Hi, Bonni,

I have a couple of suggestions that may improve your image (in addition to the much better suggestions given above)..

I'm not "convinced" by either the horse's pose (in both pics), nor the "running man's"...

• For the horse: although it may be technically/physically accurate, that LH-Fore-leg (the nearest one) looks wrong to me. It's probably just a visual effect, but may I suggest twisting it (from where it meets the body, sorry, I don't know the technical terms for horse parts - in a human it'd be the "upper arm" or "shoulder"), such that it pointed a tad more towards the camera?
   (Although not anatomically correct, artist's licence could let you get away with it, and it might give a better "flow" to the composition)...

• For the running man: He's obviously trying to reach the girl (whether to attack or defend, I can't tell from just the pic). But either way, he should'nt be following the path, but taking a short-cut across the grass towards her...

I realise that your main intention was to experiment with the technical areas of incorporating figures into a BG pic (which you've achieved wonderfully), but hope that my 2 little thoughts might help with the "perceived" realism aspect :-)

Cheers,
Diolma