ROMAN

[SAPHY.]

NAME

You can call me Roman, though SAPHY calls me Ro'boat.

AGE

Ten years is too short for me.

GENDER

Deny it all you like, I'm still your main man.

BREED

Thoroughbred and quarterhorse? Aren't I just the best d**n thing.

TRAINING

No human hand has ever touched me.

PHYSICAL

I've got these scars, as you can see, but there's real beauty underneath.

While his feral lifestyle has done nothing for his beauty, Roman still shows the good conformation and structure beneath the over-muscled crest and shoulders of his well bred ancestors. Being half thoroughbred, he doesn't keep weight well and, during certain times, he's in a truly horrid condition. To a certain extent, his reputation is true - Roman is one of the fastest horses out there, a skill he seems to give most of his foals. While not the most uncommon color, his dark bay coat is rather impressive beneath all the scars.

Roman was a valuable horse, well, as valuable as any good stockhorse could be. His movement is good, except for a slight paddling action in his forelegs, the long legs of a thoroughbred obvious in the stallion. While there is usually no muscle on the underside of his neck, his small head suits an equally compact, 15.3 hand body well.

PSYCHOLOGICAL

They call me a maneater, but I only eat the ones that try to eat me.

Roman has a strange attitude when it comes to humans, especially when they try and steal his mares. He fears them, yet they are around so often that he is almost accustomed to their presence. He almost treats them like colts, those pathetic upstarts that challenge his authority, attempting to drive them off if they venture too close. He hates anything that poses a threat to his position, and even his own colts have reason to fear him. For all his aggressiveness, Roman has one great weakness. A gunshot, even if it's barely within earshot, is likely to send the stallion into a panic. One whiff of gunpowder and Roman's on his toes, as if waiting for one of his herd to suddenly fall.

Horses are another story, even if he is a little standoffish with most. He does seem a little prejudice, slow mares having no place in his herd - but the mares Roman does keep are the ones he will always fight to keep. He is a little over protective, as if he always expects the worst to happen. And he should. While Roman knows the terrain well, the humans always seem to know it better. Since he was released, Roman's herd has been rounded up, the men taking their pick of his herd and letting them go again, but not without casualties. Life's boring, and what better way to spice it up than causing plenty of havoc amongst the men, especially the ones stupid enough to ride mares.

PAST

They talk about me like I'm half myth, half flesh and bone, but is there truth in any of it?

When the younger of the Harrison brothers gave his brother's fiancee a horse as a wedding gift, it wasn't the smartest choice in the world. When her fiancee threatened to shoot the horse, a then three year old colt, Matilda turned Roman loose and chased him off the property. He had never been the most affectionate horse, untrained at that time, so he gladly went, wandering the boundary for a few days before a small herd of mustangs went past.

Now to any herd stallion, a young colt is something you don't want hanging around your mares. Roman followed the herd north for a short time before he pushed his luck too far and barely escaped from the lead with his life. His first scars, a sign of things to come, and nowhere to go. For almost a year, Roman was aimless - first joining one band of colts, then abandoning it for another when the colts got older, rebelling against Roman's bossy nature. Each time he attempted to gather a herd, each petty fight over fillies, gave him more scars and, more importantly, more experience.

It was during his sixth year that he discovered something important - humans were to be feared. He hadn't seen a human in almost three years, and he had almost forgotten they existed. But civilization loomed, and the wild horses were a target for any man and his dog out to make some cash. Not to mention that the middle of a chase is the best time for a fight between rivals. They chose their time well, sneaking up on a herd as Roman was doing the same. The young stallion had no sense of honour, and he certainly wasn't above using any situation to his advantage.

It was an underhanded blow, the men believing the younger stallion would be easier to catch, but they didn't expect Roman to react the way he did. Spooking at the noise, the smell, and the fact that his opponent had collapsed, Roman bolted, making a wide circle around the mares before fleeing the humans rushing towards the herd. It seems the mares, or at least most of them, took this as a signal and followed an oblivious Roman.

It was a lucky escape, all but three of the herd evading the men, including Roman. While his new position was what he had been fighting for, what instinct drove him to find, Roman took his place halfheartedly. His nights would be spent wandering, often close to the town, and sometimes he would even return with a mare or two, but he was content.

Two years later, they tried again. This time they had more success - every last one of Roman's mares, most with foals at their side, disappearing into the town. The events of that day were what started Roman's reputation as a man eating beast not worth the trouble of breaking. Three saddles, plenty of over inflated egos, an arm and innumerable ropes were the casualties of the first day in six years Roman had spent behind a solid fence, and after a lot of complaining and that all too common wild west logic, Roman was released, expected to do his part in providing the town with a profit and fresh horses.

It took him a while to gather his herd again, one or two of his mares even being stolen from isolated ranches as he learned how the humans worked, slowly getting over his fear but at the same time beginning to hate humans. It was almost as if to spite them, those who chased him - and more often than not horses would disappear after there had been another attempt to end the stallion's reign.

[Sojourner]

Quite good, just a few things. It would be great if you could include an estimate of his height in his appearance, just to get a general idea.

The only other thing is that as lead stallion, I feel that he may learn towards being a little more over-protective of his herd rather than to abandon it at the first sign of a threat from the humans. His reputation for being a beastly devil comes mostly from the havoc he wreaks with the drives, often attacking the men (sometimes spooking their horses with his pure ferocity) rather than to run from them. Even if he is caught, he's never been taken in, being older and wilder than some of the younger horses. The humans have also noted that even if he is a hassle, he does a darn good job of looking out for his herd and sires some pretty good foals.

Other than that, it's accepted! I can tell that you put quite a bit of work into his app, and it turned out great.

[Sojourner]

Thanks for editing the app! It's perfect now.