★Living Legend★ (Story: Part 4 Added)

[SkySmoke]

★Living Legend★

**Please note, before reading, the breed, characters, designs and story here are all my creations. DO NOT TAKE THEM! No, you may not use any part of this story or a character in it as your own.**

There, now that's out of the way. This is a story based on my character

Bigger, Better Picture Here

Legends Character Page
If you're interested in seeing more art of him or something...

Other Equine Characters

Demand for Ransom
Vivid Dreamscape

Table Of Contents

Breed Info
The Beginnings
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

**If you're more into dogs than horses, I write a story about dogs as well. Designer Dogs

[SkySmoke]

Breed Info

Legend is a Tribal Warmblood (created by me). The breed originated as a genetic experimentation in color. Scientists were trying to create new colors and markings for horses and ended up with a string of horses that passed on their tribal like markings to their offspring.

Characteristics, Markings, & Color

This specific breed of horses excel at dressage, show jumping, and 3 day eventing, much like their non tribal cousins. They tend to be very tall, often over 17hh, and never shorter than 16hh.
Their "base" color is always a normal horse color. Their tribal markings, however, can come in any color you can imagine. The only part of their coloring that is effected by their tribal markings is their mane and tail. They are sometimes streaked or highlighted with the same color as their markings, as seen here. Their markings are usually on the outer edge of the horse, as seen on Legend, leaving the middle of their body free of markings. There are some exceptions to this, though they are rare.

Reverse Tribal is when the markings, instead of being along the outer edge of the horse, appear in the middle. This also causes an extreme variation of the base coat color, sometimes causing it to appear unnatural. The horse pictured is genetically a blue roan, though his base color appears to be blue. It also causes the same extreme variation in the mane and tail. It can (but not always) also produce four high socks and a completely white head. In very rare cases, these horses are blind.

Extreme Tribal (picture coming soon) is when the horse is completely covered in tribal markings. These horses are always a natural base color, but their markings are much more intricate than normal.

Breeding & Genetics

The only way to get a tribal warmblood is to breed two of them. If they are bred to another horse (natural or otherwise) the only part of their tribal markings that are passed on show up as a swirled pattern, seen here and here.

Temperment

With humans,Tribal Warmbloods are very aloof horses at first. It takes time and patience to build their trust, but once you have it they will do anything for you. They love to work and are very intelligent. They excel in the show ring due to their "never stop" attitude and tend to have more stamina than most horses. That being said, they are just as happy to plod along trail if that is what you want, as long as there is enough variety to keep them entertained. Their personalities range from calm and unflappable to highstrung and nervous, and everything in between.
In a herd, Tribal Warmbloods also tend to be aloof at first, though not as long as they can be with humans. They are content to be in the middle of the pecking order in a herd so long as they feel the leader is qualified. If they do not, they will challenge the leader and take over as they see fit.
Both with humans and herd members, these horses are fiercely protective over their loved ones and friends and will not hesitate to fight to defend them. These horses do not know the meaning of backing down, it doesn't matter if it is from a fight or a competition.

[SkySmoke]

The Beginnings

A group of six scientist gathered around the bay mares stall. She had gone into labor earlier in the evening and they were all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the foal. All of their hopes, dreams, ambitions and hard work of the past year rested on this foal. They had bred a group of ten mares this year in hopes of marking progress in their color genetics project. They were trying to create horses with abstract markings or unnatural colors. All of the other foals had been natural colored with normal markings and none of them carried unusual DNA either. The foal that was on its way was their last hope for the year.
They always used horses with incredibly good bloodlines, that way the foals would still go on to be useful, even if they were not used in the project. The mare groaned and finally laid down. The six men crowded at the door of her stall, peering in and waiting. The mare did not mind, she was seventeen years old and this was not the first foal she had given birth to as part of the project. She had been chosen because of her own unusual markings. The scientist’s hoped that by starting with a mare with unusual markings, their research would have an easier time taking hold.
Things didn’t take very long once the mare had laid down and within ten minutes the colt had been born. Murmurs of disappointment rippled thought the scientists watching; the colt was facing away from them, but he was bay, which meant another year back in the labs. One by one they shuffled down the barn isle to go home, defeated. One man stayed behind to make sure the mare and foal were okay before locking up for the night. He didn’t mind staying, he liked watching the foals first hours of life.
He sat down on a bale of straw to watch the foal try to stand. He always found the first few attempts quite comical. The colt pushed himself up and fell in a heap a few times until finally he managed to get all four feet underneath him. The mare nickered her encouragement and the colt turned towards her. The scientist saw his face for the first time and gasped. He had a bald white face, but the edges of the white were swirled in a tribal design and around each eye was a black tribal design as well. He slowly walked into the stall to get a better look at the foal, who was now trying to find a way to nurse. He noticed the foal was all natural colored, but his markings had tribal edges. He had back and white socks with tribal edges on his front legs, and back marks that started on his lower leg and ran up the back of his leg and up his rump to the base of his tail.
After several excited phone calls all of the scientists were back at the barn watching the little colt. He seemed perfectly healthy but they ran several blood tests just to make sure. Pictures were taken from all angles. He was weighed and measured and the vet was called out to ensure both him and the mare were healthy. Several hours later the colt was curled up in the straw napping, his mother standing guard over him and the men sitting happily in the barn aisle. The only thing left to do was name him, but that wasn’t hard either. He was the first of his kind, the first of many more to come; a Living Legend...


The first few years of Legend’s life were fairly uneventful. He was monitored carefully. His growth and weight were charted. Blood tests were run weekly. His health was the most important thing on everyone’s minds. He became very accustomed to being handled by people at a very young age. He was weaned from his mother at six months old and was allowed to grow up running and playing in a pasture with a group of other horses the same age. At one year old he was moved to a pasture separate from the fillies and continued to grow and mature.
At two years old his ground breaking started. He was taught to lunge and ground drive. He accepted a saddle, bridle and bit. He learned to load and unload from a trailer and stand tied to be groomed, bathed and clipped.
The person responsible for most of his training was a young woman named Rain. She started working for Hybrid Vigor Ranch the year Legend was born. She was 23 years old and had been working with horses since she was 10.
When Legend turned 3 he started lightly working under saddle. His training went fairly smoothly and he had started jumping lower fences by the time he was four, but everyone was disappointed. In the pasture Legend was amazing to watch. He moved like he was floating over the ground rather than actually touching it. He a charisma that made it hard to stop watching him, but so far none of that had transferred to his work under saddle. He did everything that was asked of him, but there was never that special spark of connection between him and his rider. The spark that could make the difference between winning and coming in second.
The ultimate goal with Legend was to breed him. The year after he was born there was a filly born with tribal markings as well. She was a tri color paint with tribal markings. They were not related on either side of their pedigree so they were considered the perfect pair to take the color project to the next level.
But before Legend could be bred he had to proove himself as a performance horse. The horses in the project were bred to exel in competition as well as be unique in color and markings. Without that connection with his rider, Legend was destine to be average, despite his unique markings. When Legend was four, the filly they chose to eventually breed him with was two and Rain was already starting to notice the same thing about her. She progressed through training just fine, but there wasn’t the same spark that there was when she was playing in the pasture.
Rain was determined to find riders that the horses would bond with. Riders that would show them to their true potential and give the breed a chance to develop. This is where my story begins.

[SkySmoke]

Part 1
Dear Book,

Ugh. I don’t understand why my parents won’t just buy me a horse? Its all I ask for on birthdays, Christmas, and any other time I can ask for a gift. It’s all I’ve been asking for for YEARS but they still think I’m going to “grow out of it”. I’ve been riding since I was 8 and I’m 16, I really don’t think I’m going to grow out of it.
Cindy was talking to me after my lesson today and was saying how much faster I could progress with a horse of my own. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the horses I get to ride, they are amazing. But they belong to someone else. I can’t do what I want with them. None of them can jump as high as I want to go. Well, Vegas could but his owner isn’t ready yet and they don’t want me riding him much higher than her level. They are afraid he’ll become too advanced for her. So we’re stuck at 3ft with him. The highest I can jump is 4ft with Melody and that’s as high as she can go.
BLARG! I’m happy to be jumping 4ft, and I’m grateful that Melody’s owner lets me jump her, but I just want my own horse. Cindy was talking about a show at the end of the month. First place in the speed jumpers class is $500. She said she was going to ask Melody’s owners if I could take her. Maybe, if I win, I can start saving for my own horse. It would take forever but I have to try something.

In other news, there is a new rider at the stables. His name is Derrick. I haven’t met him yet, but his horse is really pretty. She’s a blood bay warm blood mare with 4 high white socks. Cindy says he jumps, but she’s not sure how high. He has an evaluation lesson tomorrow. I’m assuming he’ll be able to jump higher than me soon, his mare looked amazing.

School is the same drama as always. My friends don’t understand the barn. They keep asking me to dances and stuff and getting mad when I don’t want to go. I’m just not into that stuff. I wish I could home school and be at the stables more.

Well, I have to go do homework - I almost forgot. There is this lady coming to the barn this weekend. Cindy said she is a trainer for Hybrid Vigor Ranch and she’s coming to look at the facilities and to observe some lessons. Cindy said she wants to make sure I’m there. I’m so excited. I don’t know what she’s coming for, but Hybrid breeds some amazing horses. They have bred horses that go to the Olympics! Anyways, gotta get to the homework. Until next time…

Jayce


Jayce Connelly closed the cover to her journal and flopped back on her bed. Her blue eyes stared at her ceiling fan. She watched it spin and tried to look at just one blade at a time. After a few minutes of thinking she sat up and pulled her math notebook out of her backpack. Her homework only took her an hour and she shoved her stuff back in her backpack and wandered outside to find something to do.
Her dad was working in the yard trimming trees and she went over and stood under the tree, leaning on its trunk.

“Hey Jayce. What’s up?”

“Nothing.” She answered with a heavy sigh.

“That doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“Nothing that will change.”

“Oh boy…come on, what’s up?”

“Dad, seriously, why won’t you guys buy me a horse? You know I’m responsible enough. I’m at the barn every single day, twice a day, taking care of horses that don’t even belong to me. You know its not a phase. I’ve been riding for eight years. I just don’t understand.”

Her dad sighed and climbed down from the ladder to stand next to her.

“Your mom and I just don’t think it’s a good investment. You’re going to be going to college in a few years and then what would we do with it? Horses cost a lot of money.”

“I know they do! I’m not going to a college without a riding program, so its not like I wouldn’t still use the horse during college. They have riding scholarships dad, but I have to compete and win to get them.”

“Jay, we’ve had this conversation a million times. We just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“I just don’t understand why? You bought Cassy a stupid car when she turned 16. I don’t want a car. Use that money to buy me a horse.”

“A car is something that will serve a purpose for years Jayce.”

“A horse can be too! Ugh, forget it. You guys never even listen. I have to go to the barn to feed. The horses that aren’t mine. I’ll be back later.”

Jayce stormed away from her yard and grabbed her bike from the garage. She rode to the barn hard and fast and was out of breathe when she got there. She leaned the bike against the office wall and went to the feed room. It only took her 10 minutes to feed the 4 horses that got extra nighttime feedings. She had all the food ready earlier in the day and just had to toss it in their stalls. When she was done feeding she wandered down to Belle’s stall.
Belle was the first horse Jayce had ever ridden. She was a 14hh dun pony. Her face suggested Welsh or Arab breeding, but no one really knew. She was a very pretty pony, which was very deceiving because she was very difficult to ride. She hated puddles, shadows, rocks, trashcans and dogs. She also hated being told what to do. She preferred that you ask rather than order her around.
Jayce had fallen in love with her immediately and had ridden her for two years. On good days they had won ribbon after ribbon at shows. On bad days Jayce came home bruised and sore from being thrown off. It didn’t change how Jayce felt. She loved the little mare and still came and visited her often. She flopped down on a bale of hay outside her stall.

“Belle…have I mentioned that I can’t stand my parents sometimes?” She sighed.

Spiders, the barn cat, jumped up on her lap. She scratched his head and smiled as he curled up, purring, on her lap. This was her favorite time of day at the barn. No one was there. It was just her and the animals. The sounds of the horses chewing was soothing and Jayce found herself daydreaming until it was almost dark outside. Belle nuzzling the top of her head broke her out of her trance.

“Oh geez, I need to get home. Good night Belle, I’ll see you in the morning.”

She kissed the pony softly on the nose and then rode home almost as fast as she had ridden to the barn. She slipped in her room without saying anything to either of her parents.

[SkySmoke]

Dear Book,

Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t written all week long. I have SO MUCH to write about. I don’t even know where to start. Umm…Okay.

First: I met Derrick (the new guy at the barn). He’s really nice. His mare is AMAZING. Her name is Vivid Dreamscape. Her barn name is Vivid. Derrick said everyone always wants to call her Vivi and he hates it. I don’t blame him, Vivi is a stupid name…at least for this mare. Vivid totally fits her better. She is stunning. She’s a bright bay with high white socks on all 4 legs. They are all uneven too, which makes it even cooler. She has a white blaze that goes off to the left at the top of her head. It covers her left eye and ear. Her left eye is blue. She’s really pretty. Derrick said her breeders didn’t want her because of her markings. They breed for the hunter market and she has too much white, so he got her for really cheap. He said its probably good anyways because she isn’t a hunter horse. She likes to jump fast. The first trainer they sent her to messed her up by handling her roughly so they came to our barn to have her retrained. Derrick said maybe once she settles in I can ride her! I’m so excited. I haven’t seen her jump, but her flat work is just amazing. Okay, enough about Vivid, on to the next thing.

I wrote about that lady named Rain coming from Hybrid Vigor this weekend. Cindy told me she is observing lessons to choose a few students to go on a tour of Hybrid Vigor! I can’t believe it. I am sooooo nervous. I can’t ride Vegas or Melody because their owners want to come ride this weekend so Cindy said she is going to let me ride her horse, Ransom!(his show name is Demand for Ransom..anyways) No one ever gets to ride Ransom because Cindy said it shows favoritism between her students and she doesn’t want to do that. But she said its not fair that I don’t get a chance at the tour just because I don’t have a horse to ride. I feel very special that she’s letting me ride him, and I’m really excited. I got to ride him three times this week for practice rides. Tonight was my last practice ride, other than warm up tomorrow. Rain is coming tomorrow! We spent this afternoon getting the horses ready. Derrick and I bathed Vivid and Ransom. Derrick is kind of sad because he doesn’t think he’ll get to go on the tour because he won’t be jumping in his lesson. Vivid isn’t ready yet. Cindy doesn’t think it will matter. I’m not sure…

The other exciting thing is that Melody’s owner said I can ride her in the show at the end of the month! I might have a shot at winning. The prize class is only 3’9”. Melody can jump 4ft. So maybe I can’t start my horse fund. I’m secretly hoping Cindy will let me ride Ransom….but I know that won’t happen. it’s a one week thing. Oh well, I’m really grateful she’s letting me ride him at all. I told her I’ll clean her tack for the next year. She laughed, but said she might take me up on it sometimes.

Alright, I have to get to bed. I’m supposed to be at the barn early tomorrow to help get ready. I’ll write as soon as I get a chance.

Until Next Time…

Jayce

[SkySmoke]

Part 3

Jayce was up and at the barn at 5:30 the next morning. She fed Ransom early so she could get to work grooming him. She pulled his tack out of the tack room and sat on a bale of hay outside of his stall. She started cleaning the tack when she heard a car pull in the driveway. The door opened, then closed and the car drove away. A few minutes later Derrick walked in the barn.

“Oh, hey…I didn’t think anyone would be here this early.” She said softly, so she didn’t startle him.

“Oh, yea…I…like to get ready early. Vivid does better with a long warm up, I need to clean her tack, you know, that stuff.”

He mumbled in response as he threw a flake of hay into Vivid’s stall. He went in the tack room and came out into the aisle carrying his bridle and saddle.

“You can come sit over here if you want.” Jayce called, motioning to the hay bale across the aisle from her. Derrick walked over and thumped his tack down as he sat down to clean. They cleaned in silence for a while, the only sound was the horses chewing their hay and occasionally stomping their feet.

“So, are you nervous about today?” Jayce asked, just to break the silence.

“Kind of, which is stupid. Its not like it’s a show or anything. I’d just really like to see Hybrid Vigor.”

“Yea, me too. I’m really glad Cindy is letting me ride Ransom.”

“She must think you have a pretty good chance at being picked.”

“No, I think she just feels sorry for me because I don’t have my own horse.”

“I don’t think so. If that were the case she could have offered for you to ride one of the old lesson horses. They don’t jump high, but it would have been better than nothing. Think about it.”

Jayce thought for a while as she finished cleaning Ransom’s bridle. She’d never really looked at it that way before. It made sense, the barn had a few lesson horses she could have ridden. She just never did because she had passed their level a while ago. She would ride them occasionally for the exercise, or equitation practice, but rarely in lessons.

“Maybe you’re right…but if you are, I’m even more nervous. What if Cindy thinks I’m going to be one of the people chosen and I totally suck and…fall off or something?”

Derrick laughed and rolled his eyes at her.

“Everyone falls. If today is your day to fall, then so be it. I’m sure Cindy won’t hold it against you. Besides, I doubt that happens. I’ve seen you ride Ransom, he’s not easy to ride and you do it well.”

“Thanks.” Jayce turned her head so he didn’t see her blushing. She finished cleaning Ransom’s tack and set it on the racks by the cross ties so it didn’t get dirty.

“I bathed Ransom yesterday, so all I have to do is groom him and tack up. I guess I got here a little early. She’s coming at 8 but the beginning riders are riding first.”

“I got here early too. I bathed yesterday too, so…I guess we wait together? Want to…I don’t know…sit here?”

Jayce laughed and sat back on the bale outside Ransom’s stall. She leaned back against the stall door and pulled her feet up on the bale in front of her.

“So, where were you and Vivid before you came here?”

“A barn called Hallow Creek. It was alright but the trainer there didn’t think he could help Vivid. I don’t think he could have either, she doesn’t do well with guys other than me. So, my mom looked for female trainers and we found this place. Cindy said she would do her best with me and Vivid but didn’t make any promises. She said sometimes training issues can’t be fixed. My mom liked her honesty.”

“Yea, Cindy has always been like that. Does your mom like horses too?”

“No, neither one of my parents like them. That’s why I always just get dropped off. They are willing to help me out money wise with whatever hobby I want to do, but they don’t like being at the barn. I don’t mind most of the time, but sometimes it would be nice to have someone that I cared about to watch me at shows.”

“I know how you feel kind of…my parents don’t like the horses either. They think it’s a phase and won’t even consider helping me buy a horse.”

“Aw, that sucks. I’m thankful my parents will at least pay for me to ride.”

“Mine pay for lessons, but just once a week. I have to work for the others. Thankfully Cindy lets me…only… I’m not supposed to tell anyone that…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

They spent the rest of the morning talking about nothing in particular until Cindy showed up around 7.

“Well, aren’t you two early birds. You do know you won’t ride til later, right?”

“Yea, we just needed to clean tack and…alright, so we’re way too early.” Jayce answered with a laugh.

“That’s alright, I’m the same way. I’d rather just be here than at home worrying. You guys want to help me clean the place up some and get some of the other horses ready?”

“Sure”

The three of them cleaned the barn aisles and set up jumps in the arena. Then they got to work grooming the horses. They tied them in their stalls when they were done so they couldn’t get dirty again. Rain pulled up in her truck at 8am, right on time. Cindy greeted her in the parking lot; Jayce and Derrick hung back by the barn until they walked over.

“These are two of my advanced students; Jayce Connelly and Derrick Smith. This is Rain Anverly from Hybird Vigor Ranch.”

Jayce and Derrick both shook Rain’s hand.

“It’s so nice to meet you. I love the horses you guys breed at Hybrid, they are amazing.”

“Thank you. Its nice to meet you too. I’m looking forward to watching everyone ride today. Its always great to watch the future of the sport. How long have you two been riding?”

“I’ve been riding since I was 8.” Jayce answered.

“I started when I was 10.” Derrick said quietly.

“Oh, well good, you’ve both been riding for a while. Do you have your own horses?”

Jayce shook her head no, Derrick nodded yes.

“I have a seven year old warm blood mare named Vivid.”

“Vivid, what an awesome name. Well, Cindy is going to take me on a tour of the rest of the place. I’ll see you guys later.”

Jayce waited until they were inside the barn before she turned to Derrick.

“She was really nice. I really hope we win. It would be awesome to visit there.”

“Yea, it would be. We should go sit in the bleachers for a while. The beginners are warming up. We should probably watch some of them ride.”

“You’re right. We can watch for a little bit then go get tacked up.”

[SkySmoke]

PART 4

Dear Book,

You aren’t going to BELIEVE what happened! Derrick and I were the students that Rain picked to come tour Hybrid Vigor! I was so excited. It was amazing. We watched the younger kids ride, then talked about how nervous we were as we got tacked up.

We rode in a group of six riders. Then Rain asked to see us all jump a course, except for Derrick because Vivid isn’t ready to jump yet. Ransom was perfect and we cleared every fence. Then Rain asked to see Derrick and I ride again, only she wanted us to switch horses! I got to ride Vivid because she wanted to see us on a horse we weren’t familiar with riding. Cindy said it was okay for Derrick to ride Ransom, so Rain had him jump a few fences. He is a really good rider. Riding Vivid was awesome. She has really amazing movement and I can imagine she would be a lot of fun to jump.

Rain thanked everyone for riding for her and we went to go untack. Derrick and I were some of the last students left there because we were straightening up the tack room (the beginners always leave it a mess and to thank Cindy for letting us both ride Ransom we were helping her out, anyways) Cindy and Rain came into the tack room and Rain told us that we were the two students she chose to come tour the farm! We were both so excited we hugged each other. She gave us permission slips and told us to wear riding clothes and bring our helmets, that she was going to try to get the farms trail horses to be free for the day so we could ride. I can’t even imagine that I might get to ride a Hybrid Vigor horse! Even their trail horses have got to be amazing!

The tour is today. I’m leaving here soon to meet Derrick at the barn. Rain is picking us up in Hybrid Vigor’s van. Its 5:30am but I’ve been up since 4. I’m too excited to sleep. We get to spend all day at one of the best breeding farms in the country. I can’t wait! But I have to go, I’m meeting Derrick at 6 and I don’t want to be late.

Until Next Time…
Jayce

Jayce closed her journal and shoved it into her dresser drawer. She left the house quietly and pedaled her bike to the stables. The early morning air was cool, so she hardly broke a sweat. Derrick was already there waiting for her. She wheeled her bike into the storage room inside the barn, said a quick hello to some of the horses, then went back out front to wait with Derrick.

She sat down next to him on one of the many bales of straw that were placed around the barn to serve both as decoration and places to sit.

“Good morning.” He said with a smile as she sat down.

“Hey. I was so excited I could hardly sleep.”

“I know, me too. I’ve been up since 4.”

“Me too! I can’t even imagine the horses we are going to see.”

“I know, it will be amazing. And if she was able to get the trail horses for us…even their trail horses have to be amazing.”

Jayce nodded her agreement and they chatted excitedly for the ten minutes until Rain pulled up in the van. She greeted them with a smile and waved them over to the van.

“Good morning!” She said with a smile as they climbed in the back seats. “First things first, I need your permission slips. I hate to be a grouch about it, but the Farm’s policy requires it.”

Jayce and Derrick both handed her their slips and she looked them both over quickly before setting them on the front passenger seat.

“Great, everything is in order. Are you guys ready to go see Hybrid Vigor?”

Jayce and Derrick smiled at each other then laughed.

“Yes!” They answered together.

[SkySmoke]

My spot, not yours

[SkySmoke]

My spot, not yours
Last one, feel free to post

[ShadiSin]

Oh, wow 8D

such a wonderful story, I can't wait to read more <3

Legend is stunning~ and the breed is very unique.

I especially like the reverse tribal markings.. *-*