Gabbar
stallion . arabian . bay . 14.3hh . 6
Gabbar anticipated the smaller, younger horse would squeal and wheel away from his clamping teeth, but the yearling presses closer despite the Arabian’s successful nip. In an Arabian colt this behavior would be impressive and much attention would be given to the growing soldier to nurture his courage, but in a mutt like this speckled child it presents itself as stupidity. Gabbar pins his ears against the boy’s high-pitched outrage and lifts his chin up to bring his face out of range of any retaliation. He would be mortified if he received a wound from a child, and from one of those ugly mixed-breeds, no less.
The boys tiny tail flips against his haunches and the bay stallion feels the soft, short strands tickle his own coat. When the colt’s teeth close on the thick flesh of his shoulder, Gabbar emits a bellow in protest. The sound is loud and deep and his first instinct is to follow it up with an aggressive bite aimed at the yearling’s face, but he holds himself back. The boy’s soft tail reminds him of when he was a yearling and did not think it unwise to defend himself against the bullying of an older bachelor— he’d gotten his ass kicked in that fight, but it had also taught him much about the art of fighting.
Gabbar owes nothing to this half-breed with a spotted rump, but when he kicks out at the child’s front leg with his own seasoned hoof it is with significantly less force than he would use against an adult. If his attack hits the child, it will perhaps scrape against the skin, maybe bruise the bone a little as his hoof connects, but it will not cripple the colt and it will certainly not cause enough pain to down the child— not unless its bloodlines have made it vulnerable to even the smallest degree of pain, which does not seem to be the case given his angry retaliation against the bay stallion.
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