Just Looking

Our yearly subscription to HI2 expired a few Thursdays ago, the 20th of July. I kept us playing up until about 20 minutes before it expired, so at least we ended it strong!

My sisters were ready to ask Mom to buy another subscription token already the next day, on Friday night, but I convinced them to be more practical about it. In just a few days, the humans were leaving for a week of vacation. My sisters and I were going to be camping in the backyard (weather permitting) and enjoying the Nala-free house while they were away. Since we wouldn't have much time for HI2 that week, it seemed like a waste to start a new subscription. At my urging, we decided to wait until afterwards so that we could get maximum enjoyment from it. 

Obviously, without access to our ranch, we were so over our horse slot limit it was ridiculous. ("You have the following horses (123 of 7 max):") We were stuck on foot, hence we didn't even leave the Narrowton library when we visited the game on Saturday.

Of our current 122 horses, (the 123rd is that Franches Montagne who is not staying), we have 79 HI2 breeds represented!

Since we were in the library anyway, my sisters and I looked through the BBB at the breeds of horses that aren't already represented in PepsiSummer's herd. I seriously doubt we will ever have a horse of every single breed on HI2, especially since we have allowed ourselves to have so many duplicates of breeds. (Our biggest weakness seems to be the American Paint Horse... we have 5 of them!) As you probably know already, we tend to add horses to the herd based on stats, not on breed. Still, just for the fun of it, we each selected 4 breeds we're missing that we especially like (no repeats allowed).

Bethany's picks:

The Alter Real

a dapple gray

There are usually a few Alter Reals near the top of the list in the livery, but we've never seen a high stat one there. I've always really liked their profile artwork. So classy!

The Estonian Native Horse

a chocolate sorrel

I wouldn't call the artwork of these horses very flashy, but I think they have a quiet, subtle beauty that makes them hard to resist. They come in a ton of fun colors, like this chocolate sorrel.

The Haflinger

a flaxen sorrel

These flaxen chestnut horses are stunning both in real life and on the game. A riding ranch in our area used to have a couple of real Haflingers, so it would be fitting to have one in our herd.

The Rocky Mountain Horse

a black silver dapple

High-stat RMH's seem pretty hard to come by on HI2. I think this is a shame, because this is such a cool breed, and HI2's RMHs seem so steady and alert. Something else cool about them is that both mares and stallions have manes lying on the right sides of their necks, going against HI2's usual "left side for stallions; right side for mares" pattern. I'd especially love to have a silver dapple RHM in the herd, since this is how I picture them in my head.

Felicity's picks:

The Argentine Polo Pony

a dun roan overo

a bay manchado

I love these sporty-looking "ponies." In addition to lots of cool solid colors, they also come in pinto patterns and even the rare manchado pattern.

The Norman Cob

a dapple rose gray

I soooo want a big, clunky Norm someday! <3 Thank goodness that all of HI2's Norms have such beautiful undocked tails.

The Sugarbush Draft Horse

an amber champagne snowflake

While the conformation of HI2's Sugarbushes seems a bit off to me, I think they make up for it with their wide range of fun colors and their awesome appaloosa spots. The snowflakes are my favorites.

The Datong

a silver dapple black spotted blanket

It's a shame we let our one decently-statted wild-caught Datong go. These guys are really cute, and how cool is it that they get nubby little horns?! I'd be happy for one in any color, but of course I've chosen to show you one with spots.

Julie's picks:

The Ardennais

a dark strawberry roan

We had a shot at adopting a roan 6/6 Ardy stallion from the livery once. *Sighs* I wish I'd insisted on snatching him up when we had the chance. They look so gentle and huggable, and I love that they come in roan! <3

The Standardbred

a lilac roan

HI2's Standardbreds have way more attractive artwork than the artwork of its fellow racing breed, the Thoroughbred. As good looking as they are, they don't seem to be very popular on the game. Even though the breed has been around the entire time we've been playing the game, we've never come across a nice one for sale for less than millions of dollars. That doesn't stop me from checking the livery, auction house, and ranch stores every now and then. 

The Spanish Mustang

a dun frame overo

This is one of HI2's newest breeds, and from what I can tell they are quite popular. I can totally see why, and I'd like to give a big virtual high five to whoever created their artwork. So pretty! I doubt we're ever going to find a nice one of these for sale anywhere within our price range, but maybe someday we'll get lucky in the mountains and catch that special one...

The Grade Saddle Horse

a champagne manchado

Even though these horses, like Grade Drafts and Grade Ponies, generally have underwhelming stats when compared to HI2's purebreds, I've always really liked their artwork. They come in pretty much any color and pattern you could want. The one pictured above is one of my personal favorites. If we ever find a GSH with good stats for a Grade, I will insist he or she stays. <3

My (Lily's) picks:

The Anglo Arabian

a dapple rose gray overo

Well done, Anglo Arabian artist! I can totally see both Thoroughbred and Arabian in these athletic, spirited horses, and in my opinion their artwork is superior to both parent breeds. I especially like that one tilted back hoof. My favorites are the pintos, but I'd be delighted with a solid-colored Anglo too.

The Plateau Persian

a dapple palomino

These horses are so cute, and they even look like they're smiling. What's not to like? Since we hardly ever find desert-terrain horses, the odds of us ever finding a nice wild one are not so good. Maybe someday, somewhere, we'll get lucky.

The Danish Warmblood

a perlino

This is probably my second favorite warmblood breed on HI2 (the Hanoverian is first. Love ya, Forte!) I like the alert, friendly expressions on their faces, and their bodies look sleek and proportionate. All the colors are great, but my personal favorite is the perlino. 

The Irish Cob

a rusty gray

Our list wouldn't be complete without one of these new, awesome horses! Even though all my sisters like the breed too, I was able to claim it for this post because my last name is Irish. Irish Cobs come in a wide range of fun colors on HI2 and can be pintos besides. We hope that once the breed has been around for a while, we'll stand a better chance of finding a nice one for sale somewhere within our price range. Of course, we'd welcome a nice wild one too, but what are the odds of that?