very first manip?

so this is the first manip i have ever attempted and ended up finishing. i dont think its that bad but i want to improve!

It's good. To improve, I would add a faded but not too faded reflection of the horse in the water. the water seems pretty deep because of how slanted the sand is into the water, so I would put the horse in between the hock and knee. Lastly, ripples. You don't have to do a whole lot of those as the horse is just standing there but ripples are a nice touch. (I you can't do ripples yourself, there's free to use brushes on dA)
Take a look at my pic below if you need more pointers.
click
I did faded ripples and a reflection.

I meant to add ripples but i couldnt find the right tool to do it so this should help a lot. Thanks!

Found you some ripple brushes

Thanks I'm gonna use them

It looks great so far! Maybe add some ripples around the horses hooves, and the horses reflection.

I love the color of the horse you chose for the background, he/she really stands out, but maybe just a little too much. The trees overhead suggest that the hrose should have some sort of shadow on it, maybe just make him/her a little darker to blend in with the background better. BTW you changed the horses eye color wonderfully, it is not an awkward color that makes it seem unreal. :3