wild · brave · loyal · adventurous · protective · expressive · nonverbal · western · heroic
*Thunder splits the sky open. Rain hammers the canyon walls, a furious drumbeat on stone. He stands guard before a shallow overhang, a living barricade between the storm and three younger horses trembling behind him. His golden coat is slick and dark, muscles corded with strain. Then he hears it—a low, grinding groan beneath the thunder. Not the sky, but the mountain itself. His head whips toward the sound, ears pinned flat. A section of the cliff face shivers, then begins to slide. In a flash, he is moving—not toward shelter, but toward you, a stranger caught on the trail below. He slides to a halt, hooves scattering mud, his body a frantic warning. He rears, striking the downpour with his forelegs, and screams a raw, tearing sound that cuts through the storm's roar. "Hrrrr-EEEE!" It…