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Believe it or not this is actually kinda part of Fawn's story too . I had to make sure everything tied in and that all of the characters were in the right place. Now I can actually work on the image that features her.
Also I freaking love this stallion... seriously... love.

Wesley looked up from cleaning out Fray's hooves at the now empty holding paddocks. The last group of Taos Forest Horses to be auctioned had left the property earlier in the week. They had been a particularly spirited bunch, Wesley hoped they could all find capable homes. The good news was that any horse brought to auction that didn't sell was allowed to either be kept by Meadow Lark as part of a smaller sub herd at the stables or released back into the wild. This had been a point that Carol firmly negotiated when deliberating with the BLM about proceedings for the horses.

The one regret Wesley had, since they had discovered the breed and begun working in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, was that none of the horses they'd captured were the golden palomino he'd first seen. While working with the other ranchers during the round ups he'd gotten glimpses of a flash of gold on the mountain side. He knew without a doubt that it was the same horse. Whenever Wesley would ride out after it though it would vanish further into the Taos Forest Horse territory. The other ranchers joked that the horse had become an obsession for Wes and he didn't bother denying it. They'd begun calling the palomino Ransom, because Wesley would have gladly paid a hefty sum in order to have a chance to catch it.

Beginning the brush down process for Fray, he hoped that the new hires Carol had been looking for would be arriving to the stables soon. They'd had to hire new staff members to assist with all of the horses he was supposed to be working with. Since the discovery of the Taos Forest Horses, Wesley hadn't been back to MLS more than a handful of times. He'd spent most of his time learning the territory of the wild horses, studying their herd dynamics, and monitoring the round ups. With the last of the round up horses gone though, he planned to head back to the stables, at least for the next two weeks, the next morning. Fray, who had been a fantastic mount during the entire process, seemed to lament not having his herd mates nearby as well.
"We'll be back soon buddy," Wesley assured him. Just then the cell phone in his pocket began vibrating. Dropping the grooming gear into the bucket he pulled out his phone. The name on the screen read Howard, who had been a huge help in dealing with the herd management.

"What's up Howard?" Wesley answered.

"Hey Wes, I was driving back down the highway and stopped to check the fencing. I found a black mare on the binoculars that seemed to have a small limp on the edges of Nomad's territory, she doesn't seem to be one of his mares either. Do you want me to check it out?"

"Hmm, no that's alright, you head back in to Charlene, I know she has dinner waiting for you. I'll take my truck out just send me a text with the nearest mile marker."
As they hung up Wesley sighed, it seemed like it might be another long night.

The mile marker that Howard gave him took Wesley further out of the city than he expected towards the back range of the Taos Forest Horse territory. Pulling off to the side of the road he got out of his truck, shivering at the sudden burst of cold air. A new cold front was moving in and Wesley hoped he was back at the house before it hit full force. Grabbing his binoculars Wesley scanned the base of the mountains and the forest line, looking for anything that seemed out of place. The stallion the ranchers had named Nomad was a popular visitor of this area, braver than most others he didn't mind that it was so near the road. However Wesley knew from the accounts they had been keeping, that he didn't currently have a black mare in his herd.

After about 30minutes of scanning Wesley was getting ready to call it quits. The sun was slowly setting and the bite of the wind was dropping rapidly. Upon his last scan of the horizon he caught a glimpse of something moving. Rapidly focusing the binoculars he couldn't believe his eyes. The palomino Taos Forest Horse was making his way along the desert underbrush. Shocked Wesley almost stopped breathing as he studied the horse that had sparked the entire TFH movement. As he watched something startled the horse who threw up his body, rearing back sharply. Definitely a stallion. Wesley thought. With that Ransom dropped back down and set off at a gallop towards the line of trees.

Shivers raced through Wesley's body as he climbed back into the truck, partly from the cold and partly from the experience. Positively giddy at having seen the horse Wesley turned back on the highway towards the ranch. As he drove down the darkening road a light dusting of snow began to fall.

Reference: link

Art/Taos Forest Horses/Characters © *ShadowRaven1

Description

Believe it or not this is actually kinda part of Fawn's story too . I had to make sure everything tied in and that all of the characters were in the right place. Now I can actually work on the image that features her.
Also I freaking love this stallion... seriously... love.

Wesley looked up from cleaning out Fray's hooves at the now empty holding paddocks. The last group of Taos Forest Horses to be auctioned had left the property earlier in the week. They had been a particularly spirited bunch, Wesley hoped they could all find capable homes. The good news was that any horse brought to auction that didn't sell was allowed to either be kept by Meadow Lark as part of a smaller sub herd at the stables or released back into the wild. This had been a point that Carol firmly negotiated when deliberating with the BLM about proceedings for the horses.

The one regret Wesley had, since they had discovered the breed and begun working in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, was that none of the horses they'd captured were the golden palomino he'd first seen. While working with the other ranchers during the round ups he'd gotten glimpses of a flash of gold on the mountain side. He knew without a doubt that it was the same horse. Whenever Wesley would ride out after it though it would vanish further into the Taos Forest Horse territory. The other ranchers joked that the horse had become an obsession for Wes and he didn't bother denying it. They'd begun calling the palomino Ransom, because Wesley would have gladly paid a hefty sum in order to have a chance to catch it.

Beginning the brush down process for Fray, he hoped that the new hires Carol had been looking for would be arriving to the stables soon. They'd had to hire new staff members to assist with all of the horses he was supposed to be working with. Since the discovery of the Taos Forest Horses, Wesley hadn't been back to MLS more than a handful of times. He'd spent most of his time learning the territory of the wild horses, studying their herd dynamics, and monitoring the round ups. With the last of the round up horses gone though, he planned to head back to the stables, at least for the next two weeks, the next morning. Fray, who had been a fantastic mount during the entire process, seemed to lament not having his herd mates nearby as well.
"We'll be back soon buddy," Wesley assured him. Just then the cell phone in his pocket began vibrating. Dropping the grooming gear into the bucket he pulled out his phone. The name on the screen read Howard, who had been a huge help in dealing with the herd management.

"What's up Howard?" Wesley answered.

"Hey Wes, I was driving back down the highway and stopped to check the fencing. I found a black mare on the binoculars that seemed to have a small limp on the edges of Nomad's territory, she doesn't seem to be one of his mares either. Do you want me to check it out?"

"Hmm, no that's alright, you head back in to Charlene, I know she has dinner waiting for you. I'll take my truck out just send me a text with the nearest mile marker."
As they hung up Wesley sighed, it seemed like it might be another long night.

The mile marker that Howard gave him took Wesley further out of the city than he expected towards the back range of the Taos Forest Horse territory. Pulling off to the side of the road he got out of his truck, shivering at the sudden burst of cold air. A new cold front was moving in and Wesley hoped he was back at the house before it hit full force. Grabbing his binoculars Wesley scanned the base of the mountains and the forest line, looking for anything that seemed out of place. The stallion the ranchers had named Nomad was a popular visitor of this area, braver than most others he didn't mind that it was so near the road. However Wesley knew from the accounts they had been keeping, that he didn't currently have a black mare in his herd.

After about 30minutes of scanning Wesley was getting ready to call it quits. The sun was slowly setting and the bite of the wind was dropping rapidly. Upon his last scan of the horizon he caught a glimpse of something moving. Rapidly focusing the binoculars he couldn't believe his eyes. The palomino Taos Forest Horse was making his way along the desert underbrush. Shocked Wesley almost stopped breathing as he studied the horse that had sparked the entire TFH movement. As he watched something startled the horse who threw up his body, rearing back sharply. Definitely a stallion. Wesley thought. With that Ransom dropped back down and set off at a gallop towards the line of trees.

Shivers raced through Wesley's body as he climbed back into the truck, partly from the cold and partly from the experience. Positively giddy at having seen the horse Wesley turned back on the highway towards the ranch. As he drove down the darkening road a light dusting of snow began to fall.

Reference: link

Art/Taos Forest Horses/Characters © *ShadowRaven1