It sidestepped me, tail clamped, and spoke.

All three of these actions would have been intolerable in the Arch, among the mares who knew better than to test me, but this one was new and my passive approach had obviously given it a grievously misguided idea that it could defy me. Let no one think I was weak, or that I would allow some stupid mare to dictate my relationship with it. This mare was mine, and I would see to it that both my herd and the heavily spotted mare in question would understand that.

I stepped to the side only moments after the mare did and snaked my head out, aiming to clamp my teeth on its haunches and startle it forward with a strong bite. I moved forward as I drew my head back in case that failed to rouse the mare, ears pinned and head up in case it should try to kick at me. I would not tolerate disobedience in my herd, and the sooner the mares of the Forest accepted that, the sooner things could settle.

Not for the first time, I cursed the Black for running off. At the Arch, things had been calm. Good, even. I had to start over with this group of mares and show them how I would not tolerate stragglers or behavior that disturbed the herd. The mares would stick together. As this one was now mine, it would do better to learn that sooner rather than later. I reached for its skin with my teeth again, this time to pinch its skin in a light nip to move it further into the clearing. As far as I was concerned, it had come to me and this was its herd now.