Olaf was old enough to know when and how to pick his battles. There was no point in charging and chasing an intruder unless they gave him cause to do so, and Valentine gave him no cause. The painted stallion seemed pleasant enough in fact, greeting him in a relaxed tone. He introduced himself as Valentine, and as Olaf had suspected, he was from the prairie. Olaf had explored the Prairie a few times in his younger years and he was sure it had changed little. Olaf gave a bob of his head as Valentine paused, and then carried on with why he in the forest.

Somewhat unlike Valentine, Olaf was not opposed to alliances. He didn’t make too many but it was always worth having a few stallions he could trust to send his daughters to when they came of age. While some may be happy to let them choose for themselves, he knew they could fall victim to a cruel stallion too easily. As Valentine pointed out, they were neighbours too and it would be smart to be on friendly terms when you share a border. Predators and rogue stallions were enough to worry about without the prospect of the neighbouring stallion herding his mares away the moved to close to the border (or crossed over accidentally).

It was always good to have a couple of other stallions you could trust. ”That sounds fair.” he agreed with a bob of his head.