[Andromeda]

Mark

[conversett]

Username;; conversett
Show Name: a night to remember
Barn Name: lyra
Gender: Mare
Age: 5 years
Height: 16.3 hh
Halter: night sky blue with silver buckles
Discipline: hunt seat
Competition: Lyra wishes with all her heart to have the power to change her way of thinking. It weighs on her like a heavy burden, and she refuses to share the burden with everyone else. It is hers to carry alone.

Before the Euphorian Thoroughbred Protection Program had found her, she was one of the many victims of abuse. Every since she was a foal, she grew up only knowing that way of life. It damaged her mentality to the point where she has problems trusting anyone, and she easily becomes anxious. She also doesn't like to give up control because it makes her that much more vulnerable. Once she was recused, only the calm and patient peope could work with her without her freaking out too much.

There was once a stallion that was newly brought to the facility, and he took a likingly to Lyra. But Lyra kept pushing him away. He'd never give up though because he could see the mare was hurting. He had the spirit of a wild horse, and he didn't submit nicely to the men running the facility. He tried to ignite a fire in Lyra to fight back. But she was too scared, and her opinion a complete coward. There was someone who loved her for her she was and he could see past all the mud and dirt that she carried. But she was too late on realizing what she had in front of her. The men had taken the stallion away, having grown tired of fightint with him constantly. He couldn't be broken to their ways, so they took him away. Lyra isnt sure exactly what happened, but she believes him to have been put down. She had never seen him since.

At the Protection Program, she had found many others wanting to help her as well. Horses and humans a like. And she wants to be good for them so badly, to recify the mistake she had made with him. But she can't get passed the thoughts and images running through her mind. And then at the end of the day, they all just remind her of him. She can't even speak his name anymore for fear of crying all over again. If she had a different mentality, maybe her and the stallion would be free together. Maybe, he could still be alive. It haunts her to no end.

She can't help but be scared to let any one else close to her heart, for fear that they will leave her. Lyra had learned that emotional pain can hurt more than something physical. And she never wants to feel that way again.

If only she could have a different way of thinking...

[acadicus]

Username;; Lavellan
Show Name: Bayou Blues
Barn Name: Louisiana
Gender: Mare
Age: 7 Years, 8 months
Height: 16.2hh
Halter: Something nice, to compliment her colour? c:
Discipline: Pleasure riding
Competition:

The creak of leather, the smell of the sweat, the thunder of hooves and the adrenaline - there was nothing Loui loved more than being on the track. Thundering, shoulder-to-shoulder, at breakneck speeds alongside her rivals, her opponents... her brethren. She excelled in her training, and even took part - and placed well - in some small-town standing start races. She was to be the next big thing, and prided herself in her achievements.
Until her first big race. Her breakthrough. Her trainer, her humans, her jockey, hey, even her stable mates were excited about her debut. She can still remember, clear as day, the smells and sounds as she unloaded from the trailer, many other thoroughbreds stabled in the same building all as eager and full of thrill as she. She could barely keep still as she was tacked up rolling the bit under her tongue and shifting her hooves every couple of seconds.
Soon, the time came for her to be paraded out, and the mare thought she might explode. Walking towards the stable door with her head held high, she allowed her gait to prance and her tail to flow behind her. Soon, her ears perked at the sound of her name being announced over some ghostly, booming voice, and she couldn't keep herself on the ground. Bucking up, there were soft oohs and comments from the crowd, and she soaked it in.
She slipped into the gates without so much as a flick of her tail, barely minding the weight of the jockey on her back. Other horses, as young and inexperienced as she was, nervously approached the gates, some even refusing entry. Rolling the bit around her tongue, she waited until the shouting began, until her jockey gathered the reins, until the last second of silence before the bell chimed, signalling their release.
And, like she was floating on air, she shot out of the gates, taking a quick and easy lead. She could hear her jockey, urging her to be steady, but she didn't want to slow down, throwing caution to the wind. Her strides were long, and, as she ran for the halfway mark, they grew longer. Her jockey began to tug on her bit, urging her to slow, but she was winning. Why stop now, when things were just becoming glorious.
There is nothing she regrets more. Youth and naivete urged her to continue at her pace, but, looking back, how she wishes she had taken his advice, had slowed down. He had run far more races than she, he knew what she was doing. She was new to this.
A fool.
With her mind on nothing but the winnings that lay ahead of her, the pride and the glory that awaited beyond the finish line, she lost track of her hooffalls, and, in a slip up that happened once in a lifetime, her hind hoof landed on her front, toe catching toe and causing her to stumble. Her nose grazed the grass beneath her feet as her legs splayed beneath her, her knee twisting beneath the combined weight of herself and her jockey forcing harshly upon the twisted tendons.
A career ending injury.

The tendon healed, but her racing did not. The humans took her from the track, worrying that a worse injury would follow. Never again has she been pushed hard, had she been allowed to open her stride and gallop to life's fullest extent.
Oh, how she wishes she could revisit that day. To re-do that race, to win as she should have, while also listening to her jockey, who knew far more than she.

This was a really tough competition, but I was drawn to your entry in particular! Congrats, I'll add her halter shortly <3

[Lavellan]

Eep, no way! I love this gal so much <3 And that halter is just... *o* Thank you so much cinna! ^o^