The other stallions' scuffle is short-lived and peppered by laughter, so Runar quickly realizes that this must be a form of bonding, somehow. In his interest, he forgets to pretend he is grazing, instead simply hanging his head low over the ground, the grass untouched as his dark eyes watch them.

Their behavior makes no sense to him. Runar's childhood had been a lonely one, devoid of any rough-housing with others his age, and his mother Ylva had shown little interest in playing with him much of the time. Any bites that came his way were always in chastisement.

When the other stallions' attention turns to him, Runar lifts his head, a little anxiety fluttering in his belly. Then the older stallion - the one who looks so much like Ylva - charges toward him with a scream, the younger quickly following suit. Runar's body tenses, and for a moment he's frozen with shock, uncertain how to handle this unexpected attack. As they come upon him, his ears lance back and he snakes his head out in the overo's direction with bared teeth. He grasps little more than the ends of the stallion's mane, however, before the stallion collides roughly with his shoulder, knocking him sideways and forcing him to throw his front legs out to catch himself. He spins, throwing his hindquarters in the stallion's direction and bucking once, then twice. If the younger stallion assaults him too, he hardly feels it, so fired with adrenaline and focused on the overo stallion is he.

As all four of his feet hit the earth once more, Runar trots a few strides away before rounding on his opponents once again. It's only then, when the older stallion bursts out in laughter, that Runar realizes he's just been involved in his own bonding scuffle.

His breath coming heavily, he pricks his ears forward and reluctantly lowers his defenses. "Two on one? That's hardly fair," he gripes with a lash of his ashen tail. As his breathing steadies, he directs his gaze toward the older stallion in particular. "I've seen you around a few times," he says. "I get the feeling we may have someone in common. You’re Torsten, right? I’m Runar."