Mikelmerck - Noblebloods

Nobleblood.  Sensitive, fast and prone to breakdown.

In stark contrast to the Duchy pony, the Nobleblood is entirely the product of deliberate breeding for speed.  Among the nobles of Mikelmerck, horse racing has long been a popular sport.  Indeed for some it amounts to an obsession. Lands, power and people are good, but the honour of the race is what truly makes the heart beat faster.

There is some mystery about the origins of the Nobleblood.  Certainly it has little in common with the native ponies, being taller, lighter in build, very delicate and entirely lacking in the Duchy pony's ability to protect its rider.  Fairly solid rumour supports the notion that the progenitors of the Nobleblood are from fey lines. 

Noblebloods are, in short, a luxury item par excellence.  What they have in abundance is speed.  With that speed goes considerable fragility.  This fragilty seems to be the price to be paid for their blinding pace and their ability to pass on those genes to their offspring.

Most noble families have a studbook to their name.  In much the same way as Duchy ponies are used as high currency, so too are Noblebloods.  More than one marriage has been arranged to gain access to particularly treasured bloodlines.