Hello all!! (even tho there's probs like two people reading this lol)
Firstly just some background on eventing so you can get to know it a bit better.
Eventing is a very old fashioned and posh sport, its unfortunately very elitist and you have to have a big financial backing to be successful unless you are super super talented or have some very nice rich friends to fund you (lol i wish), it still has all its classic old fashioned posh English traditions and not much has changed in terms of the sports etiquette since it started.
I've realised lately that at the top of the sport everyone is straight white and a mostly male, although I would say sex/gender is not really an issue. There isn't a single professional event rider who is part of LGBTQ+ community competing at 5*, and seeing as around 10% of the uk (ok i just looked that up but i assumed this number would be way bigger lol) is part of the LGBTQ+ community there should be. (When I say there isn't one, i mean there isn't one who is out publicly )
This may or may not be because due to the sports old fashioned outlook on life in general, but as a professional in the sport, financially, you rely heavily on owners and sponsors to keep you afloat, event riders make very little money and owning horses is expensive. These owners are typically older retired couples who have a lot of money they want to do something with, and we all know the older generations are a lot less accepting of LGBTQ+ and are still unfortunately quite a racist generation (I'm being stereotypical here of course but this is definitely truth in it). So if you thought "coming out" would lose you those sponsors and owners then it would potentially be something one would want to avoid as riding is hard work, long days and a lot of effort, its not something you can just easily throw away. Owners are hard to find if your not in the top FEI rankings, buying a good young horse is expensive for owners and they want to make the best out of this horse, going to big competitions, being in with the right crowds and winning money. So for younger less experienced professionals, or less talented or well knowns, new owners are rare and good owners even more so, so once you have owners you whole career is somewhat in their hands, hence they are not people you would want to offend or upset.
Again I'm not saying this is for sure what is happening in the eventing community, and obviously i don't know all of the top riders personally so whilst the majority are married, there may be some who are gay and out to their friends/family, but there are definitely no public gay relationships at the top of the sport.
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As for Harry in this fic, I wanted to explain the horses he owns and also his past achievements, just as a record for you guys to come back to if your ever confused or want to know about the horses. Everything else about the characters will be introduced into the fic as you would find in a normal book.
Basically Harry's evented all his life as his granddad is a very rich successful lawyer.
He competed for team GB at the Junior (u18) Europeans in 2015 and 16
And then in 2017, 18 and 19 he competed for GB at the Young Rider Europeans (u21). It is now 2020 so he is too old to compete in youth classes as he will be 22 this year.
(Europeans- European country's select 6 people to represent their county, 4 make up the team and two are individual. Juniors is u18 an is 2*, Young riders is u21 and is 3*. Team GB hold selection trials throughout the early part of the season and then a team is picked to go to the championships which are in august.
Senior Europeans work the same way and are 4* level)
He has a string of 12 horses, 3 three year olds and 2 foals, and then 7 that are in ridden work, all horses have a long competition/passport name and a stable/nickname. So I'm just gunna run through the 7 in work here for a reference point you can come back too. Layout like this - PASSPORT NAME (stable name).
The height/how tall they in hands (HH) ranges from 15.3HH-17HH
15.2HH (158cm) is very small and 17HH (173cm) is quite big.
Colours: bay is brown with black main and tail, dark bay is black, chestnut is orangey-brown, grey is white/grey
TOLEDO DE KERSER (Toledo or Toddy)
-16.3HH bay
-Competing at 4*
-9yrs old
-Owned by Harry's Grandad
-Went to Young Rider euros in 2018/19 with Harry
LENAMORE (Lenny)
-15.2HH flee bitten grey
-Competing at 3*
-14 yrs old
-Owned by Niall Horan
-Went to Junior Euros 2015/16 and YR (young rider) euros 2017 with Harry
CALL ME BARNEY(Barney)
-16.2HH dark bay
-Competing at BE Novice
-6yrs old
-Owned by Niall Horan
UNDER OATH(Scooter)
-16.1HH bright Chestnut
-Competing at 2*
-6yrs old
-Owned by Lord and Lady Bosworth
RINGWOOD SKY BOY(Ringo)
-17HH mousey bay
-competing at 100
-5yrs old
-Owned by Lord and Lady Bosworth
ZAGREB(Zagreb)
-16.3HH bright bay
-Competing at 3*
-7yrs old
-Owned by Harrys Grandad
-winner of the 6yr old young horse championship last year (harry was the youngest rider to win)
COOLEY LAFAYETTE(Lafayette)
-16HH dapple grey
-Competing at 100
-5yrs old
-Owned by Grandad
Again you don't need to know these just here if you want to come back to it.
Ok ok now I'll get going with the story I promise!!
Hope you enjoy and any questions just ask :)
Lxx
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Just Like You
FanfictionWhen twenty-four year old Louis Tomlinsons boss, and sister he never had, Alex decides it's time for him to move on and challenge himself, he finds himself thrown into a world he always thought he'd hate. But rich, entitled, up and coming Event ride...
