___The Northern Sky Striders, often simply called “Striders” or “Sky Striders,” are a most unusual equine species found in uninhabited northern regions of Alaska and Canada, in the mountains and plains. According to legend, they “came striding down from the heavens like falling stars,” leading some people to believe they are, in fact, alien, and came from outer space. However, this theory has neither been proven nor disproven.
___Despite their numerous shared characteristics with the horse, Sky Striders are not of the same species as that well-beloved animal. However, they look so much like them that they are frequently referred to as horses, and many horse-lovers view them as such. But no matter how much people may believe that they are horses, they are not. They are vastly different in many ways, and they cannot be bred to horses.
___Sky Striders do indeed look almost alien in appearance. They have the overall appearance of the horse, but differ in several ways. Sky Striders have an extra smaller pair of eyes and ears, believed to be compensation for their poor sense of smell. They also have a small horn on the forehead, and cloven hooves. They have three thin, diamond-shaped appendages on the ends of two long, cord-like growths that sprout from the dock in the midst of the tail. These have a faint glow, more easily visible in the dark, and they are often used to lull predators into an almost hypnotized state so that the Sky Striders can flee to safety. They are called "hypno-diamonds," or sometimes just "diamonds." Sky Striders' manes are naturally short, and no cases of longer manes have been documented.
___Sky Striders can vary in height, some being as tall as 17hh, and others as short as 13hh. Interestingly, it has been found that Sky Striders with a chestnut base (ee) are shorter than those with a heterozygous black base (Ee), and those are shorter than the ones with a homozygous black base (EE).
___Sky Striders grow more slowly but are a good deal longer-lived than horses. They do not reach full maturity until they are 8 years of age, and they are not considered “old” until they are around 50 years old. The average death age is 60-65, but cases have been documented of Sky Striders living up to 80 years of age.
___In color, Sky Striders once again resemble the horse. In fact, their color genetics are almost exactly identical. Breeders are always on the lookout for something “different” to show up, waiting for some undiscovered recessive genes to show themselves, but as of yet, their efforts have not turned up any satisfactory results. Nevertheless, they continue to search. Who knows? Perhaps they will find something one of these days.
___Solid colored Sky Striders are very common, tobianos/roans/splashes are common, overos/sabinos/rabicanos are uncommon, and appaloosas are very uncommon. Chimeric Sky Striders are quite rare, though it is more common than it is in horses. This is because Sky Strider mares are capable of conceiving twins, but they cannot withstand the stress of carrying and giving birth to both of them, so every time a mare conceives twins, the twins are naturally merged to prevent the mare’s death. Brindling, which is slightly different in Sky Striders than in other species, is only slightly more common than chimerism (which is approx. 1 out of 100).
___Agouti (bay/brown), dun, and single cream dilutions are the most commonly found dilutions in Sky Striders. Champagne, pearl, and gray are next. Least common are double cream dilutions. Flaxen and silver are fairly common. White is uncommon. Unlike they are for horses, the overo and white genes are not lethal when homozygous. However, Sky Striders that are homozygous for either will be smaller, weaker, and have a shorter life span than other Sky Striders, and they are often sterile. Sky Striders that are homozygous for both genes (which is incredibly rare) are even frailer, smaller, and shorter-lived, are always sterile, and often have other disabilities or defects (blindness, deafness, etc.).
___Due to their similarity to the horse, the terminology associated with horses is also used with Sky Striders. Male Sky Striders are stallions, females are mares, young ones are foals, and so on and so forth. What anatomy points they have in common with the horse, they have also taken on the names of - the hocks, stifle, withers, dock, etc. They are also measured in the same manner as horses, in 4-inch "hands" up to the withers.
___Because of their long name, Northern Sky Striders have been given quite a few nicknames. Two of the more commonly used ones are "Sky Striders" and "Striders." People often use their initials, "NSS," in writing, and occasionally even aloud. Some use the first part of their name as a base for a nickname, calling them "Northies." Those who believe they are from outer space have given them a number of different names, "Star Striders" and "Martian Horses" among them. One journalist, in a piece he wrote after watching a race between a Thoroughbred and a Sky Strider, jokingly referred to this new species as "Thoroughbred 2.0."
___Naturally, people have been testing the Sky Striders’ aptitude for various equestrian sports, both Western and English. However, they have not had much success. Sky Striders show little to no capacity for these fields, except for one: racing. Sky Striders have been found to possess extraordinary speed and endurance, even easily outracing some of the greatest of racing Thoroughbreds.
___This has prompted the establishment of a racing association specifically for Sky Striders: the NSSRA (Northern Sky Strider Racing Association). Sky Striders are raced over longer distances than the typical horse race, as they have greater endurance as well as speed. The distance of the races can be anywhere from 2 to 4 1/2 miles, though there are some other races that go even longer than that.
