2022 Makeover - Phase 1: Bonus Objective - 2632

Bonus Objective: What’s their personality like? Are they fearful, shy, or sullen? Or are they sweet and cuddly right from the start? Describe or draw your Loshenka’s personality.
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When Red arrived he was confused and anxious, but that was to be expected of a young unstable horse in a completely new environment. He'd only ever been free-standing in a trailer by himself once before, and it was not a pleasant or positive experience. He was sweaty and baffled. Unfortunately for him he also had the disadvantage of being comfortable with other horses, so any sort of buddy system couldn't bring him any comfort.

Once he calmed a little he became curious of his surroundings. Whilst his problems made him more anxious, they also made him fairly self-reliant. He did what he wanted on his terms and didn't feed off other equine's emotions or reactions. In short, it gave him an unusual confidence.  He sniffed around his pen and familiarised himself with all the important things; food, water, horses, people, gate.

As obvious as he was trying to be, the mares in the neighbouring paddock continued to pester him. They were curious who this new horse was and wanted to befriend him.

He wasn't sure how to deter them and it was making him nervous again so he did his best to ignore them. He nibbled some hay to try and defuse his tension.

Once he'd spotted the humans on the property, he perked right up. He now had something to turn his efforts to and was desperate for attention.

He pranced around and nickered eagerly to anyone who came into his field of vision. He was like a seasoned stud who'd spotted mares. He obsessively followed everyone and would even reach out to anyone who got close enough. Fortunately, the fences surrounding him were tall and didn't allow him to reach his head out beyond the pen.

Why they wouldn't say hello to him, he couldn't understand it. At his previous home, everyone said hello to him. He had toys, attention, people and his little girl. He felt homesick and couldn't understand why everything had changed. His happy memories flashed in his mind. Cold winter mornings of hot porridge, warm snuggles and blankets. Long summer evenings spent playing fetch with his owners. The sound of giggles after he lipped at cheeks. Cold sweet drinks for the summer days. Waiting at the gate for her to come home from school.

He opened his eyes and was still in the pen. He began to pace, his anxiety bubbling.

He tried eating again and the mares, ecstatic he'd come near their side, pestered him again. He pinned his ears at them, clearly uncomfortable but unable to express it fully. He moved away and spotted a new human. He recognised this one’s scent. He must have come here from the middle place too. He clung onto the brief familiarity with this person and desperately tried to reach out to him. Nothing he did seemed to impress this human though, as he quickly disappeared from view. He searched for this person, high and low but couldn't smell, hear or see them anymore. Red began to obsess over this human. He tried everything he could think of, even scaling the huge fence surrounding him. Slowly working himself up into more and more anxiety. He felt alone, abandoned, homesick and trapped.

After failing to jump out, he set his sights on the gate. He’d seen it open, he’d seen it shut. He’d also undone gates before, but this one, he hadn't seen before. He was sure he could get it open though, he must.