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Description
So, as I said...you get spoiled with 2 icons in one night And this one is fun, too

Enjoy!

For the breedsheet (which has a lot of information to fit in, so will be arranged in a set of sheets), I'm illustrating various key aspects. Both because I think it helps to have a visual guide, and because I like the idea of something more interactive, and this means I get to put my mental images of various scenes to good use

The illustrations will be posted over the next week or so as numbered icons, with the proper information to come.

So...I thought the best way to head up the sections on breeding and pregnant mares, would be to show you a pregnant mare, and here she is

This is a pony type, silver sea based piebald (black tobiano) mare with a Kaudern's Cardinal SoulFish.

Silver as a base colour is another variation, also fairly rare. The Cardinal fish is a common class however.

And this is where it gets FUN

Within days of a successful breeding, the pregnant mare's SoulFish will 'lay' and egg, on one side of the horse, in the belly area. The egg is usually tiny, round, and pale pink, blue or white. Within yet more days, it will 'hatch' into a replica of the Mother's SoulFish, whatever it might be. The tiny baby SoulFish will slowly grow as the foal does, usually tagging around after the Mother's SoulFish. You won't begin to see its individual personality until the very last month of pregnancy, or even until the foal is born.

When the mare gives birth, the imprint of her foal's Soul will fade away on her coat, usually within days, though it can take up to 2 weeks. There is one exception to this - coming later The SoulFish belonging to the foal is already living in its coat when it's born, and this will not be a replica of the mother's, but that foal's own. (Genetics dictate class of SoulFish, but individual species is down to chance).

There's a fair bit more in this chapter, but that's for the breed book

So, a few facts:

1. Foals are born already able to close the valve in their nasal passage, enabling them to submerge in water without drowning. Its an involuntary muscle that doesn't need practice.
2. Ultrasounds aren't strictly necessary, as keeping an eye on the baby SoulFish in the mother's coat can usually forewarn of any issue. The baby Fish won't follow its mother, but spin in circles, act lethargic or get jittery if anything is wrong. Its presence is also a firm indicator of whether a breeding has had any success.
3. In the rare event a mother conceives twins, she will get two tiny SoulFish babies in her coat.
4. After the birth of the foal, the baby's SoulFish imprint on the mother clouds over. It becomes a dusty colour in the coat, losing any markings, before it fades away. This colour change happens hours after the birth.
5. Long tails can easily get in the way when birthing, so it's not unusual for Keepers to cut back the tails fairly high when the mother's teats begin to wax, meaning birth is imminent.
6. Moreso in wild groups, but even in domestic ones, mothers may behave like dolphin pods; only feeding their own foals, but helping to mother others in a community parenting deal. If you're keeping pregnant SeaSouls with other expecting mothers, be careful, as some other horses don't like this openness with their own foals.
7. They like to give birth in the water. It feels more natural for them and the water soothes the contractions. As foals shouldn't be near the sea this young, ponds, lakes, massive baths or - as is used on the island - Tide pools away from the ocean are all good options.
8. Maternal behaviour can vary. Some mothers are okay with people around their young, others like to keep them amongst the herd at first. Get to know the mare before breeding so you can avoid a nasty kick
9. A licence is needed to breed SeaSouls off of Keeper's Island. This licence can be bought through the online shop with enough currency. It just requires a simple application paper, available to fill in and send off. Or it will be. Available, that is

As of right now, all imports are at least 3 years old. SeaSouls haven't been off the Island for generations, the last thing they want to do is send off youngsters. That said, I hope its understandable why this mare isn't up for grabs as an import yet. She's heavily pregnant and her foal will need to be weaned before she can be exported.

But if foal imports, or even more fun, mare and foal/pregnant mare imports interests anyone, let me know. I think it'd be fun to do some of those later on!

So far: (and having to switch to links, as there's now too many thumbs! We've reached a milestone!
SeaSoul Horses - Icon 1
Seasoul Horses - Icon 2
SeaSoul Horses - Icon 3

For the art...This was fiddly because of all the parts, but it was actually straightforward to do. Thankfully

It turned out having more there than first intended, as I realised other bits were relevant, but hopefully it's not too much of an overload. I've had to drag in four separate subchapters under care, so I did what I could. I'm oddly pleased with most of it, now, considering its just a bunch of random items

Time - a few hours
The image linked above was used as a reference for the SoulFish. Other than that, no refs.
Art, breed and concept copyright to Tattered-Dreams
Do not take copy, edit, redistribute or manipulate.
Please respect me and my efforts here and don't utilise aspects of the concept or artwork without permission.

Description
So, as I said...you get spoiled with 2 icons in one night And this one is fun, too

Enjoy!

For the breedsheet (which has a lot of information to fit in, so will be arranged in a set of sheets), I'm illustrating various key aspects. Both because I think it helps to have a visual guide, and because I like the idea of something more interactive, and this means I get to put my mental images of various scenes to good use

The illustrations will be posted over the next week or so as numbered icons, with the proper information to come.

So...I thought the best way to head up the sections on breeding and pregnant mares, would be to show you a pregnant mare, and here she is

This is a pony type, silver sea based piebald (black tobiano) mare with a Kaudern's Cardinal SoulFish.

Silver as a base colour is another variation, also fairly rare. The Cardinal fish is a common class however.

And this is where it gets FUN

Within days of a successful breeding, the pregnant mare's SoulFish will 'lay' and egg, on one side of the horse, in the belly area. The egg is usually tiny, round, and pale pink, blue or white. Within yet more days, it will 'hatch' into a replica of the Mother's SoulFish, whatever it might be. The tiny baby SoulFish will slowly grow as the foal does, usually tagging around after the Mother's SoulFish. You won't begin to see its individual personality until the very last month of pregnancy, or even until the foal is born.

When the mare gives birth, the imprint of her foal's Soul will fade away on her coat, usually within days, though it can take up to 2 weeks. There is one exception to this - coming later The SoulFish belonging to the foal is already living in its coat when it's born, and this will not be a replica of the mother's, but that foal's own. (Genetics dictate class of SoulFish, but individual species is down to chance).

There's a fair bit more in this chapter, but that's for the breed book

So, a few facts:

1. Foals are born already able to close the valve in their nasal passage, enabling them to submerge in water without drowning. Its an involuntary muscle that doesn't need practice.
2. Ultrasounds aren't strictly necessary, as keeping an eye on the baby SoulFish in the mother's coat can usually forewarn of any issue. The baby Fish won't follow its mother, but spin in circles, act lethargic or get jittery if anything is wrong. Its presence is also a firm indicator of whether a breeding has had any success.
3. In the rare event a mother conceives twins, she will get two tiny SoulFish babies in her coat.
4. After the birth of the foal, the baby's SoulFish imprint on the mother clouds over. It becomes a dusty colour in the coat, losing any markings, before it fades away. This colour change happens hours after the birth.
5. Long tails can easily get in the way when birthing, so it's not unusual for Keepers to cut back the tails fairly high when the mother's teats begin to wax, meaning birth is imminent.
6. Moreso in wild groups, but even in domestic ones, mothers may behave like dolphin pods; only feeding their own foals, but helping to mother others in a community parenting deal. If you're keeping pregnant SeaSouls with other expecting mothers, be careful, as some other horses don't like this openness with their own foals.
7. They like to give birth in the water. It feels more natural for them and the water soothes the contractions. As foals shouldn't be near the sea this young, ponds, lakes, massive baths or - as is used on the island - Tide pools away from the ocean are all good options.
8. Maternal behaviour can vary. Some mothers are okay with people around their young, others like to keep them amongst the herd at first. Get to know the mare before breeding so you can avoid a nasty kick
9. A licence is needed to breed SeaSouls off of Keeper's Island. This licence can be bought through the online shop with enough currency. It just requires a simple application paper, available to fill in and send off. Or it will be. Available, that is

As of right now, all imports are at least 3 years old. SeaSouls haven't been off the Island for generations, the last thing they want to do is send off youngsters. That said, I hope its understandable why this mare isn't up for grabs as an import yet. She's heavily pregnant and her foal will need to be weaned before she can be exported.

But if foal imports, or even more fun, mare and foal/pregnant mare imports interests anyone, let me know. I think it'd be fun to do some of those later on!

So far: (and having to switch to links, as there's now too many thumbs! We've reached a milestone!
SeaSoul Horses - Icon 1
Seasoul Horses - Icon 2
SeaSoul Horses - Icon 3

For the art...This was fiddly because of all the parts, but it was actually straightforward to do. Thankfully

It turned out having more there than first intended, as I realised other bits were relevant, but hopefully it's not too much of an overload. I've had to drag in four separate subchapters under care, so I did what I could. I'm oddly pleased with most of it, now, considering its just a bunch of random items

Time - a few hours
The image linked above was used as a reference for the SoulFish. Other than that, no refs.
Art, breed and concept copyright to Tattered-Dreams
Do not take copy, edit, redistribute or manipulate.
Please respect me and my efforts here and don't utilise aspects of the concept or artwork without permission.