The Friends I've Found

Heaven is being weaned!

Time for Helheim to go on home (and wow, in the nearly real-time year that I've had Heaven and her mother in an rp sense, Helheim was actually sold XD).

Heaven is being group weaned at Lakewood with four other youngsters and a Nanny mare to make the adjustment as easy as possible, and also to encourage social skills. The Nanny is Lakewood's own Mossy - the flaxen Arabian mare with a maternal streak a mile long. The other four youngsters all belong to other RP stables.

My thanks and apology to the owners of the featured foals. I intended this to be posted last year, but life happened and it was very, very delayed. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you like the outcome. Sorry it took so long

Featured:



Featured in the story below also:
1151 Silverwind ref and SL Tiger, Tiger
And Lakewood's Faerie Promise* as the Nanny, A2459 Helheim, Heaven's mother, Contessa and Camberwell Beauty.

...

Attention:
I've written the story to accompany this, taking the other foals' situations into account as I was told them. Some of it is my own embellishment. The story does focus on Heaven with the others as supporting characters. This takes place in semi-real time - so late Summer/early autumn of 2016. This is a one-off story of a snippet of the whole process. Some of the foals remain in the group longer than others and come from different circumstances. If you're interested in any of their stories or progress you need to go to the galleries of the artists who own them. Thank you.

Nanny mares:
This is just one method of helping along the weaning process; it just happens to be the one Lakewood chose for this particular filly. Mossy has proved herself a very laid back, sweet natured mare with a bit of a maternal instinct and ideal for this. 'Nanny mares' are typically a reliable horse that is turned out with (and sometimes stabled alongside) a young horse, or horses, in order to help them adjust to the lack of their actual mother. In fact, its not uncommon for Nannies to be geldings instead. But sometimes the weanling can just transfer their dependency to the Nanny, so it can aid everyone in the long run to give one Nanny a cluster of weanlings. Its good to develop their social and herd skills while young and lessens the chance that one weanling and the Nanny will come to depend too much on one another.

Useage:
(For those with foals featured. Everyone else; mitts off)
The artwork remains copyright to me. Your character is yours.
--I intend to post the completed image to equiBREAK as part of Heaven's training course. You may count my upload for your foal too, if you wish, assuming you're allowed to count art by others--
You may not use this as a show entry, or in relation to a show, even if the event permits commissioned work.
You may link this in journals/references/profiles/wherever on dA to display, count for breed points, as part of a feature or anything relating to horses or harpg. You may link to it on another site, you may save the image on your personal computer for personal enjoyment (ie a background or screensaver).
You may not reupload/post or share this image anywhere yourself, including posting it to your own gallery on dA. You may not use it commercially or gain money from it for any reason. You may not claim it as your own, edit or manipulate the image.

...

STORY TIME

Heaven was halfway down to the paddock before she seemed to notice that her mother wasn't following her.

Mossy walked gracefully ahead, ears pricked but neck relaxed and her long rope swaying gently in a loop, the end draped over her back. Chess was at her shoulder, fingers hooked in her rear jeans pockets and eyes on the sky. Joanna was working on that kind of response from the Nordanner filly, but they were nowhere near there yet.

Heaven's head was high, ears tuned keenly forwards and her stride was bouncy on the dry path. At nearly seven months old she was caught between phases; her body no longer foal like with knobbly joints, but nor had she properly grown into it. Her legs were still long, her croup still higher than her withers and her frame slender. Her mane and tail were no longer a tangle of curls, but a wavy spill, blazed through with the pinks and yellows of her peafowl genetics. She walked smoothly on the loose lead line, having learned long ago not to pull at it, and they were making easy progress to the open gate when she planted her heels in.

She turned on the spot, quarters wheeling out and tail rising up on the bone, the ends catching in the light breeze. Her ears swivelled, her nostrils flaring. Mum wasn't behind her.

The piercing whinny shattered the summer morning and Mossy looked around, stopping on the path.

After that, it was a bit of careful encouraging and sly maneuvers to get Heaven into the paddock. She protested, spinning in circles, constantly looking back up the track to the yard, expecting her mother to follow her out.

But this day had to come eventually.

Helheim had begun to refuse letting Heaven suckle a couple of weeks back. The filly was already eating solid food, but the mare had evidently decided it was time, and with gentle rebuttals, had stopped allowing her milk. Taking their cue from her, they had started to separate the two more and more. Helheim was moved into the loosebox next door, with the low partition walls allowing them to remain in clear view of one another. They had started grooming Heaven and making a fuss of her while Helheim was taken out for exercise. Before, Heaven would come with them, standing in the arena while her mother was first loose schooled, and then slowly started being ridden again. Now, they spent the time apart. And then they had put them into separate fields; allowed to see and touch over the fence, but beginning the process of breaking them apart, whilst also introducing Mossy.

Finally, after a few days increasing the number of empty paddocks between them, came the morning when Heaven would experience field time without her mother in view at all.

Joanna and Chess left the girls in the field, both with their halters on, just in case, and resolved themselves to ignoring the pacing and squealing as they headed back to the Barn.

...

Heaven was not impressed.

The first two times she was turned out, she would pace and stamp at the gate, try to open the latch with her teeth and squeal, rearing up when it didn't work. She had proven herself clever and persistent, and would patrol the fence for weakness in between calling for her mother. Mossy grazed nearby, an ear trained on her young charge, but otherwise doing what she did best - staying out of it while providing a calming influence.

Heaven did not stir herself into a panic. She wasn't wild-eyed, lathered up or exhausted, even after being left out for a couple of hours. Over two days, she learned to split her time between testing the fence, experimental calls, and actually enjoying the last of the summer grass. She looked for her mother because it was habit; because she always had, not because she depended on her anymore.

...

On the third day, there was another youngster in the paddock beside her.

Mossy, with her endless patience and maternal instinct, approached quietly and gently, offering a nose in greeting. The colt was a rich, dark chestnut; his coat absorbing the sun and his mane and tail just tinted a brighter shade. He had white legs and a broad, tapering mark on his muzzle to match. At seven months he was a few weeks older than Heaven, but the presence of another weanling seemed to soothe him. The sad calls for his missing dam were replaced with an excited whinny as he made his way over.

Later that same day, Austin led another young horse down to the paddock on their other side; this one a heavily built amber cream champagne colt with broken white patches who already had thick fluff about his fetlocks and a dense mane. Mossy headed over to greet that one, too, and Heaven decided, without much fuss at all, that goading the liver colt into a game of chase would pass the time far better than pacing at the gate.

...

Then came the day that both the dark colt - named Aigeiros - and the champagne one - Silverwind - were led into their same pasture. Silver was excitable; the new friends being so close had him leaping about and stamping the grass with his wide hooves and Mossy - looking decidedly breakable next to the colt's heavy frame - had to insert herself between him and Aigeiros to set some boundaries. They all settled quickly - Mossy able to watch them at a distance while they raced up the fenceline, fought over the water bucket and all tried to be first out of the gate at the end of the day.

It wasn't long before two more weanlings joined their little group.

These two were fillies; Vahni and Idunn. Both were striking to look at and, at eight months old, a little more settled in their bodies. Vahni looked like she had two different colour coats and was covered in stripes like a wild cat. Idunn was blinding white and polka dotted with vivid chestnut. They spent a few days over the fence rail before they were all moved into one of the larger fields together. The fillies held their own very well. Clearly they were used to each other, coming from the same stable, but they didn't have much social skill beyond one another. They didn't back down even against Silver's larger size, which was good for him, but when they got too full of themselves, Mossy was always there to step in with a warning. The Arabian mare might look like a delicate flower, but none of them crossed her. It wasn't worth the pinned ears and expression of deep disappointment or being ignored for long minutes afterward.

Heaven soon went the days without thinking of her mother at all. She would see her in the evenings, when they were all brought in for food, grooming and daily handling, but the hours spent beyond the yard were too full of play, sun and grass to think too much on horses that weren't there.

It was the first time she'd interacted with foals her own age. They, like her, had little concept of being in a herd, how close to stand, how hard to kick. The late days of summer melted into early autumn; the change subtle, just in the taste of rust on the breeze while the sun was still bright and the trees still green. Heaven learned many things. She could kick out or bite in warning if she wanted to be left alone. She could brush her nose to another's flank or cheek in greeting. She could toss her head and skip to cajole someone into playing with her. She could take her place in a circle with them to block rain or wind. She could stand her ground for a spot of grass, or first position at the gate without being mean about it...though clearly on some days Vahni definitely wouldn't be challenged for first place.

She learned to exist, to live, to be a part of something.

In the times when she came in, she would test these new things on the yard. Blowing out a breath through her nostrils to greet horses in passing, and feeling her confidence grow when they returned it. Even on the occasion she tried to say hello to Contessa, the dark Timekin mare and received pinned ears in response, Heaven took it keenly and backed away - giving space was a lesson she had learned long ago in human language, and was now perfecting in her own.

She still had time with people. Joanna was a constant - often leading her in, letting her out, supplying her with feeds and vigorously curry combing dirt and loose hair from her coat after a day in the field. And at those times, Heaven sometimes missed her. She was out much more as the days slid past, even spending nights under the stars with her field mates, all of them in light sheets to keep the breeze away. She enjoyed the freedom and the friendships, and her mind was kept so busy that she had little time for what was beyond the field. But when it was time to come in, and people gathered at the gate, Heaven found herself looking - less and less for her mother - but more for the dark skinned girl who always put on her halter so softly and always had some stolen contraband at the ready.

...

Silverwind left first.

He'd stayed longer than he was first meant to, but his time under the Lakewood sky had gentled him. He didn't throw his weight about so much; had a greater understanding of his own power. He'd always stayed in at nights, only joining them during the day, and one morning, he simply didn't come out. Mossy seemed unconcerned, so they all followed her lead - she had, afterall, been their guiding force since the start. Her lack of worry over being left out, having a rug on, being moved to a new field, or any other unfamiliarity had slowly been instilled in them, too. Silver's presence was missed at first. He was always up for a game and testing the gate to see if this was the day they hadn't secured it well enough. But the days continued on, and there were no other changes; Heaven was still fed, still cared for and fussed over, and still had friends in the field. His absence became a fuzzy concept.

...

Vahni and Idunn both left together.

The weather was just beginning to turn, the trees tinting to shades of red and gold, though the ground was still firm and the grass still thick. Their light sheets for night in the field became canvas blankets, waxed against rain, and they were kept in the stables more often, hearing wind catch around the doors.

One bright, slightly misty morning, standing tied in the yard, Heaven and Aigeiros watched as both the broken colour fillies were led away and loaded into the huge lorry, parked just beyond the gate. Joanna rubbed at her neck, unbuckling her fleece and removing the rug from her back. Beside her, munching on his hay, Aigeiros was having his feet picked out by Becca. The lorry started up; a familiar rumbling sound that Heaven had long associated with something moving, and then it was carrying her friends away.

Vahni was the bolder of the two; fiercely competent, though Idunn was no wilting daisy. They had both mellowed in a similar way to Silver - learning to temper their aggression and use their body language before their teeth or hooves if they wanted something. They had showed Heaven, much as Mossy had, how to stand up for herself. And now they were gone.

Heaven was turned out into the usual field afterwards with Mossy and Aigeiros. And then, right over the fence, a new horse was set loose.

This one was older, though still too young to carry a person. She had a creamy coat and downy feathers that covered her hooves, her face splattered with a barred grulla mask. Her back shimmered under the autumn light with violet and cerulean speckles that matched the plumes of colour in her tail. She was a peafowl, but not one like Heaven herself. Something else. Her name was Camberwell, and two days later, she was released into their field with them. She greeted both Heaven and Aigeiros with foal-like glee, and then sank to the ground to roll.

The days continued on and Heaven simply came to realise that horses would not always stay. Her mother - the inky mare who'd been beside her for her first months on earth - was no longer with her constantly, and instead she'd gained four new friends. Three of them had left, but there was a new one now. And wasn't that it? No matter how many left, there would always be new ones, others to interact with.

And that suddenly seemed like nothing to fear. It just felt like living.

...

Finally, Aigeiros left.

He had long since stopped calling for his dam, and had even calmed a little whenever he saw someone approach the gate. The whinnying in greeting might never be grown out of, but why should it? In fact, whenever Heaven felt like it, she'd picked it up, too. And hearing the boy she knew as Eric laugh out loud when she called to him once had been well worth it. The liver chestnut colt was still very sociable, greeting horses on the yard at every opportunity, and Heaven still remembered him as the first horse she'd interacted with her own age.

They said their goodbyes on the yard before he was loaded up and driven away. Right after, she, Mossy and Camber were let out into the Wickerwood field to soak up the last of the afternoon sun. This pasture was enclosed on three sides, feeling like a grotto deep in the woods, rather than at the edge of it. the fence was swallowed by overgrown hedgerow, and trees rustled overhead, dotted through the grass. The single fenceline exposed was not post and rail, but a woven one.

Just the other side, all the people at Lakewood gathered on a large blanket with tubs of food. Heaven joined her field companions at the gate, necks stretched out hopefully as the picnic took place before them - people laughing, dogs racing around and music playing from a small speaker.

If this was life, it was a pretty good one.

-----------------

And this got really long, so I'll stop it here. Originally I intended to write it more from the staff perspective - the logistics of handling a weaning group - but then it ended up being more Heaven's own story.

As of this point, she's basically weaned, and its been a a couple of months (give or take) since the start of the story. Helheim is still at Lakewood, though, as I felt that deserved its own bit, rather than being tacked on at the back.

Painted last year, several months ago and not edited since.
Photo used as a reference for poses and lighting: www.forestandalusians.co.uk/wp…
Art, Mossy, Camberwell, Heaven and all other Lakewood Characters copyright to Tattered-Dreams
Aigeiros belongs to bedfordblack
Idunn and Vahni belong to MusePony
Helheim belongs to deadliestt
Do not take, copy, edit, redistribute or manipulate.