Post by Swede on Dec 6, 2007 18:18:19 GMT -5
name: Elding
age: 9 years
breed: North Swedish Horse
height: 15.2 hh
color: black (Ee/aa)
eyes: brown
gender: male
markings: none
history: When the little black colt was born, his owners saw a spirited soul filled with a burning passion for life. They named him Elding, "firey one". He grew up in the pine forests of northern Sweden, admired by all who saw him. He was turning into a promising stud. As he matured, he grew less firey. The playful foal was replaced by a stallion whose gentle disposition was renowned, even in a breed famed for a kind temperament. Young children handled him, and he was a willing and hard worker. The day he was placed up for sale, offers began flooding in- he was the incarnation of every ideal of the NSH.
His new owner brought him to America, along with a dozen mares, to establish the North Swedish Horse outside of Scandinavia. Though word was slow to get out, the little stable thrived. Elding's offspring routinely were placed in the top ranks at the foal testings.
One warm summer night, a shadowy figure appeared at the stable, creeping about silently. He knew nothing about horses except one thing: stealing them was profitable. The Swedish owners were traveling on business, the neighbors were asleep. There were no witnesses but the horses. The thief quickly and quietly lead four mares and a foal into a trailer, the ones who had been outside. He tried the barn door, but it was locked and the horses inside were safe from his burglary. Elding, alone in his pasture, heard the mares' uneasy snorts and whinnied. The thief quickly found him and drove off with his six prizes.
The owners returned home faster than expected, and filed a police report. Everyone was on the lookout for the six missing champions, and the man who had them needed to hide. He parked his old truck and trailer in a secluded canyon, where he stayed for a few days until things died down. But the horses were restless in the cramped trailer, and the bolts of its door were old and rusted. It took one powerful kick to snap them, and before their captor could move, they took off running across the landscape.
Elding was a fine stallion in captivity, but he had never been wild. Though he was strong and powerful, he was not used to fighting and within a year, three of the mares had been stolen from him by wild mustangs. The only ones left of the original group was Elding, a mare, and the foal, who was now a juvenile filly. At long last, the day came when he was able to defend both from rival stallions. He had learned quickly, and his little herd stopped shrinking.
Eventually, the group of three heard about a magical land, bordered by a lovely river. They set out in search of the mythical land, eager to discover its secrets.
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Since then, Elding settled in Rainbow Ridge with the mare, Strega, and the filly, Yrsa. Strega soon gave birth to their second daughter, Aska. For a couple of years they lived quite peacefully on the ridge. Yrsa left home when she was four years old to find a herd and a new life of her own. But Strega and Elding had a rather strained relationship, and one day Strega and Aska vanished without a trace. Elding was devastated, and the ridge felt unbearably quiet. However, it was soon livened up by two Spanish mares, Whispered Promises and Fountain Hill, who joined him. Whispered Promises was pregnant with a foal, who was named Mireya when she was born. Elding treated Mireya as though she was his own daughter.
Eventually, however, the mares abandoned the ridge, and Elding was alone for quite a while. In time, he managed to find some new mares, and at last is living the life he always wanted: happy with his mares on the ridge, foals playing in the meadows, surrounded by friends and family. A quiet life, a peaceful life. Yrsa returned to the ridge with her own daughters, to take up residence again with her father.
