[folktale]

This mare is always on the move! Use that as part of her character - but have fun and be creative with it! This is going to be a more intensive contest entry than usual, be warned C:<

Username: RainbowFinch
Equid Name: Eva
Age: 4 Years
Gender: Mare (STERILE/UNBREEDABLE)
Height: 13.3 hh
Why the name you chose? It is the Latinate version of Eve, which means "life" or "living one". The meaning fit the Eva in my mind very well. Eve is also the name of the female robot in Wall-E ( I always thought her name was Eva until I rewatched it recently) Eva reminds me of the Eve from this story so I thought it was the perfect fit, they both communicate and express without words.
Personality: Expressive, Vibrant, Radiant, Alive
Backstory: Eva is deaf, and almost completely mute due to it. This is the first thing you should know about her and the main reason behind her nomadic ways. When younger her herd never strayed from the valley, she felt the same earth and saw the same sights everyday. She was coddled and kept trapped within the barrier that was her family. Because she was different, because they knew that since she couldn't hear she wouldn't be able to tell when danger was around.
Eva grew older and wilder, she had a burning energy inside of her. A life force that couldn't be contained. The mare had never been a fool and had always been intelligent. She had been born into a world of silence, she she learned to cope with it. She could smell danger farther then her herd could see. Feel the earth speak to her through her hooves, as if it was another living creature. Eva taught herself within the valley to survive, to read the world around her with her sight, smell and touch. There was no dramatic battle; no fight or trauma on how she left her herd. One day, when she was fully grown, she just left. No one could stop an adult, even though they tried to reason with her. She headed up the mountains and never looked back. Living the same world for years has made her ache for more. More smells and sights; to learn the world like no Equid before her has. So she never stays in one place long, just long enough to understand the heartbeat of life there and then she moves on.
Song Link: Natterjack
Why did you pick that song? Since Eva cannot hear, she listens to music through vibrations in the air. This song is beautiful, up beat and matches her free spirit and loving life personality.

[Inupait]

So pretty

[Dizzy socks]

Username: Dizzy socks
Equid Name:
Age:
Gender: Mare (STERILE/UNBREEDABLE)
Height: 13.3 hh
Why the name you chose?
Personality:
Backstory:
Song Link:
Why did you pick that song?

Wip,wip,wip!

[RainbowFinch]

Username: RainbowFinch
Equid Name: Eva
Age: 4 Years
Gender: Mare (STERILE/UNBREEDABLE)
Height: 13.3 hh
Why the name you chose? It is the Latinate version of Eve, which means "life" or "living one". The meaning fit the Eva in my mind very well. Eve is also the name of the female robot in Wall-E ( I always thought her name was Eva until I rewatched it recently) Eva reminds me of the Eve from this story so I thought it was the perfect fit, they both communicate and express without words.
Personality: Expressive, Vibrant, Radiant, Alive
Backstory: Eva is deaf, and almost completely mute due to it. This is the first thing you should know about her and the main reason behind her nomadic ways. When younger her herd never strayed from the valley, she felt the same earth and saw the same sights everyday. She was coddled and kept trapped within the barrier that was her family. Because she was different, because they knew that since she couldn't hear she wouldn't be able to tell when danger was around.
Eva grew older and wilder, she had a burning energy inside of her. A life force that couldn't be contained. The mare had never been a fool and had always been intelligent. She had been born into a world of silence, she she learned to cope with it. She could smell danger farther then her herd could see. Feel the earth speak to her through her hooves, as if it was another living creature. Eva taught herself within the valley to survive, to read the world around her with her sight, smell and touch. There was no dramatic battle; no fight or trauma on how she left her herd. One day, when she was fully grown, she just left. No one could stop an adult, even though they tried to reason with her. She headed up the mountains and never looked back. Living the same world for years has made her ache for more. More smells and sights; to learn the world like no Equid before her has. So she never stays in one place long, just long enough to understand the heartbeat of life there and then she moves on.
Song Link: Natterjack
Why did you pick that song? Since Eva cannot hear, she listens to music through vibrations in the air. This song is beautiful, up beat and matches her free spirit and loving life personality.

[_Wolfgirl_]

Username: _Wolfgirl_
Equid Name: Ariel
Age: 3 years
Gender: Mare (STERILE/UNBREEDABLE)
Height: 13.3 hh
Why the name you chose? Her coloring reminds me of my favorite Disney princess, Ariel. But this name also fits who she is, because like the Disney princess, Ariel is always on the move, bending the rules to chase after her dreams.
Personality:
Backstory:
Song Link: Let it go by Idina Menzel
Why did you pick that song?

Wip

I just don't have the time, but good luck everyone!

[Shadowhunter,]

Username: XxTheShadowGirlxX
Equid Name: Free
Age: 3 years :)
Gender: Mare (STERILE/UNBREEDABLE)
Height: 13.3 hh
Why the name you chose? She hates staying in one place for a long time. She's a nomad at heart and enjoys her freedom, which is how she got the name Free.
Personality: Wild, loyal, sarcastic, brave, stubborn
Backstory:
Born into a domestic herd, humans recognized her uniqueness immediately. Spots and stripes!? Impossible! Or so they had thought. The mare was put under some tests to make sure that she had no diseases. She was healthy but could have no foals of her own.

Free hated being stuck inside the paddock. She was constantly asking her dam why they couldn't go out onto the mountains to explore. The answer was always the same "it's not safe out there". Free constantly looked over the fence at the gently rolling hills and wondered what it would be like to escape the fence, to live in a world without boundaries. She would fantasize about climbing the nearby mountains and running in an open field with no fences in sight.

Day after day she would be put through the same routine. Wake up, eat, train, go to the paddock, go for a walk, eat, sleep. Over and over again. The routine drove her crazy! Her only freedom was the walks in the mountains. She would be lead by her human companion, a girl about fifteen. Each day the girl would take her to different places on the mountain but they would always stop by a glacial lake on the way back so Free could get a drink. The water shone a deep blue-green and they would rest by a giant willow whose leaves kissed the water. These were the only moments Free truly enjoyed.

One day the walk was different. The girl was very tense and nervous which made her scared. They walked quickly to the lake. When they finally reached it the girl took Free's halter off.
"You have to leave" she whispered. "A man is planning to buy you off us and take you to a circus. I don't want you to be abused so I'm letting you go". The mare thrust her head into the girl's chest. She didn't want to leave her friend. The girl was trying hard not to cry. "You have to go. You hate the farm anyway. I can see how bored you are there". The mare's head shot up. Hoofbeats. She could hear them getting closer and closer... The girl looked alarmed.
"Go free! Go NOW!" The mare galloped off, not looking back.

To this day, she still thinks the girl named her Free when in fact she was just telling her to leave and be free. The mare visits the lake every once a while and sometimes she sees the girl there too. Free swore that when she got a heard of her own she would take them to this lake and tell them the story of how she finally became free.
Song Link: Count on me by Bruno Mars
Why did you pick that song? Free is very loyal to her friends and they can always count on her to be there when they need her. She will do anything for her friends even is she puts herself in danger.
Don't really connect with her anymore <3 Good luck to everyone else!

[O b l i v i o n ☯]

Username:
Equid Name:
Age:
Gender: Mare (STERILE/UNBREEDABLE)
Height: 13.3 hh
Why the name you chose?
Personality:
Backstory:
Song Link:
Why did you pick that song?

[Caskett]

Username: Caskett
Equid Name: Harriet, but she goes by Hattie
Age: Four
Gender: Mare (STERILE/UNBREEDABLE)
Height: 13.3 hh
Why the name you chose? I chose Hattie's name for several reason ^^ First and foremost, I chose it because she is an appaloosa. Appaloosas were the pride of the Nez Perce native Americans, who lived in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, and so I felt a western name, relating to her heritage, would be a good fit. I tried looking for a Nez Perce name, but as I did research, I found that none of them suited her, and so I incorporated that into her backstory below^^ Because she is captured by settlers, and that changed her so much, I chose a Caucasian originating name.
Personality:
Hattie is vain, proud, wary, undeterrable, and passionate.

Backstory: (So this is super freaky long, and I'm sorry about that! I told it from her perspective, so I felt like I should include her thoughts and opinions. However, here is the short version: Hattie was born in a herd of appaloosa Equids bred by Nez Perce Native Americans. When settlers killed her family, she was captured and taken to their camp. She was starved and neglected, but eventually escaped with a new-found herd, whom she led back to her homelands as their lead mare. She searched for any remaining members of her family, but after veentually realizing there were none, Hattie decided to honor them by following the migration of the buffalo, which was something the Nez Perce did with their appaloosas. That is why she is always moving. )

Hattie had been a captive Equid all her life. Of course, she didn't see it that way, not really, until now. Now, in the dusty pen without water or food, separated from her family and her herd, it was all she could see. Humans were horrible, no matter what.

She hadn't always thought that. Back, now it seemed like forever ago, really, but probably only a few years, she had been happy. Living with the humans had been natural, then, like fish in the river and birds in the sky. It was what had always been done. Humans and Equids, all the way back to her ancestors' ancestors. Running with them, carrying them proudly, grazing on the banks of fertile river valleys while they sat in their camp. Constantly on the move, constantly chasing the buffalo was what every Equid lived for, and the life had been great. Among the herd, Hattie had been a princess, a jewel to the others. She sighed heavily, then, and wished she hadn't taken it for granted.

While every Equid was a treasure to the humans, those with spots, called Palouseys, were priceless. Hattie loved to watch her relatives proudly strutting before the humans, as beautiful as the sunset and powerful as a buffalo. They were all herd leaders and band stallions, because spots were power back then.

And Hattie, she knew it, too, but she was the vainest of them all. Constantly relishing her spots and the power they gave her. She wanted not to be a princess, but a queen. Now she saw how foolish she was, and it pained her to remember. She was her father's daughter back then, as sure as could be, and as he was the lead stallion, her time would come to be lead mare aside a new stallion of his choice. Now that would never happen, and she hated herself for it, but the thought of never realizing her dream brought her head closer to the ground. Dust swirled over her nostrils and she coughed.

The day the settlers came, the buffalo were moving, and the camp was hastily packed up. No mind was paid to the few small foals who noticed a line of smoke off in the distance, and by the time it was, it was too late. Hattie had been excited to be on the move again, excited to run after a long winter of standing, and she felt like the ice was melting form her bones as she raced ahead with the other young mares and stallions. They chased the buffalo for several hours, and she could tell from the whoops and cries of the humans that it was a good hunt. She could see her father and mother racing side by side, and the humans flinging their pointed arrows left and right. The dying call of the buffalo was music to her, because in stead of comrades they were meat, and she raced on and on.

But then, then the joyful noises turned to howls. Hattie whirled around, just inn time to see her father fall, a crack like thunder splitting the air and red blood pouring from a hole in his chest. "Daddy!" she cried, and tried to run, but everywhere around her, there was thunder and agony and cries of fear and Equids were whinnying and she kept seeing her father, head thrown back in death, and before she had moved a hoof there was something awful and rough around her neck, pulling her hard so that she stumbled and fell. "Daddy! Mommy! Eagle! Sky!" she cried, the names of her brother and sister falling from her lips desperately, but every where around her there were only bodies, human and Equid, and pools of blood. As the rope around her neck dragged her, she could see that her family had been the buffalo, and these new, horrible humans took the place of the ones she loved.

The rope around her neck was attached to a human on a tame Equid, and whenever she pulled the rope just got tighter around her neck. Hattie spent many a long, long week, following the tail of the bay Equid in front of her. Ridden by a human with pale skin who carried an arrow that could make thunder, he was a traitor by every definition. Even though he tried to talk to her, tell her it would be okay, she ignored him and hated him and fought the rope every chance she got. It was useless. Now she wished she could have the bay traitor back, to talk to.

Travelling with the settlers was hard. The once glossy, spotted coat that was her pride and her heritage itched with ticks and flies. While she was used to being fed form lush grass and drinking from mountain streams, the settlers gave her, tough, dry hay and little water. It was getting hotter every day, and the water became less and less frequent. Her ribs began to show, and her eyelids began to sag, and Hattie hated this, being the buffalo. She hated the rope around her neck, and how even though it was loose, she did not have the strength to fight it.

The day the settlers' camp came into view, the pale humans had an air of celebration and relief about them, and it translated to the traitor Equids. Even the other starving, flea-ridden faces of Hattie's herd, the few who'd survived and were taken along with her, perked their ears as they struggled through the gates. Tall spires of rock surrounded camp, red and orange like the sun and the sand and the desert that was endless. Hattie barely noticed when the rope was removed from her neck, and she was put into the pen. She wished now that she had struggled more, or died in the battle an honorable death. Now, she was worse than the buffalo.

Later on in Hattie's story, the settlers will get careless with their WME's. They will have a large, unmanageable herd, so in the night she and Evan will escape along with their adopted family. Hattie will lead them north, back towards her home, and begin a long and tiring search for any of her family that may have survived the attack. Eventually, she will realize that any survivors are long gone, and will fall into a long period of depression. Her herd will help her to realize that she has the only family she needs right by her side, and it will cement their unity as a herd. Hattie will lead them, following the buffalo all year long, in honor of her ancestors, and that is why she is constantly on the move. Wherever the buffalo go, she makes it her duty to follow.

Song Link: I won't give up- Jason Mraz
Why did you pick that song? I think this song symbolizes Hattie's dedication and determination in the face of tragedy. It also has a familial, caring tone, and because family is such an important part of her life, I thought that was fitting ^^

[stabbrielle]

Username: -- b e n j i
Equid Name: Gale
Age: 4
Gender: Mare (STERILE/UNBREEDABLE)
Height: 13.3 hh
Why the name you chose? In the Celtic language Gale means "stranger"
Personality:
Blind faithful, playful, poetic, indecisive
Backstory:
The sun crept, ever so slowly, up the majestic Rocky Mountain slopes. Her rays turned the ridges deep purple and made the fluffy white snow caps glint. As usual, I was already up. I was an early riser. I woke up early to watch the sun rise, as it kisses the sky making it blush beautiful colors like pink, yellow, and orange. I relished mornings like these. I could sit and watch them all day, if I didn't have to leave.

Sighing, I turned to gaze upon the small herd that took me in and gave me shelter for the past few days. A small smile crossed my face. The herd consisted of one stallion, two mares, and one tiny filly whom reminded me much of myself. I had to turn away right then. I couldn't get attached to them. I just couldn't. With a small flick of my tail, i cantered in the opposite direction.

It was midday by now, the filly would be awake, and she was probably searching for me. Searching for the mystery mare who played games of tag and hide and seek with her when her father could not. The mare, who wove wondrous tales of handsome stallions sweeping pretty little fillies off her hooves with a single wink and told her jokes when she felt down.

One would wonder why I left. What was I looking for so fervently that I would leave a filly who had grown to love me in such a short time? Truth is that I'm not really sure, but I will find out.
Song Link: Falling Slowly
Why did you pick that song? when I found this song it tied everything together perfectly, so I has to use it

[rax]

Username: Raxacorico
Equid Name: Fox
Age: 5
Gender: Mare (STERILE/UNBREEDABLE)
Height: 13.3 hh
Why the name you chose? I think that Fox is a really cute name, and it seems to me that foxes are always on the move. Also, Fox News is a news company ((although the equid's news tends to be more reliable)).
Personality: honest, strong, extroverted, friendly, reliable.
Backstory: Fox could be described as a "messenger" of sorts between equid herds. Always on the move, she makes it her job to spread the news if something exciting or important or heartbreaking happens. Fox loathes lies, and believes that if she is honest with equids they will be honest back. Usually this system works, but occasionally she has to trust her gut to tell if someone's lying. Fox only reports news if it doesn't hurt anyone, although sometimes the truth hurts before it helps. Ever since she was a filly, Fox had hated picking sides in her friend's fights, so she would take the place of the neutral middle-man and be the messenger between two friends. Although her long travels between herds would seem lonely to most, Fox sees it as an exciting adventure.
Song Link: Brave- Sara Bareilles Lyrics
Why did you pick that song? All does not always go well in the news business, and sometimes people get angry at Fox for revealing the truth. She often has to remind herself to be brave and that honesty is the most important thing.