ANOTHER UPDATE Once again, *FriesianFury has come through to help me with my friesian horse anatomy. Ever so nicely she drew me a sketch to look off of and this is the result. A higher rump with more curve, a closer-in back left haunch, a straighter back left leg, as well as a curvy neck and more defined chest and a more defined knee cap on the front left leg. Thank you so much !

End of this one

UPDATE After the very lovely and ever-so-helpful critique by *FriesianFury I have fixed the front right leg, as well as the neck, though I am still very unsure about the length and thickness. Please, comment if you have more suggestions.
End Update


This is my submission to 's "Design a Mate" Contest. We were supposed to create a mate for her cool character- [link] .
Originally I wanted to do a lighter palomino color to contrast with his red/gold coat. However, I started messing around with the color to give Ziqhenya a dappled effect, I came upon this brown color and fell in love. I'll be updating an image with Ziqhenya and the male in it shortly to show you how there colors work out.

I had also planned to make her markings into something like a zebra or tiger so that she would look similar to the male. However, I realized that Ziqhenya and the male were starting to look too similar. So I searched around for rare animals, and suddenly I thought back to a recent trip to the zoo. What really stuck out in my mind were the okapi. The shade was dappling their fur, and so I decided to mimic there unique coat patterns here. And then to set off the chocolatey brown coat of her's, I gave Ziqhenya a white mane. I figured that the zebra patterning would help her to camaflague in the savannah (where she is from.)

Alright here's some info on her:
Name : Ziqhenya (which means Proud. I can't remember the language it comes from though!)
Breed : Plains Unicorn (smaller, more delicate friesian body structure with lighter feathering and slight bearding. The mane on her forehead tends to lie flat while the rest stands up.)
Markings : Much like an okapi, with dark brown dappling, honey light markings, and zebra mane and tail. Front legs have white feathering, while back legs are chocolate brown with honey highlights.
Hands : 15.5 hh
Weight Lower in the 1,100 weight range.

Background: As a young filly she was spirited away from her family by mysterious jungle unicorns. She soon found this jungle herd consisted of only females. She was constantly surrounded by an elite guard, highly trained to keep her safe. As she grew into adulthood, the herd worshiped her, believing her coloring was the marking of their female war god. The most advanced of their guard, an old mare, specially trained in the ways of war and battle, in turn, taught her how to fight. She became a proud queen, willing to kill even the most fearsome of creatures in the jungle. It is rumored that her first kill was a leopard, whose heart she is believed to have eaten, to fulfill their prophecy of the battle god reincarnated. With the unexpected burning of their jungle fortress, the jungle herd was scattered, and Ziqhenya found herself alone in the desert. Close to dying, a young plains stallion stumbled upon her, on an initiation quest to become the leader of his herd. Knowing that she was of his kind, yet confused by her strange markings, the stallion reluctantly took her in. As she recovered, she stayed to herself, reclusive and vicious, for she had been taught by her old herd to hate and fear males. Time passed, and as she reached her prime, she felt the call of necessity in the early autumn. And she felt a strange stirring in her heart for the male who had rescued her. But she had no idea if he would accept her as his mate....

I don't know, just the thought I had in my mind for her. I figured that her exotic markings kinda tied her in with the jungle somehow. And all the while I was creating her, the myth of the Amazons, a female clan whom Hercules visited on his quest, ran through my head. So I wanted to give her some kind of background that reflected that. Hope you like her!

Thank you to for creating this contest, and good luck with the judging!