Ragtop-Open Cutting

I couldn't help myself

Horse:

Horse's Age: 3 years
Horse's Number: not yet given. (Number shown is my fave # XD)

Stable: Painted Desert Ranch
Rider's Name: Jesse Cameron
Rider's Age: 22

Show: CZ Stables' First Annual Classic Series
Class: Open Cutting

Story: *warning, it's a couple story, toward the end, it can be a little lovey, but it's been 3 years I've wanted this dang thing to happen, it's gonna happen XD, nothing bad, just be warned, it's emotional and cute LeeAnn had just finished filling out the registration forms for the 2nd show in a series, they didn't have Ragtop in time for the 1st one, but Natalie had given her permission to enter him, so long as only she or Jesse rode him, since they were two of the best cutting riders at the ranch. LeeAnn had went ahead and put Jesse's name on the papers, figuring she'd be going anyways and would rather do turn-back work for him.

Jesse walked in with a smile on his face. "Hey babe," he said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head before walking past the desk to sink to pour a drink of water. "So, what's the plan? Nat said something about a show."
LeeAnn smiled, knowing Natalie would be excited for colt to make his big debut. She nodded, "Yup, we'll be heading to CZ stables, I know that Paisley, Lynsdey and Wade are supposed to head out to Texas that weekend, they're only taking Spanky, Lacey and a colt. So I figured it'd be a good weekend for us to get away and take Player and Ragtop to a show. The weekend fit perfectly." Jesse nodded in response, agreeing with her. "So, did you ride Ragtop today?" That gained her a brilliant smile from him.
"Hell yeah, that horse is something else ya know, I'm glad Natalie picked him up. He's got something special, he even makes Player look like a newbie," he said with a laugh at the end. "I think he'll be a perfect horse for the ranch to campaign. He's definitly special."
LeeAnn nodded. "So it's set, I'm gonna mail out these entries. I think someone was supposed to haul one of the mares to this show, I'll have to ask Natalie who it was," she was standing printing a copy of the entry form. "Oh well, it'll be a fun weekend anyways." she grabbed the copies and walked over to Jesse, stealing his cup of water and leaving to go to the office, throwing a smile over her shoulder. He was already shaking his head grabbing another.

--

The day had finally arrived, they hadn't even had Ragtop for a month, but he was obviously ready to blow up the show scene. The red stallion unloaded from the trailer with bright eyes, looking around before quickly following Jesse to the barns. They'd be there all weekend doing nothing, as cutting was on the last day, so they had decided to just head down to the arenas to watch for the day. LeeAnn leaned up against his arm, after working on a ranch most his life, he definitly had the muscles he needed, but his arm was anything but hard, LeeAnn's head fell perfectly there. Before they knew it, it was dark and they were heading to the barn to feed the studs before they got dinner.

LeeAnn grabbed the premeasured grain buckets and supplement packs before walking to the stalls. She tossed the boys a flake of hay to occupy them while she fixed their stuff. She'd finished Player's and sat it to the side, when she opened up Ragtop's supplements, only to pour them and find a glistening crystal ring in them, looking back at her, tied to it was a tiny note, "Marry me? -Jesse" in cursive. She quickly put the buckets in the stalls before running to the trailer where Jesse was fixing burgers. She wrapped her arms around his back. "Yes!" It didn't take him more than a second to know what she was talking about, and turned around with a giant smile on his face and lifted her up, planting a kiss on her cheek and twirling her. They laughed and smiled, a picture of perfection. The burgers ended up burning, but that allowed LeeAnn a second to call everyone back home and tell them the news. She was gonna marry Jesse.

--

Jesse entered the pen, getting a encouraging smile from LeeAnn who was sitting on Player, ready to help when needed. He looked to the judge before heading into the herd, pulling out a black calf, before he gave the reins slack and let the colt cut the cow.


Comments: Yeah, long story, sorry, but I've been waiting to get these two kiddos married off since I started 3 years ago. I've never had the chance to write it in, but I figured this would be a good show for it. A small weekend get away before the wedding planning had to come in full force. I also had to get a Ragtop picture out of my system. I've been itchin' to draw him. Decided to take a little more muted shading approach. My regular isn't looking right on him, so I'll have to play with it. I also decided to take a bit of a more cartoonish take on it with the tail and ground.

As for the arena and background, this is in the outdoor arena, I decided to hang white tarps on the rail (you can see where they're tied), in order to prevent the cattle from running into the fence during the cutting. It's safey related so hope you don't mind. You can still see the top of a building back there in the right corner, the arena is surrounded by buildings so I knew I needed to include one.

Art and Ragtop are mine.
Ref is a multitude of refs, from Magazines, to Youtube, to Pictures, little bit of everything. I need to go to to some cutting shows