Basilio

Name: Basilio

Nicknames: Basil

Name meaning: Italian name meaning Basil

Age:  7 years

Gender: Gelding

-----------------------------------------------------

Appearance

Main color: Light, dusty palomino mottled with white

Markings: Socks, brand on shoulder

Mane: White

Tail: White

Height: 16 hh

Weight: Average

Breed: Grade

Build: Muscular, large. Straight profile.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Herd

Origin Herd: N/a; Bred at private home

Past Herds: N/a; was born in captivity, moved to cavalry, then taken in by Sgt. Adams

Current Herd: The horses at Sgt. Adams’s stables

Lead Stallion:    --               Lead Mare: --

Rank: “Field Ornament"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Relationships

 Crush(es): Open  |  Crushers: Open           

                                                 Love Interest: Open |  Mate: None/semi-open, Basilio is a gelding.          

Friends

    Divinity: Gets along decently with the mare. They aren’t particularly close, as Divinity is very distasteful about how Basilio treats Adams.

Outlaw: More of a rivalry than anything, Basilio competes with the Zebroid over everything.

 Open to ranch/wild horses

Enemies

Open to cavalry/ranch/wild horses

Family

GrandSires: Unknown

GrandDams: Unknown

Sire: Unknown

Dam: Unknown

Brothers: ---

Sisters: ---

Mare(s): None

Offspring: None

Relation to Spirit:

Basilio is the horse of Sgt. Adams. He spent a few months with the cavalry, as well, where he was gelded and they attempted to tame him before Sgt. Adams felt bad for him and took him in.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Personality:

 Anti-social, cold, and aloof. He doesn’t like others too much, and really hates being ridden. Every time he’s had someone on him since he was purchased, he had aggressively bucked them off, gelded or no. He only really could handle being ridden in a tiny round pin, as he had little room, but when given that, he will walk temporarily, freeze, and roll. Basilio has no desire to have a mate, but should the right mare come along, he would enjoy a life companion. After working with Sgt. Adams for quite some time, Basilio softened some and allows Adams to trail ride him, but not without difficulty. He will, however, protect Adams with his life if he must, as Basilio accounts Adams as a kind of hero. Basilio is Italian in breeding, and loves good food in proper nature – his favorite being Braeburn apples and good oats, but if it has a strong, good taste, he likes it. That’s about the only way to get on his good side – give him tasty treats. He will let you in the field with him, and let you pet him, but no matter how good the apples and oats, he still won’t let you ride him. Basilio doesn’t like foals, though, and generally doesn’t want to deal with them.

Likes: standing on his own, not being ridden, not being around other horses, braeburns, galas, oats, rain, fall.

Dislikes: Being ridden, being around others, saddles, bits, and shoes(they generally mean that Adams aims to work Basilio), foals

Fears: The hunt, guns, hounds, raised hands(Usually associated with anger), whips

Goals:

Primary goals:  None

Secondary goals: None

Achieved Goals: None

History:

As a foal, Basilio was born to a wealthy Italian family in the cities of the north. He was of high grade breeding, designed by nature on both sides of his family tree to be a game horse, built to run and jump. He would have made a fine steeplechaser, racer, or any kind of game horse, but the family’s choice for him was to be a hunter’s horse. They sent him off to a trainer – one recommended for hunting horses by the family’s farrier – and thought that surely the man would do things well for Basilio.

They were, unfortunately, wrong. Basilio was rather badly broken – the use of a wooden plank and whip particularly – and created a menace of a colt when he returned. He was sold for the hunt that very week, as the family had already had an agreement (Unfortunately, no one realized what a terror the palomino would be), and he was sent to the hunt. In a small round pin, Basilio did well enough – he didn’t respond to commands too well, in fact he did so terribly, but he didn’t do anything awful. Then the first fox hunt came.

Basilio immediately threw a massive fit when he was mounted in the park – he already didn’t like the strange new horses and loud, boisterous men with their guns, and that combined with the strange surroundings, he would not take it. He bucked and kicked and threw his rider. It wasn’t long before he was forced to calm down, though, and his rider tried again. He did the same. Eventually, Basilio’s rider found him unmountable. He couldn’t keep the horse.

And so, Basilio was sold off again. He was sent to a haven in Illinois next, but before too terribly long, it became painfully clear that he did NOT get along with the other horses. He was stressed and unhappy, and lashed out at the others. He was sold again, and then again and again, until eventually he ended up noticed by a member of the cavalry. Over his life moving around, Basilio was getting a bit closer to rebreaking, but not there at all. Basilio was taken by the cavalry member, and then given to the Colonel when he thought he could, perhaps, use the stallion for a stud.

It didn’t take more than a few days for the colonel to see he was not a good horse for the cavalry. He had a few covers in those days, but soon enough, he was gelded to see if it calmed him down.

It actually did do some good for Basilio, but he still wasn’t easy to ride. In fact, Adams had decided to give Basilio a shot and once the gelding found that Sgt. Adams wouldn’t be bucked, he began to back up extremely quickly. When Adams finally got him to stop, he decided he would not give up on Basilio. When he asked the Colonel about it, after teasing Adams about his softness for horses, it was decided that Adams would have Basilio.

Once Basilio got there, he was completely bewildered. He never did see a pastured area so big, and with a small herd in it. There was a wide field as well as a dirt-grounded, undergrowth-free wood in which the horses could shade in the summer, and a relatively small, deep-banked stream in it. It was wonderful, and the large area allowed Basilio to run as much as he pleased, and he had an open-sided stable he could get in for harsh weather. It was wonderful. In fact, Basilio was, for the first time, happy. He was less restless and got along with his new herdmates better, and though he still was an extreme challenge to ride, Adams worked hard to break him to saddle and bridle.

Eventually, he succeeded, and managed to make a trail horse out of Basilio. Of course, Sgt. Adams could not ride him with too many stressors – only without other people and horses. He also found the large stallion would take a cart and pull fairly well, and actually was fit for it. Basilio didn’t much like the cart, but still, he was okay with it. 

Design by BlackHorseBeth, thank you!