Thank you! I'll start her tasks as soon as I can. c:
Username: ABeardedDragon
Show Name: First Frostfall
Barn Name: Nevada
Gender: Mare
Halter Colour: Dark teal
Task 1 - First Encounter:
386 words
Looking into the corral, I watched the herd of wild horses. Against all of the darker coats, a bright, flashy mare stood out the most to me. She pranced with high steps and threw her head, everything screamed attitude. When she charged the other mares, they wouldn't hesitate to move out of her way. Though one of the stallions was quick to give her a nip to the shoulder, to which the mare turned and squealed before she kicked him. Usually I'd avoid one as a wild as her, but her icy eyes glistened with the promise of a challenge and her conformation was far too excellent to pass up. But beneath of all that, there was something else I couldn't quite figure out; almost like something was leading me to her.
"The cremello," I said. I watched the staff check their clipboard.
"Yep, she's available," the woman replied. I walked along the oak fence. Leaning on the cold metal fence, most of the horses stepped away nervously but my mare didn't. She stood her ground as she stared me down.
Was this the right choice?
But I couldn't resist her beautiful coat.
"I'll take her," I said. With that, I signed some paperwork. When it was time to get the horses loaded up, one of the staff opened the gates. A few steps into the corral, she reared and mock charged the man, making the sharpest turn I had seen in a long while. He tried to chase her out of the pen, but she was stubborn. The other horses ran through the gate and up the corridor between all of the pens, another man stood outside waving a flag so they would run that way. Every time he tried to approach her, the mare kept her behind to him with her rear leg lifted. Eventually she darted through the gate. The flag waved, she bumped into the metal fencing before making her way down to my trailer that was backed up to the small holding pen. A metal gate slid in behind her.
"Halter?" one of the men asked.
"Yes please," I answered. They slipped a black halter over her pale face, cutting off her tag and handing it to me. The door blocking the trailer slid open and she stepped up into it.
Task 2 - Floating and Arriving Home:
373 words
It was a long journey back home. It took a few hours to get to the airport, then she traveled by plane. I was able to catch the same flight and checked up on her twice; I didn't want to stress her too much and the groom would take good care of her. She had drank some water but didn't seem to want to eat. I met her back on the ground of England in the early morning. She was loaded off the plane and directly into the trailer to make sure she didn't escape onto the runway. Easy enough. The mare was eager to get off the plane and didn't hesitate getting into the trailer. When we shut the trailer door she was hiding towards the back, looking nervous but she wasn't panicking. Poor girl was probably tired out after our long flight. Luckily we only had to drive for about two hours. I didn't stop to check on her while driving since we wouldn't be driving for too long. When we got home we had her step out into a small pen around the back of our quarantine stables. She didn't hesitate in getting out of there, happy to finally have some room to stretch her legs. I watched her for a while. After a few laps around the field she slowed down to take in the world around her. The mare wasn't interested in me or the stable. In fact, she mostly forgot about me. Instead she spent her time sniffing around, taking in the smells of a whole new country, nevermind a new home. Sometimes she found a smell or flower that was particularly strange and she'd bolt and buck. If she found herself wandering too close to me she would quickly gallop to the other side of the field and warily watch me for a minute or so. I decided to leave her alone for today while she rested up after all that traveling. I was pretty tired myself anyway. A few hours later I came back to watch her grazing in the midday sun, feeling relieved to finally see her eating. After that I didn't come back, and I'm sure she was glad that I wasn't around.
Task 3 - Settling In:
362 words
It had been two weeks since she entered quarantine. Nevada, that's what I decided to name her. She seemed comfortable out in the small pasture. For the first couple of days she was nervously looking for her herd, not understanding where they had gone. Sometimes she heard the other horses over the river and she'd call out to them, but she didn't seem to realise they weren't from her herd. I still hadn't started any serious work with her but every day I checked up on her and offered alfalfa to her. At first she was too scared to approach me. That was to be expected. So I threw it into the pasture instead. She still had to come close to me to grab a bite. The first few days she would back away to eat, or would stretch her neck to try reach the alfalfa without actually stepping closer. I just stood still and watched her, leaning on the fence, careful to not make any sudden movements. At the start of her second week she had enough confidence to take alfalfa from my hands. Although, it had to be a large bunch with long grasses. Over the next few days I gradually shortened the length of the grasses so each time she would have to come closer and closer to my hand. She started to gain some interest in me, spending some time sniffing my still hands. If I moved my hands she would startle, but didn't back away too much. These last three days I had been managing to touch her. She didn't seem to mind too much, but she would keep a watchful eye on me as she munched away at her alfalfa. I found she liked having her neck stroked the most, but anything past that would scare her. She was quickly getting better, on the two week mark I could touch along her back and she would only shiver. Nevada seemed to be healthy, but before she could move into the main stable I wanted her to be checked by a vet. Just to make sure. Naturally, that would mean catching her. Tomorrow her training would begin.
Task 4 - Bonding:
Task 5 - Halter Breaking:
Task 6 - Green Breaking:
Task 7 - First Outside Ride:
Task 8 - First Show:
