before they got to their destination, but he felt bad for falling asleep, leaving Matthew to drive in silence (admittedly, he was already doing just that, but it was the thought that counted).
Looking over at the screen, showing the horse trailer, he could see Birdy standing calmly in her spot, chewing on her hay that they had tempted her with to get her into the trailer. She wasn't usually hard to handle when loading into the trailer, but this time she had been particularly hard to lead, throwing her head and rearing, stomping around with her long legs until Zac had come with the bale of hay in her net, holding it just out of reach to make her follow them into the trailer. She had gladly followed. They had brought her tiny best friend, a fuzzy, rude pony. He was standing in his own place, clearly sleeping. She didn't really need a companion, but they had figured that he would be nice to have, when they were travelling so far.
Lukas closed his eyes and sighed, remembering back to when she had been born. They had been together from the very start, and he had decided that they would be together until the end, even if he had to superglue himself to her. He loved that filly more than any other horse, and they were a perfect team out on the track.

Arriving at the track, Birdy was acting up again, throwing her head and rearing. Lukas hated when she was acting like this, because it was what had led to her stepping on herself that last time. He hoped it wouldn't happen again, and that her leg wouldn't swell up. This was her first big race in a few weeks, and he was hoping they would at least place. To him, personally, it didn't really matter, as long as the horse was unharmed and they finished the race, but it was a big part of BPEC's income, and losing a race meant them losing money, and he always felt bad when coming home without atleast a placing.
Birdy was prancing around in the circle when Lukas jogged towards her. She was all tacked up, with a new bridle and a new saddle to boast. Her coat was shining and her legs were looking good. She neighed loudly when she noticed Lukas, taking an extra bounce on her hind feet before whipping her tail out like a flag behind her. Birdy was at attention, ready to get to the starting gate and get going out on the track. It was clear that she had missed this, and she was ready to prove her status like always. Like her sire, she had been born to run.

Birdy pranced around as she was led towards the starting gate. She was hyped up by the tense air of competition and by the familiar routines leading up to the actual race. Lukas could feel that she knew what she had to do, but her skipping and jumping made him worry that she would step on herself. He gripped her mane tighter as they were led into the starting gate and Birdy let out a loud whinny.
The situation was as familiar to her as it was to him, and they knew eachother well. He had ridden her in every single race she had run in, and she had placed in every one of them, not that he thought he was the reason for that, as all the power and speed was beneath him, and he didn't exactly have any power or authority over the huge animal while she was pounding over the dirt towards the finishline. He was pretty sure she was the kind of horse that would run until her heart stopped and her feet broke.
"You know what to do, babygirl." He mumbled, collecting the reins in his hands, grabbing a whole fistful of her mane. He had learnt from his mistakes and knew that the second the gate opened, she would shoot out with absolutely no control. He had met the ground one too many times right outside the starting gate. This was not going to be one of those times, he would make sure of it.
Lukas breathed out, glancing over at the other jockeys, eyening their horses and their temperament. He didn't like comparing, so he looked away, worrying about his own horse.
Birdy was stomping and pounding at the sand under her hooves, throwing her head and snorting. She was impatient like always, just wanting to shoot out from the gate like a rocket and start running.
The bell rang with it's nasal buzz, and Lukas could feel Birdy tensing under him and jumping out the gate the moment it flew open. Her hooves hit the ground rapidly, blowing up a cloud of dust behind them. Lukas crawled together on her back, clinging to her mane. He smiled weakly, feeling the wind trying to hold them back, but nothing could hold Birdy back once she was set on her goal. He crouched more together, making the resistance smaller.
The closer they came to the finishline, the faster Blackbird went.


Training/extra images:
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fav.me/d7pym1g // fav.me/d7pytk9 // Previous training image: fav.me/d5egoaj

The competition was advertised here.

Horses featured in this entry:
CMS Splash of White (front)
SA Blazing Comet (back)
(I hope you don't mind that I drew your horses in my entry... If you want me to, I will remove your horse from the drawing.)

Previous races:
Winter Soumi Event 2013 (placed 2nd)
First Annual Vienna Farms Show 2013 (placed 1st)
WTS Summer Races (placed 1st)
GBS End of Summer Blitz! (placed 1st)

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I could have written more, but I usually never write stories for my competition entries and I feel like this one was long enough

Ahhh, I feel like I half-assed this, but I didn't?? I don't know, I'm so sleep deprived right now I could fall asleep standing.
But I'm actually really really pleased with how this turned out, even though I know I could have done some parts better than what I did.. And I did this in record time, I'm proud.

And this pose was really hard for some reason? It was close to impossible for me to shade, so I just went to what looked somewhat correct

Here is the originally posted drawing (posted while not finished, and I liked it too much to throw it away..) :
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Tools.
Photoshop CS6
Wacom Intuos tablet
10-15 hours
Reference: fav.me/d73e5g4 by Jullelin Photography
(Skeleton and muscles traced)

No, you can NOT use this artwork without my permission.