[buckskin.]

ay yes, i love me some heterochomia

Username: Lavellan
Reg. name:
Barn name:
Gender: mare (filly)
Height: 16.2hh
Phenotype: red grey frame sw1
Genotype: ee/aa/nO/nSW1/Gg
Breeding notes:
- heterozygous dominant for frame, should not be bred to another frame horse


tasks may be completed either on her adopt page or may be linked here as you please

Code: Select all

[b]Username:[/b] Lavellan
[b]Reg. name:[/b] (this is just a show name)
[b]Barn name:[/b] (this is a call name/nickname)
[b]Gender:[/b] mare (filly)
[b]Height:[/b] (mature) 16.2hh
[b]Halter colour:[/b]

[Lavellan]

Ohhh, look at this cutie! I can't wait to develop her!! Thank you so much, buckskin! <3

Username: Lavellan
Reg. name: Passion for Possible
Barn name: Espero
Gender: mare (filly)
Height: (mature) 16.2hh
Halter colour: Teal

[Lavellan]

Task One

Leaning back against the railing, I couldn’t help but feel the tug of nerves in the pit of my stomach. The delivery I was waiting for had been due to arrive an hour ago, and, for fear of distracting the driver, I didn’t want to risk a phone call. Chewing an already well-chewed fingernail, I kept my gaze focused on the driveway, hoping for any movement.
I had never taken part in anything like this before. I knew to expect a halter-broke filly, but that was about it. I had wanted to go to the holding facility myself, but there wouldn’t have been enough room in the cab of the trailer, and the driver was a stickler for safety. Taking a deep breath, I turned to look into the pasture, ready and set up for its new arrival. I had kept myself busy all day with various other chores and general busywork, but now had nothing left to do but wait.
Letting loose a long, deep sigh, I fished my phone out of my pocket, flicking through my contacts until my driver’s name shone back at me. Clicking my tongue, I had my finger poised over the dial button, ready to call, when the sound of heavy tires crunching gravel caught my attention. Spinning, a smile creeping its way onto my face, I offered the driver a hearty wave as he came closer, positioning the trailer so that my filly could be let loose into the pasture straight away.
“Afternoon,” The gruff voice of the driver reached my ears, and I turned, offering him a “Good afternoon!” in response.
“Sorry for the delay,” he continued, large fingers unhooking the various latches at the back of the trailer, “we hit traffic on the main road...” He continued to explain the traffic difficulties as he unloaded the filly, and I couldn’t bring myself to look. Suddenly, all the worries in the world flooded my mind. What if she was difficult, what if she had bad conformation, or unknown health issues? And, almost worst of all - what if we didn’t click. Had I made a mistake?

Soft, equine noises inside the trailer made my heart leap, and, moving to the pasture fence, resting my elbows on the wood in an attempt to see inside. Soft words attempting to calm - followed swiftly by a string of curses - rang from inside the trailer, and, after a shout of “Whoa!” from the man, hoofbeats skittered along the metal insides of the trailer, and, in the blink of an eye, a reddish blur shot out into the pasture. A soft gasp escaped me as I spotted her for the first time, standing tall, tail lifted, ears pricked and nostrils quivering lightly.
“She wriggled out of the halter,” My driver explained, but his apology fell upon my deaf ears. I leaned as far as I could against the fence, observing her carefully. Long legs accentuated with high white markings, leading from a foreleg to her barrel, almost a perfect frame marking. Her face, heavy with white, was decorated perfectly with heterochromic eyes, one a wild blue, the other a kind brown.
Still talking, my driver handed me the paperwork, and from all of the words that didn’t register, the words “graying out” caught my attention.
“Hmm?” I quizzed, turning my gaze to the paperwork. Sure enough, the gene marker for Gg was ticked. Interesting.

Seemingly happy with the fact that her pasture was secure and there were no escape points, the filly turned her attention to us, watching us carefully with those mis-matched eyes. Uttering soft words of encouragement, I stretched out my hand, and, curious as to what I might have, the leggy filly strode towards me, clearly hoping for a treat. When she realized I had nothing to offer, she turned with a squeal, kicking up her hind legs in disgust. Watching her kicking her heels and bucking around the arena, I couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re gonna have your hands full with that one.” My driver laughed, turning to get back to the truck.

And, funnily enough, I had just been thinking the exact same thing.

691 words

[Lavellan]

Task Two

It had been a few days, and, while the filly had settled into her pasture, I hadn’t been able to settle on a name. She was fiery, showing me her temperament almost immediately, but nothing fire based would suit her. I watched her parade around the little pasture, paling tail high, like a banner behind her, and I let her move naturally, just watching the careful placements of her hooves, the high, show-offy steps.
Lifting the latch on the gate caught her attention, and she stopped, watching me. I had been letting myself in and out to let her get used to me, but it was like she knew this time was different. Those uneven eyes watched my movements like a predator, slowly shifting their focus from myself to the halter sitting in my hands. The little filly let out a haughty huff, as though scoffing at my attempts to catch her. Unlucky for her, I’d had plenty of practice catching naughty fillies, and I had learned quickly how much she loves treats.
Turning my back, pretending to gaze out over the pasture fence, I just knew that she’d be unable to resist approaching, and, sure enough, after a could of seconds, I could hear her soft hooffalls sneaking towards me. Another huff reached my ears, and, when I turned around, sure enough, there she was, looking at me expectantly. Slipping the halter off my wrist, I held it out, allowing her to sniff it for a second before swiftly manouvering it over her ears, securing her within. She let loose a low snort, as though she were offended by my movement, but any offence taken was swiftly forgotten as I slipped a treat into my palm, offering it to her. She snatched it, and then moved swiftly, as though to trot back into the pasture, but was swiftly stopped by the leadrope in my hand. She looked to me with a look of pure incredulity, as though she could not believe that I would dare stop her from prancing away.
Tugging the leadrope gently, I started to walk, but she planted her hooves, refusing to move. So this was how it was going to be.
Fishing in my pockets, I pulled out another treat, noticing the swift change in her demeanour. But she was going to have to work for them. Tugging the leadrope, holding the treat out of reach, it didn’t take her long to realize that walking forward with the tug granted her the treat. Soon, she was striding around the pasture alongside me, keeping close so that she could be swiftly granted the treats for good work.
She worked well for about thirty minutes, but I knew she’d soon be coming to the end of her tether, metaphorically speaking. Asking her to stop, granting her the final treat, I slipped the headcollar over her ears as she chewed. Snapping her head back up, a look of surprise at her sudden freedom, she took off in a frolic around the pasture.
I didn’t think the training had been that bad...

513 words

[Lavellan]

Task Three

As her training commenced, I learned quickly that the little filly loved to learn. She was quick and clever, and while she used that cleverness for sheer naughtiness on occasion, I learned that she adored challenges. She had a real passion, so that’s where her name sprouted from. There was hope that she would become a great working, stellar young horse, so Espero became her name. Hope.

Her training in-hand was coming along swimmingly. She loved halter training time - all the better for getting treats - and she had learned to walk and jog alongside me, and while she didn’t understand why sometimes we had to stop, she had soaked up turning like a pro.
And now, it was coming to obstacles. She was doing great walking up and down small hills, and stepping over small, natural obstacles like pavements or rocks.
So, feeling hopeful, I laid out some more unnatural obstacles in the arena, taking her out for playtime. A tarp, some pool noodles, and some small jumps soon littered the arena, ready for the challenge. I went to her stall, hearing her shrill, excited call as she heard me enter the stables. Picking up her little halter, she was soon at my side again, little hooves practically floating over the ground as she walked alongside me. Her ears practically lifted up off her head as she entered the arena - what was normally our playtime area - and I could see that she was ready for whatever I was about to throw at her. Closing the latch on the gate, I unclipped the leadrope, letting her let off steam as I normally did. She kicked and flung her weight around, not bothered by the obstacles that were not normally there.
When her energy was sufficiently drained, I called her over, placing myself behind one of the tarps. She trotted to me, giving the tarp a wide berth, but I moved out of the way, keeping the tarp between myself and her. She slowed to a stop, disappointment clear on her features, looking to me with such despair it was as though there were an ocean between her and I. Holding out a treat, I watched the internal debate of ‘should I step onto this crinkly thing?’. Her nose raised and lowered, then raised again, a hoof struck out, spooking her as it collided with the plastic.
But that didn’t slow her. She soon attempted both hooves, and finally trusted it enough to step onto it entirely, striding forward to collect her reward. As she chewed, I clipped the leadrope back onto her halter, and led he over to one of the pool noodles. She immediately didn’t like it, pulling back on the leadrope. I stopped, allowing her to take her time, but soon I stepped over the colourful tube on the ground, and she stared incredulously at me. What could I have been thinking, letting this ground snake near me like that. Again, the nose went up, then down, then up again, a hoof struck at the soft thing, and, after a moment’s building bravery, she sprung over, all four legs leaving the earth at the same time. Rewarding her for her bravery, I began to run, letting her frolic behind me. I eventually turned my path to the noodle again, and this time, after nothing but a minor hesitation, she followed me happily. I slowed to a walk, heading to a tarp, but she didn’t even hesitate, watching me walking onto it and following in delight.
She was a quick learner.

591 words