Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2015 15:44:57 GMT -8
Combat Recruit of War
The Basics
Registered Name: Combat Recruit of War
Barn Name: Crow
Age: 9
Gender: Gelding
Breed: Thoroughbred
Breed Registry: Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA)
The Appearance
Coat Color: Black
Stable Color: Forest green & Gold
Height: 15.2 hh
The Personality
Personality: Crow is a very active gelding. Keeping him in a stall is nearly impossible unless you're willing to listen to the constant banging and loud neighing. More than anything, the gelding likes open space, which he uses generously in his laps around the pasture or playful frolics. He's the one horse in the pasture that irritates all the others and usually gets them all riled up.
He does have a tendency to spook at the simplest of things, though sometimes it's just him trying to get out of doing anything he doesn't feel like doing. However, his biggest trigger seems to be riding whips. He'll move away from anyone carrying one with a loud snort and if they approach him, he'll run away if possible. If not, he throws himself into a fit of fear and panics.
On the ground, he has excellent manners - mostly. While he can push you around quite a bit when he's getting impatient, he's typically a perfect gentleman. However, he had a tendency to disappear from beneath his rider from time to time due to excitement. This usually happens when he knows he's getting ready for a show or he knows he's about to get a chance to really stretch his legs and burn some energy.
Crow is the horse that most people try to avoid. While it's easy for people who have been around long to handle him, strangers get quite the test of patience and tolerance. He's been known to nip, run away from, and even kick people he doesn't know, though he mostly uses his hard head to push them out of his way or refuses to respect their personal space at all. But, once you get to know him - or you visit him while Elliot is around, he's really a sweetheart.
Caution Around: Strangers, areas where he knows he is allowed to gallop, riding whips
The History
Basic History: While most of Crow's story isn't known, there's a rather sizable amount that is. He was born to a broodmare by the name of Sassy's Starting a War (Sassy). His sire was a starting show-jumper named Calling All Recruits (Hopper). Both parents were firey thoroughbreds. Sassy had become a broodmare after her previous handlers gave up trying to train her and sold the poor mare and Hopper was always reportedly hard to handle.
Crow was gelded at a young age and sold as a yearling to a man who wished to use him for cross-country. The man was a harsh trainer, making for a rather defiant Crow. In competitions, his handler was known for using a whip to really get a response from his horses. He decided to sell the gelding at three when he was thrown from the thoroughbred in a competition.
The gelding was bought by an elderly couple and went into a pasture with a blind mare, where he was left nearly untouched for almost four years. The wife had delivered the mare and raised her. When she finally went blind at age 18, they decided to get her a field companion so she wasn't alone anymore. Crow's life was easy for those years. He was fed every morning and was allowed to graze all day with no working in-between.
After his four years with the couple, the mare died and - not really having a need for a horse anymore - sold Crow to a natural horseman who wished to retrain and sell the gelding. After nearly two years with the horseman, he was finally sold to Elliot who noticed him after he'd been accepted into Blue Ridge. Riding Crow for the first time had been the most spectacular connection Elliot had ever felt, and the gelding hasn't given him too much trouble. Yet.
The Technicalities
Discipline: Cross-Country, Show-jumping
Owner: Elliot Dean
Rider: Elliot Dean