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Description
Entry for the Nordanner RNG Mini Show - Round 57 - Event 3
Horse: Veni Vidi Vici 2480

Story
The colt was born in the early hours of the morning, shortly after midnight, as these things often went. Following his birth his dam had given him a few perfunctory licks to clean him off and then returned to eating hay, quite pleased with herself and more than happy to give her foal some space to get his bearings. He didn’t feel much at all, too dazed from the shock of suddenly being alive to do much more than lay in the straw under the overwhelming awareness of the world.

He wouldn’t remember these moments, of course- nor would he remember that sudden instinctive push to get up, that primal and irrefutable voice urging him to drag himself to his feet. When he finally managed to get his feet under himself and heave his body up, he locked his knees for a moment and merely stood, shaking and exhausted. After a few moments he lifted his head and saw his mother watching him. She blinked at him softly, appraisingly, and then decided to take pity on him and walk over to where he stood.

The foal took his first drink and then collapsed inelegantly, too exhausted to even contemplate trying to carefully lower himself to the ground. His mother grunted and turned back to her own food. Now, there was only this: peace.

He would sleep through most of the rest of the night, and only half awaken briefly, sluggishly, when a man quietly entered the barn some hours before sunrise to discover the newcomer and his mother dozing in the early morning. The man would stroke the mare’s neck and say a few low, gentle words to her, and then the man would halter the unresisting colt and rub a soft towel over his body before leaving again.

The colt would only remember these things hazily, blurrily, and would likely soon forget all of the night but the man’s soft voice and the comforting firmness of a warm hand against his flank. For now, thought, what he remembers is this:

The straw is layered deep and soft, and the night is cool and dry in a way that lulls him into an easy slumber. It is largely silent except for the rhythmic chewing of his mother as she shuffles through her hay, and the occasional quiet buzz of an insect flying by. He hears her step carefully through the stall occasionally, feels her presence ebb and flow by his side, and is reassured to know that she is with him. At times there is a low rumble deep underground, as though some great beast is lumbering through the earth, but these beasts are not yet known to him and so give him no comfort or fear. What he knows instead is silence, and warmth, and the quiet contentment of living in a world that has thus far only shown him kindness.

For now, the tired colt’s head falls to rest on the bed of straw around him and he gives his limbs a final languid stretch before drifting off into a pleasant, dreamless sleep.

Reference: Mountain View Stock

Description
Entry for the Nordanner RNG Mini Show - Round 57 - Event 3
Horse: Veni Vidi Vici 2480

Story
The colt was born in the early hours of the morning, shortly after midnight, as these things often went. Following his birth his dam had given him a few perfunctory licks to clean him off and then returned to eating hay, quite pleased with herself and more than happy to give her foal some space to get his bearings. He didn’t feel much at all, too dazed from the shock of suddenly being alive to do much more than lay in the straw under the overwhelming awareness of the world.

He wouldn’t remember these moments, of course- nor would he remember that sudden instinctive push to get up, that primal and irrefutable voice urging him to drag himself to his feet. When he finally managed to get his feet under himself and heave his body up, he locked his knees for a moment and merely stood, shaking and exhausted. After a few moments he lifted his head and saw his mother watching him. She blinked at him softly, appraisingly, and then decided to take pity on him and walk over to where he stood.

The foal took his first drink and then collapsed inelegantly, too exhausted to even contemplate trying to carefully lower himself to the ground. His mother grunted and turned back to her own food. Now, there was only this: peace.

He would sleep through most of the rest of the night, and only half awaken briefly, sluggishly, when a man quietly entered the barn some hours before sunrise to discover the newcomer and his mother dozing in the early morning. The man would stroke the mare’s neck and say a few low, gentle words to her, and then the man would halter the unresisting colt and rub a soft towel over his body before leaving again.

The colt would only remember these things hazily, blurrily, and would likely soon forget all of the night but the man’s soft voice and the comforting firmness of a warm hand against his flank. For now, thought, what he remembers is this:

The straw is layered deep and soft, and the night is cool and dry in a way that lulls him into an easy slumber. It is largely silent except for the rhythmic chewing of his mother as she shuffles through her hay, and the occasional quiet buzz of an insect flying by. He hears her step carefully through the stall occasionally, feels her presence ebb and flow by his side, and is reassured to know that she is with him. At times there is a low rumble deep underground, as though some great beast is lumbering through the earth, but these beasts are not yet known to him and so give him no comfort or fear. What he knows instead is silence, and warmth, and the quiet contentment of living in a world that has thus far only shown him kindness.

For now, the tired colt’s head falls to rest on the bed of straw around him and he gives his limbs a final languid stretch before drifting off into a pleasant, dreamless sleep.

Reference: Mountain View Stock