[faentofheart]

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.

Username: Embergleam
Show Name: RRS Gold Rush
Barn Name: Rush

Gender: Stallion
Height: 14hh
Eye Color: Gold
Phenotype: Yellow Edged Liver Chestnut Blanket Appaloosa +eye glow
Genotype: ee/aa YeYe Lplp +eye glow

[sleepyDandy]

Username: sleepyDandy
Show Name: Overcoming the Impossible
Barn Name: Nila
Gender: Mare
Height: 14hh
Halter Color: artist's choice <3
Prompt:

oh man, i might ramble while i write this so in advanced, i'm sorry

one of my fondest memories comes from just last week-- during Christmas with my partner's family! we all gathered at their house- myself, my partner, his brother, his brother's partner, and their parents. i was a little late and so my anxiety was getting the best of me, but my partner's mom sent me a text telling me that they didn't mind that i was late, they just wanted to see me. it was awesome! i was so used to people being disappointed in me being late, so to know that they were okay with it felt really good.

after i got to their place i stepped inside and was immediately greeted by the smell of food: hot ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, and the most delectable sweets you could imagine. their dachshund Ella waddled over to greet me, and seeing how fast her little tail was wagging eased any anxiety i had previously. after we all ate we sat down and played yahtzee! i hadn't ever played yahtzee in real life, but i used to play a bunch of online games and yahtzee was one of them. to say it was intense was an exaggeration. we shared fake insults, swore a lot, playfully threw the yahtzee die way too hard. after we all eventually got bored of yahtzee (which didn't take long at all LOL), we gathered around on their comfy couches and armchairs, and my partner and i snuggled down on a big reclining loveseat to open gifts. this year has been hard on everyone and so the gifts weren't anything extravagant, but they meant a lot to me.

my family doesn't really celebrate christmas, nor can we afford to, but being invited to my partner's house and being surrounded by people who appreciate me just as much as i appreciate them was truly the best thing ever. i keep thinking about that day, and remembering how comfortable and happy i was there has been keeping me going.

[Idem]

Username: Idem
Show Name: RMS A Cowboy's Best Friend
Barn Name: Dutch
Gender: Stallion
Height: 15.3hh
Halter Color: Dark gray with gold glitter
Prompt: My grandpa's funeral was today, so I'm gonna share a fond memory I have with him 💜 I can remember when I was younger and visiting him and my grandma up in Canada, and my grandpa had this amazing woodshop off the side of his barn. He had built me a rocking horse when I was a little girl, and when I was up to visit on this particular instance, I saw the outline he had used when he built the rocking horse and I thought it'd be fun to suggest building a hobby horse. He thought that was a great idea and him and I built a few hobby horses together. I got to take them home and it was so fun getting to make my own thing with with him. A lot of my love of horses came from him, so I have him to thank for my horse obsession.

[Oddly Shaded]

Username: Oddly Shaded
Show Name: Altiva Park Memorium
Barn Name: Rio
Gender: Stallion
Height: 13hh
Halter Color: Artists Choice
Prompt:
I may or may not ramble. Fingers crossed I can control myself....

When I was younger, I was apart of a Performing arts studio. We would perform an annual concert every year that was themed. For example, The Wizard Of Oz, Peter Pan etc. In my final year with the studio, our production was announced as Snow White and the 7 dwarves. And I was cast as the role of the evil step mother (I used to love playing mean or evil characters because it couldnt be more opposite to my actual demeanor). We rehearsed all year, I was appart of mulitple areas of the Studio including a beginner dance troop (I really am not a great dancer), vocalists and acting. As we drew closer to our end of year concert, it became more and more exciting as you could imagine. Costumes start being seen, songs start being heard, acts start being rehearsed in full. I myself couldnt wait. My costume was actually my 'prom' dress (note; Aussie's dont get Proms. But we still get to dress up). This dress was just glorious. A beautiful full sky blue dress with sparkles everywhere. It was magical.

So concert day comes around, and its going to be extremely challenging because i have to get in and out of the giant beautiful dress a few times. I have to costume change for my dance routine and costume change for a song as well. All inbetween changing into my massive blue dress for scenes throughout the whole production. The most magical part was being able to sing with the lead actress for Snow White, as we 'fought' over her father. We sung the song 'Next to me'. And I just loved being part of such an amazing studio. It will always hold a warm place in my heart. And alot of the people I grew up with apart of the studio are still in my life today, which makes those memories even more special.

[Embergleam]

Username: Embergleam
Show Name: RRS Gold Rush
Barn Name: Rush
Gender: Stallion
Height: 14 hh
Halter Color: Artist's choice
Prompt: Years and years ago I was lucky enough to participate in something called the Environmental Living Program. It's a program run by the California State Parks that invites classes to do historical reenactments at various 1800's era landmarks in California. I personally got to take two overnight trips to an 1840's fort called Sutter's Fort. My classmates and I spent the entire school year doing a deep dive on California history. Everyone got to pick out a figure from that time period and 'become that person'. We learned all about their personal history, what brought them to the fort, and what happened after. Then, at the very end of the year, we spent a full day and night at the fort in period costumes, living life just as the pioneers had. It was, without a doubt, the absolute coolest thing I'd done at that point in my life.

Years later my former teacher reached out and offered me an even more fantastic opportunity. My dad had learned how to run a beehive oven during my time at the fort. He'd kept volunteering long after my departure. The program was down a few people, and my dad had put my name forward as a replacement. Did I want to come back and help them out? I couldn't say yes fast enough!

Come spring I was back at the fort, decked out in my 1840's finest and having the time of my life. Volunteering meant a lot more work, of course, but it also meant getting to make the magic that had made such an impression on me years ago. I got to stand back and see kids live history rather than just reading about it. Shy kids stepped out of their shells to describe the character they were playing. Kids with troubled home lives forgot their trauma for awhile. Everyone got a chance to be more than just themselves.

The single most memorable moment came during 'night watch'. Kids woke up in shifts and patrolled around the fort looking for 'Dirty Dan', a thief trying to steal valuables from around the fort. Given I was the youngest (and fastest) of the volunteers, I got the nod. I grabbed a dark coat, a bag of 'Sutter bucks', and crept off into the night. Every single group of kids caught me, and the sheer triumph on their faces has been etched into my memory ever since. Catching Dirty Dan was their chance to be a hero. That alone was 1000% worth the sleepless night.

(...and if I got some really excellent gingersnaps out of the deal, well, cookies are a type of valuable, aren't they?)

[wolfhaunt]

Username: wolfhaunt
Show Name: WH Glitter And Gold
Barn Name: Nova
Gender: Stallion
Height: 14hh
Halter Color: Shimmering gold
Prompt: Seeing a firework show close-up above my best friend’s neighborhood. Fireworks are banned in my city unless used by legally-recognized groups/programs, so they’re always very far away from my house (which I’m grateful for in terms of safety). It was likely about a dozen years ago, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget seeing those huge explosions of color right above my head… and to experience it with my longtime friend was even better. (Btw, fun fact: we’re still best friends and have been for about… 15 years now!) It was also the first time I got to use sparklers!!! There’s a great picture of us holding them : )

[Pandora!]

Username: Pandora!
Show Name: OHS Spirit of War
Barn Name: Telemachus
Gender: Stallion
Height: 14.3hh
Halter Color: artist's choice
Prompt: I have really fond memories of playing rugby in college. My team was like my family on campus, and some of my closest friends now I met on the team. I was never really a team sport sort of kid, all my time was monopolized by horseback riding, but I was pushed by my friends to join rugby and I'm so glad I did. We went on to win two conference championships, and I cannot with words express how proud and excited I was for myself and the rest of my team members. All of those countless long, cold, exhausting, and painful hours of practice and playing games lead us to victory. We were never a team that really deeply cared about winning, we really cared about each other and having fun, but being able to win with some of my favorite people in the world was a memory I'll never forget. When I was a senior our team got new jerseys, so my wonderful team gifted me the retired jersey I wore during my years there and I now have it displayed in a case along with my graduation cords.

[faentofheart]

Username: Embergleam
Show Name: RRS Gold Rush
Barn Name: Rush
Gender: Stallion
Height: 14 hh
Halter Color: Artist's choice
Prompt: Years and years ago I was lucky enough to participate in something called the Environmental Living Program. It's a program run by the California State Parks that invites classes to do historical reenactments at various 1800's era landmarks in California. I personally got to take two overnight trips to an 1840's fort called Sutter's Fort. My classmates and I spent the entire school year doing a deep dive on California history. Everyone got to pick out a figure from that time period and 'become that person'. We learned all about their personal history, what brought them to the fort, and what happened after. Then, at the very end of the year, we spent a full day and night at the fort in period costumes, living life just as the pioneers had. It was, without a doubt, the absolute coolest thing I'd done at that point in my life.

Years later my former teacher reached out and offered me an even more fantastic opportunity. My dad had learned how to run a beehive oven during my time at the fort. He'd kept volunteering long after my departure. The program was down a few people, and my dad had put my name forward as a replacement. Did I want to come back and help them out? I couldn't say yes fast enough!

Come spring I was back at the fort, decked out in my 1840's finest and having the time of my life. Volunteering meant a lot more work, of course, but it also meant getting to make the magic that had made such an impression on me years ago. I got to stand back and see kids live history rather than just reading about it. Shy kids stepped out of their shells to describe the character they were playing. Kids with troubled home lives forgot their trauma for awhile. Everyone got a chance to be more than just themselves.

The single most memorable moment came during 'night watch'. Kids woke up in shifts and patrolled around the fort looking for 'Dirty Dan', a thief trying to steal valuables from around the fort. Given I was the youngest (and fastest) of the volunteers, I got the nod. I grabbed a dark coat, a bag of 'Sutter bucks', and crept off into the night. Every single group of kids caught me, and the sheer triumph on their faces has been etched into my memory ever since. Catching Dirty Dan was their chance to be a hero. That alone was 1000% worth the sleepless night.

(...and if I got some really excellent gingersnaps out of the deal, well, cookies are a type of valuable, aren't they?)

Congratulations!! I loved reading everyone’s stories, they made me very happy! <3

[Embergleam]

Thank you so much, Faent! This guy is gorgeous, and I had a blast reading everyone's stories.