[Embergleam]

Range Trotters are the result of crossbreeding Orlov Trotters, Finnhorses, Welsh Cobs (section C & D) and Hanoverians. Later crosses of Quarter Horses, Paint and Appaloosas to gain color and to give a boost to their hardiness. With a height average of 13-15 hands, they're a hardy breed with characteristics for various disciplines.

Created for use as work, carriage and leisure riding horses originally, they now serve as long-distance range horses, such as work with Park Rangers and mounted officers.

Willing and eager personalities, most are quickly trained to be bombproof and therefore trusted mounts in all lines of work; some are being seen in local show jumping competitions, others are notably used in therapeutic sessions for their calm temperaments. Harness races and endurance trials are common for the breed, as they are able to sustain an extended trot without tire. Cross-Country competitions see some of the taller Trotters, but due to their cob lineage this is still uncommon.

Despite the variety of competitions and work these horses are being seen in, they are still famously skilled as endurance racers. Many competitors have chosen Range Trotters due to their tireless work ethic, as well as the ease in which they can be trained. Many have become champions in endurance trials, and they have quickly become a sought after breed for their natural ability.

You know what they say about moths and flames... (also, a rare and elusive Ember champagne trotter appears!)

To win this trotter, tell me what drew them to you. This could be as simple as the color of your shirt or as complex as some event in your shared past. Write at least a few sentences about it! My favorite answer wins. :3

End Date: 10.16.23

Username: fruitbat
Show Name: Change Of Heart
Barn Name: Miracle

Gender: Mare
Height: Miracle
Eye Color: Midnight Magic
Phenotype: Flaxen golden champagne death's head moth white mocha roan splash overo
Genotype: ee aa ff Chch DhDh Wrnwrn Splspl Oo

Code: Select all

[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Show Name:[/b]
[b]Barn Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Height:[/b]
[b]Halter Color:[/b]
[b]Prompt:[/b]

[Pandora!]

Username: Pandora!
Show Name: OHS Moth To The Flame
Barn Name: Acherontia
Gender: Mare
Height: 13.1hh
Halter Color: flame colors!
Prompt: I hope you'll accept my sorta two-parter explanation because I am so thrilled with all the moth trotters... First, I wanted to elaborate a little more on what drew me to thinking of creating the Death's Head Moth marking in the first place: my love of scary movies, The Silence of The Lambs to be exact! The first time I watched the movie, I was so taken with Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee with the seemingly insurmountable task of hunting down a notorious killer. Although certainly not an explicitly feminist movie, I was really drawn to Clarice and how she was able to hold her own in the face of the entire male-dominated FBI, and not one but two heinous killers who are involved in the case. And, of course, Jodie Foster absolutely nailed every single aspect of the character.

So, I think that this trotter was drawn to my inner sense of justice, and perseverance even in the face of doom. Perhaps this trotter has struggled in the past, through something that she didn't think she would be able to get through, but put her best hoof forwards regardless of everything stacked against her. Although her inner fire is much more literal, she could sense that I had the same inner light to continue on in the darkness, always hoping to overcome and find the light at the end of the tunnel.

[SeidenKaczka]

Username: SeidenKaczka
Show Name: EG Cinnamon Roll
Barn Name: Cinnamon
Gender: female
Height: 14.2hh
Halter Color: cream
Prompt: I'm eating some treat while browsing Chicken Smoothie. My husband cooked some tiny apple slices with sugar, cinnamon and cardamome, cooked it slowly to caramelise and candie the apples, then spread that on top of a tiny, thin pizza-like bread (actually flammekueche bread) before throwing it in the oven. It's absolutely delicious and smells so good, I'm sure that trotter got the smell through my computer screen and really wants to come to life into the real world so she could have one mini apple-flammekueche as well.

[Taxidea]

Username: Taxidea
Show Name: TT Segmental Thinking
Barn Name: Thorax
Gender: Stallion
Height: 13.2hh
Halter Color: Purple/Blue
Prompt: Full disclosure: I love all the variations of this marking I've seen so far. BUT what first drew me to yours specifically is the way that each portion of the marking is separated along the back of the Trotter. The clear separation between each wing and then the abdomen of the moth lend an aesthetic and balance that just feels right to me. Furthermore, it's gorgeous, and I love the henna-esque lines and dots you've incorporated. I bow to your greatness.

[Queen Vivane]

Username: Queen Vivane
Show Name: Approaching Shadows
Barn Name: Boxy
Gender: Mare
Height: 15hh
Halter Color: Match eyes
Prompt: I actually have to rescue Moths during the summer months when they're all like "LAMP" at the light in my little office room thing. They fly in and get confused so I try and catch em in order to gently deposit them out of the window they flew in from. This trotter saw me trying to my hardest catch and rescue Moths that had flown into the inn because of the lights! She likes moths and was relieved to see someone trying to get them out without causing the silly critters any harm. Boxy wasn't quite if she wanted to approach at first and I wasn't going to try and force my way into her space, so I simply waited for her to grow used to me.

[fruitbat]

Username: fruitbat
Show Name: Change Of Heart
Barn Name: Miracle
Gender: Mare
Height: 14hh
Halter Color: artist choice
Prompt: I suffer from mottephobia, phobia of moths. Even just talking about them is difficult, so this is going to be short and sweet. I am trying to avoid the moth trotters because of by irrational fear, but the way you have done the markings is so beautiful and reminds me more of a butterfly than a moth. Essentially, what drew me into this trotter was the fact I could stare at it without becoming nauseous- haha!

[Folmes]

Username: Folmes
Show Name: RK Moth to a Flame
Barn Name: Selene
Gender: Mare
Height: 14.2 hh
Halter Color: Surprise me
Prompt: Selene's first notice of me was very obvious. She was drawn to my forest exploration one night where the moon was not visible, only stars to light the forest, and it really wasn't doing much. I didn't have a flashlight, I was trying to sleep under said stars, actually, but what I forgot was that I was wearing a shirt that was very unique; it glowed in the dark! Imagine being woken up by a horse nuzzling the green lettering on your shirt in the middle of the woods! I think at this point, she's convinced the glowing light was coming from inside me.

[Echo Revna]

Username: Echo Raven
Show Name: PE A Whisper In Your Ear
Barn Name: Polilla
Gender: Mare
Height: 15 hh
Halter Color: artist choice
Prompt: Polilla first saw me as I walked along the shoreline one evening, watching the sunset and taking advantage of a little bit of alone time. She watched me closely as I crouched down, inspecting something that appeared to be moving in the sand, then tilted her head to the side when I reached out and gently flipped it over. She stepped slightly closer in interest as whatever it was skuttled off into the water. When I looked up and made eye contact with her, we both froze, unsure of what to do now that I'd noticed her. She gently tossed her head and snorted, before turning and gracefully walking off, glancing over her shoulder at me once before something else of interest captured her attention and she headed off to investigate.

[DarkestWerewolf]

Username: DarkestWerewolf
Show Name: Deathless Love
Barn Name: Acherontia
Gender: Mare
Height: 15hh
Halter Color: Artist’s choice
Prompt:

This trotter was hauntingly beautiful and elusive. Many have seen her but none have been successful in catching her. She sees through each and every ploy.
Food? No.
Wrangling? No.
Coaxing? No.
It’s genuinely believed that she is one of those that would be impossible to catch. However, this was eventually debunked when I came back to the stables with her in tow. How did it happen? Well, it was honestly a very niche interest that helped. Much like a moth drawn to a flame, this mare loved one thing.
Fire-dancing.
I was practicing a performance for the campfire performance later this week and I decided to give it a try with the staff lit on fire. It was broad daylight in an open field. Nothing out of the ordinary. I played my music and started to practice. However, barely two minutes into the second song and I heard the distant sound of hooves. I figured it might be someone from camp but when I turned around, there she was. The elusive mare herself. She cantered over towards me. Almost like she was in a trance. She stopped a short distance away from me. Pausing and staring at me then back to my flaming staff, urging me to continue.
I took a breath and continued the routine, spinning the flaming staff around before tossing it up into the air and catching it. Each time, the mare was more entranced by the spectacle. By the end of it, she approached me and even nuzzled my face.
As I was about to leave, expecting her to bolt back into the woods, I notice that she was trailing behind me. Her eyes trained on my staff. Without much thought, I gave her the extinguished staff which she happily took in in her mouth and she even started to wave it around, as if she was fire-dancing herself. We headed back to the stables like this, the look on everyone’s faces were quite the sight to behold.

[heyheygirl101]

Username: heyheygirl101
Show Name: LLE Trees Whisper Your Song
Barn Name: Melody
Gender: Mare
Height: 13.3 hh
Halter Color: same as flames please <3
Prompt: I had set up camp for the night, on the edge of where the forest meets the property. The woods were a little too ominous for my liking but I still wanted to be under the stars. I sat by the crackling fire, guitar in hand, Aeolus grazing peacefully beside my tent, the moon glowing bright enough to illuminate the open fields beside me but it's beams not strong enough to penetrate the darkness of the forest that surrounded my other side. Being a little creeped out, I began to strum no particular cords or song at first, just following along with a little hum as I did. As I began to relax, focusing less on the mind created shapes in the darkness and more on what I was playing I started to sing, "Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountain, Shenandoah River" my fingers moving along the neck of the guitar while my other hand strum. I was deep in focus making sure I was hitting the right chords as I sang that I didn't even notice the glow of the mare that emerged from the forest, it wasn't until Aeolus let out a low knicker right next to my ear that made me nearly jump out of my skin, that I finally looked up. When I did look up, I completely overlooked the mare shining in the glow of the moon and the her own flames, spinning to curse at Aeolus for scaring me half to death. "You know that was quite uncalled for sir!" I grabbing his his face to turn him to look at me, only Aeolus did not turn he held his head firmly straight with his ears erect and unmoving from their forward direction, not even twitching as I talked to him. I turned slowly suddenly very aware of the feeling of being watched, my eyes locking on to that of the glowing mares. The purple of her flames and the oranges and reds of our own fire dancing in her large eyes. "Oh... that's who you were talking to..."