Children of the Wind

[Embri]

((I've set up a Training Thread as requested for myself and GBE. Private, please.))


Wind, condense thyself, and come forth. Fleet of foot and keen of eye, with swiftness of flight-without-wings. Across the land, unending motion of racing legs and swirling manes. Upon thy back rides victory, and in thy heart lives freedom. I give thee to the wild places, open spaces, with sky above and earth below.

I name thee... horse.

Embri finished reciting, looking down at Ajaxon. ~Do you remember it all now, Jax?~

~Ah... uh... nope.~ The pale grey foal looked dejected, fidgeting beside his mother.

~Jax, pay attention...~ Embri sighed resignedly, shaking her head with a snort. ~Hurrr... never mind. Go play.~

~Yay!~ Jax kicked up his heels and raced through the tall grass, charging up towards the top of a hill while his dam watched on calmly.

~Keep your eyes sharp, darling. We're waiting for someone...~ Embri reminded her youngster, grabbing a mouthful of tender green grass, ears perked.

[GBE]

((Thanks Embri, I'm here, at last.... ))

For a few minutes now, a plain brown horse, with a white stripe down his nose, and one white rear left leg has been watching. Not quite old enough to be the dominant male. But then, he has come for some kind of training.

Seeing Ajaxon approach a female in the near distance, not a horse he recognises, but the way he carries himself. He must be in the right place. Taking in a lungful of air, he begins to trot calmly towards Ajaxon, tenatively going into a dip in the hill, before heading up a slight slope of the hill, his hooves digging in.

Eventually, his head comes up over the side of the hill, slowly followed by the rest of his body. He's a big horse for his age. His parents are of a long line of thoroughbreds....

[Embri]

Ajaxon spots the half grown colt trudging up the hill, and shies away quickly from the much larger horse. With a half kick and a whirl, the foal turns and runs down the opposite side of the hill, neck and head held low.

~Mom, company!~ Jax whinnies, skidding around Embri's side and tucking himself under her wing.

Embri looks up bemusedly, raising her head to sniff the air for a moment. Upwind. Either inexperienced, or supremely confident. The cautious nature of his approach settles her mind on the former.

~Come on, Ajaxon. This is who we are here to meet.~ Embri walks forward towards the brown horse, stopping a few dozen meters from the base of the small hill.

~Welcome ... I am Embri.~ The mare extends her neck forwards in equine greeting.

(Now for background on behavior. Ajaxon fled from the unknown male for two reasons - foals are naturally shy of anything their size of larger, and a rogue male stallion (one without a herd) will occasionally kill or drive off foals to bring their mothers back into heat sooner. Even a herd stallion is rarely gentle or tolerant, and quickly punishes bad behavior with a kick or bite.

How your brown stallion (I'm assuming he's not domestic so therefore not a gelding) approaches Embri will determine how she treats him. Dominant behavior is the signature of a mature male, while shy, submissive behavior is more characteristic of an immature male or female horse, especially if they are outsiders. Equines are incredibly social - they do not willingly live alone in most cases. Even so called rogue stallions (those without breeding herds) form up into bachelor herds while they grow, usually from the ages of 2 to 5 years in age. By the age of two, stallions are usually capable of breeding, though wild ones will not get a chance for several more years, as they lack the physical strength to gain control of a breeding herd from a mature male.

The lead stallion and/or mare will often drive away mostly grown offspring, colts of two to three years, fillies of three to four years in age, unless the herd is very small. In that case, the lead stallion will do his best to retain every female in his herd, even his own daughters.
(Equines don't usually understand about genetics, unfortunately.))

[GBE]

The young colt spots the movement upon the hill and stands stock still as he sees the other grey colt race off in the opposite direction. Unsure of what to expect, he waits for a few moments, trying to sniff the air, his nostrils widening and thinning.

Unanble to smell anything as the wind was blowing the way he's facing. After nothing drastic happens, he continues his cautious approach to the top of the hill, and then gets the scent of the hillside female, but he's still extremely wary, she's bigger than him.

Gently skirting around her, gently whinnying to himself, he makes his way to the other side of the hill. Looking down, he spies Embri and Ajaxon, and then hears her speaking in his mind. This scares him and causes him to begin shaking, and becoming wide eyed. But, its a greeting, extending her neck.

He stops himself from rearing and backing away, and, nervously extends his neck in greeting, not wanting to appear threatening to female with young. Thinking to himself, ~Strange noise. Mind. Same...?~

[Embri]

Embri wuffles softly, taking a few more paces towards the brown colt.

~Yes... that was me. And despite my outward differences... I am the same as you.~ The mare perks her ears forward, neck stretched. Jax pokes his head out from under Embri's wing, eyes wide. He tosses his head up and down a few times before ducking back behind his dam with a squeal.

~Don't mind Jax... he's flighty.~ Embri's nostril's flare, sniffing the colt's scent.

~You are a bit young to be on your own, are you not? What happened to your herd?~ The mare inquires, curious.


((Ear position is very important with horses. Forward facing ears are a sign of happiness or contentment. A horse's ears are rarely still, flicking in all directions to listen for threatening sounds. Ears held down are a sign of stress or fear, while ears laid back against the skull show anger, aggression or panic. An angry horse will often stomp its hooves, throw up its head and/or curl back its lips to show teeth, depending in the situation.

Hoof stomping is generally a sign of irritation and desire to run, as well as an instinctual foraging behavior. Other aggressive behaviors include head bobbing (challenging a perceived threat) and nipping. A "sniff nip squeal sniff again" routine is very common among strange horses newly introduced. The dominant horse (usually the one who is part of the herd, rather than the outsider) will do the nipping, asserting it's dominance over the new arrival. Herd hierarchy is very important among horses.

Horses have a wide variety of noises they make, including "wuffle" - sort of like a loud exhalation with a slight rumble, "squeal" - a short high pitched noise, "snort", a short loud exhalation, and "whinny" the traditional horse noise, and one of the loudest. Equines can also make rumbling sounds, and various combinations of vocal expression.))

[GBE]

The brown colts ears have been held down through all this time, although, still flickering to try and listen out for dangers or interesting sounds. Watching Ajaxon move fearfully behind his mother, he becomes even more cautious, a mother with a frightened colt could put him at risk.

Head low, he moves his legs nervously, turning slightly away from Embri, so that he now has his side to her. His tail swishes gently, but erratically. He judges the distance of Embri to him, and himself to the nearby hill in case he needs to run.

Again, she speaks into his mind, making him incredibly nervous. ~Ajaxon..? Child...? Your thoughts, my mind...? Herd. Yes. Herd. Where is herd..? Herd, is, missing...? Mother.........?~ His own thoughts are as confused as he is with Embri being ~Same and different..?~

[Embri]

~Yes, Ajaxon is my foal. And yes, I can speak into your mind. It is one of my gifts. You should be with a herd. You are too young to be by yourself...~ The mare moved a bit sideways, standing at a diagonal to the brown horse.

Slightly jealous of the attention his mother was bestowing on the stranger, Ajaxon sneaks up closer. He picks up on the brown colt's fearful behavior, edging out from behind his dam. Ears straining forward and eyes wide, the young foal sidles towards the newcomer's flank. Quick as a wink, he takes a bite out of the brown colt's rump.

~JAX!~ Embri admonished privately, twirling 'round to administer swift punishment. Ajaxon squeals as his dam makes her displeasure known on his hide, nipping his flanks and tail until he flees behind her.

~Aww... mom! I wanna meet him!~ Jax sulks, ears folded back and tail twitching.

~You can greet him when you've learned better manners, young one. Keep your place!~

((Friendly horses will usually greet nose to nose, then move closer to sniff each others necks and shoulders. Strange horses will approach with head extended, body as far away as possible to make running away easier if needed. It's not uncommon for a strange horse to be rejected from a herd, especially if that herd is already large. It often requires multiple attempts at joining before a outside horse is allowed in close company with a herd.

Happy, confidant horses will "tail flag" or hold their tails straight up as they run to show off. They will also arch their necks up to make themselves look larger.

The fact that horses are so very social is the primary reason for their ease of domestication - by proving to a horse you are a competent herd leader, they will follow your lead. Denying a horse the company of its own kind is, in most cases, one of the worst punishments you can inflict on an equine. Members of a herd will spend a large portion of their day grazing and mutual grooming.

Foals and immature young adult horses are usually disciplined by every member of the herd who is older than they are, especially their dams.

Young colts and fillies can be very rough at playing, but generally are tolerated so long as they don't attempt such "horseplay" on the grownups. ))

[GBE]

The strange horse squeals and quickly runs a short distance from the two, more panicked than before. If he were brave enough, and his mother weren't here, he might have nipped Ajaxon back. These thoughts aside, he tries his hardest to clear his thoughts, and remember his herd.

~Missing... Wake up and go... Gone... No mother... Waited, maybe grazing...? Not grazing... Not at water... Searched... Now here... Scent was on ground, but no mother at scent... No scent to follow...~

Now standing slightly diagonal to Embri, he can see where Ajaxon fled when his mother bit him. He whinnies slightly when he tried to hide behind his mother. He shakes his head to try and get rid of the thoughts in there...

[Embri]

~Brilliant... ~ Embri sends privately to her foal, rife with sarcasm. ~You've frightened him, Ajaxon. Go play while I try to find out where he came from.~ Embri shoos her foal off with one wing, sidestepping towards the brown horse slowly. She stretched out her neck again, sniffing his different scent.

Jax rumbled in displeasure, shaking his mane and tail and stomping. He bounded up to his dam's side, tucking his nose against her belly looking to nurse. Embri pivoted away from her foal, fending him off with her wing again. ~Not now!~ Laying her ears back, Embri nipped Jax's neck in irritation. The sulky colt finally moved off, uttering soft squeals of frustration in her direction.

~Slowly... you awoke, and your herd was gone?~ Embri returns to her greeting posture, occasionally flicking an ear back to listen for Jax.

[GBE]

The brown colt watches as the mother yet again shoos away her young. Still being wary, he steps closer to her, slowly, and still facing slightly diagonally. He turns his head and gently extends his neck towards her, to take in the scent of her.

~Woke up. All gone. Lost. Not lost, alone. Lonely. Cold. Hungry. Herd gone. Herd gone. Funny scent on grass. Mother. Herd. But no herd. No mother.~

He desperately tries to rack his memories, but all there is him nursing last thing at night, then the herd sleeping. He wakes up, and everyone is gone. As he said. Only faint memories of sound in the night. Ignored due to heavy sleep...

[Embri]

Embri approaches closer, fine whiskers of her muzzle brushing the colt's nose. She wuffles again, concerned.

~Understanding. Alone is cold/scary/bad. Hungry? Grass is good... good grazing here. ~

Embri thinks quickly. Jax is unlikely to tolerate his dam feeding any but himself, so if this colt is too young to graze, she will have to find a surrogate or his mother, and quickly.

She eyes the colt up and down. He's not too bad for his adventures thus far, a bit scruffy looking, since there has been no one to groom him, and terribly nervous, not unusual for a lone colt.

((Young equines are highly possessive of their dams, and with good reason. An orphaned foal who cannot find a surrogate mare that will accept him or her is unlikely to survive more than a few days. Foals will normally nurse for at least a year. Shortly before mare gives birth to her next foal, she will dive the yearling away and no longer let him or her nurse.

Mares who have lost their own foal to disease or predation will sometimes be receptive to taking on an orphaned filly or colt, but in general, a foal will only be allowed to feed from his or her dam. Equines do not care for their young communally, like lions or wolves do.))

[GBE]

The young colt wuffles in return as the fine whiskers of her muzzle gently brush his nose. He snorts nervously a couple of times. ~Graze? Mother teach. Still learn. Help find?~

((If you do decide to help, his mothers scent would lead up towards the air from his sleeping grounds. A scent of humans might be around, or what would be closely associated to humans.))

[Embri]

((Augh, sorry about neglecting this GBE. >.< Homework is not fun. ))


~Of course I'll help you find your herd.~ Embri replied, looking at the brown colt with one eye. ~Do you have a name, lost one?~

Embri whinnied softly, head turned over her shoulder. Ajaxon pricked up his ears at his dam's call, galloping over on gangly legs to her side.

[GBE]

The young colt looks a little downhearted. He remembers that soft whinnie from his mother. He longed to hear it again. ~Mother calls me Leaf. Not understand. Where mother?~ His ears go down as his sadness comes to the surface. He'd never been left alone before...

(('Tis ok Embri. I understand you're a busy person.. ))