Jumping through Fall

My goodness, has fall been flying by! Here in the Mitten, we're soaking in a few last days of partial sunshine and relative warmth before the pattern changes, as we know it will.

a Pandoria-esque sunset from last week

Thanksgiving is so late this year (11/27) that the humans put up the tree already this weekend.

Mom finally made use of an old gift card and treated herself to a couple of new ornaments this year.

We approve!

No signs of Christmas yet on Star Stable, but we've been enjoying ourselves anyway. As you may recall, we were curious about how the Gotland Pony and Welsh Pony compare size-wise. So, here they are:

Our assessment: they're very similar in height and build, but the Gotland's limbs are more dainty.

Raven has completed her training now. It took noticeably longer with her than it did with Kitekey, due to the lack of the bonus horsey experience rewards that come with special events. We did not mind. She spent the second half of said training in her non-magical cremello form, which we also love. 

They happened to visit the orchard while wearing the new apple-themed saddle pad. So, naturally, they paused for a screenshot. =)

Here are Raven and Clara sporting the second set of tack and clothing that Clara painstakingly hand-crafted in Valedale. Loving the tack, especially on Raven. Not so in love with the outfit, but it does all match nicely. (This set also includes brush boots, which Raven could not model, obviously.)

Raven's final sparkle occurred in a rather mundane place, our wash stall, and she was back in her magical form at that point:

That means Seaglass is getting Clara's undivided riding attention now. 

We've all decided we especially enjoy riding her in races with lots of small spaces and/or tight turns, like Uncle Bob's race on Paddock Island. 

She can hold her own on the new show jumping courses - based on some real-life courses - at Jorvik Stables too. 

We found it quite entertaining riding first our coldblood Raven and then little Glassy around these fancy courses with enormous jumps... while most other players were there with their warmbloods. =)

We did see one other Welshie jumping to its heart's content out there earlier this week, though.

These two, H&M All In and H&M Indiana, who are based on real-life Swedish top level jumpers, are now available for purchase near the Jorvik Stables arena. They're both great, but as we still haven't gotten over the Belgian Warmblood's air chomping idle animation, we're not especially tempted.

More exciting to us is the new breed that made its debut on Star Stable the week before, the Black Forest Horse. They come in various shades of flaxen chestnut, and they even have a (more expensive) mane/tail style with little evergreen sprigs tucked in. A+, Star Stable! <3

Other players seem to think so too. We've seen quite a few of them being ridden around in general and in recent championships. 

They are similar in stature to the Jorvik Wild Horse, but unlike the JWH and most of the other drafties on the game, they have no feathering on their legs, allowing them to wear boots and leg wraps.

Ha ha, Raven fits right in.

Now, on to some fun screenshots from our other recent adventures! 

First up: Clara assisted a family that Mr. Kembell had scammed big time, selling them a "house" that was actually nothing but some ruins out in Valedale forest. Clara worked with the family and the councilman of Firgrove to catch Mr. Kimball storing hazardous waste illegally on his Firgrove property.

While the kid distracted everybody, Clara snuck under the broken fence...

snuck past the rather oblivious Dobermans...

...and located the hazardous waste.

Mr. Kembell pulled a fast one and had moved it by the time Clara returned with backup, but Clara snuck back in and found its new hiding spot as well.

The councilman was able to evict Kembell and gave the cottage to the family. Yay for a happy ending, and for finally being able to get through that barbed wire fence!

The other extensive quest we finally saw through to the end: that one with the shadow seekers on the loose in the mountain pass near Goldenhills.

Unconventional, but if it works, we won't argue!

Fortunately, we learned our lesson well the first time and didn't waste any time getting caught by the shadow seekers or falling off cliffs this time. 

The trap worked like a charm! Clara took the whole shebang to Avalon in Valedale for advice on what to do with it.

He made a friendliness powder from some friendly ferns (procured by Clara, naturally), had Clara suck up the powder, and voila, the shadow seeker was now good!

Clara rode Raven back to mountain pass, then proceeded on foot one last time to trap and turn the remaining shadow seekers. She released them by the rift.

They closed it and returned to Pandoria as they did so...

...leaving Clara alone in a much less pink mountain pass.

We didn't think to try riding Raven into the pass to see if she'll go in there now. Next time!

On a much more relaxing note, Clara's been visiting in the Forgotten Fields from time to time to build experience with the Dew family. She's been on a few picnics with and Maya and Alex, cycling through the other optional guests.

Agreed, Linda! <3 I feel like we'd get along great in real life.

Picnicking on the beach under the stars... enjoy, Clara!

Ravenspell and Seaglass

We woke up to this today.

=^\

*Sighs* At least we made it past Halloween this year before the snow started flying. 

Winter's still far off on Star Stable, at least. We finished out the Halloween event with Kitekey in skeleton horse form. The canyon beastie on Halloween itself for us was the giant jackalope. =)

They also paused for a screenshot by the first half of Kitekey's namesake. I do wonder how this one stayed up like this. Magic, I guess.

During the final week, we again got to locate some lingering ghosts and convince them to return to the Keep. This one, who we took to see the highest point in Jorvik, also got to enjoy a wild ride.

Our favorite ghosts were, of course, the non-human ones. Here's the lovely Welshie:

And the adorable terrier:

I sure wish one of the free Halloween pets could've been you, little guy!

Since we have finally unlocked Wildwoods, we were able to bring back all 7 ghosts this year! They all appeared to be levitating inside the Keep, but Clara, sadly, stayed firmly on the ground.

Isn't Clara's hat fabulous, by the way?

Kitekey didn't quite finish his training before the Keep disappeared for the year, so he spent his last few days of training in his non-skeleton form. 

The other horses are still enjoying a break, however. We did take home our long-awaited Duskgrim on the second-to-last day of the Halloween event, so she's been getting most of the riding time since.

Meet Ravenspell!

We love that raven feather mane! She's even more iridescent in her magical form than I had been expecting. 

Here she is on her brief spin around the Keep, before we went back for Kitekey.

What a great match she is for the inky sky!

Star Stable gave us a bazaar during the final week of the event as well. The curvy-eared Marwari went on sale for the first time, the Welsh Pony returned after a long absence, and the Selle Francais was back yet again. (How many times has it been for the Selle now? I've lost count!)

The Marwari has the more cartoony gaits of early Generation 3 horses, so it was easy for us to pass on it. We are content with our Selle, Nightnimbus. 

The Welsh Pony, though... 

It was in at least one bazaar previously, but we passed it over due to its prominent, somewhat Barbie-like eyes. This is especially noticeable on the lighter colored ones. They've grown on us over time, though, after seeing other people riding them at pony championships. And ponies are so useful on the game, since they can hold their own against full-sized horses and also have their own championship and race besides. We all agreed we'd like one in the herd eventually. It would just have to be a mare, both because of the eyes and because of the little braid in the mane that comes standard (and heaven forbid we pay more for a non-standard mane).

The timing was terrible, but the price was pretty great: 50% off their standard price. So, off we headed to South Hoof to take a close look at the different colors.

We ended up going back several times, actually, because it was such a difficult choice. Eventually, we narrowed it from the 4 above to the 2 below:

...and finally, on the last day of the bazaar and Halloween event, we picked the bay roan.

We named her Seaglass because of her sea-green eyes and pale body coloring.

They're both so happy!

Their first ride, a happy jaunt around the Welshie's home turf on South Hoof.

She seems about the same size as our Gotland, Vanilla, to us, but we haven't stood the two side-by-side yet to know for sure. 

After that, Kitekey came back out to finish the Halloween activities strong. Here they are taking one last look out at the Keep with Galloper and Nemain before heading back to Jorvik.

Until next year, we hope!

So much sparkling has been going on lately! 

Even though the Halloween event is gone, the characters have continued to do the jump scare animation. Oops! I hope that gets retired soon.

We're mostly riding Raven now, since she was purchased first, but Glassy also came out once for a pony championship... 

...and we kept her out for a bit after, because she seemed so eager.

Without all the Halloween event busyness, we've had time for some questing. The highlight: rescuing a wild Welshie during a storm:

...and then racing her back to her herd after she had recovered.

Reunited! 

I sure am glad our Seaglass is the Generation 3 version of the Welshie, though. These guys aren't nearly as cute.

The newest Trailblazer Track is giving us continued incentive to log on and play every day. The clothing and tack set is a preppy black and yellow one this time. Very Hufflepuff. =) Of course, we are most eager for the free stable care and horseshoes, but we're gladly taking it all.

This weekend, Clara and Raven visited their friend Qinyang's fancy stable for awhile. She got out all her horses for a photo and included Clara and Raven in the mix. It's so cute that she has both zonies. If we ever visit again, we'll have to take Tigertin along.

Star Stable has been going rather overboard with bazaars lately. This week brought another one, and from the roadmap, it sounds like we're getting two more this month! This one includes four breeds, even.

From left to right:

Knabstrupper: usually 750 sc, on sale for 450 sc

Akhal Teke: usually 850 sc, on sale for 595 sc

Clydesdale: usually 750 sc, on sale for 525 sc

Norwegian Fjord Horse: usually 850 sc, on sale for 425 sc

Fortunately for Clara's pocketbook, we are planning to pass on this one. They're all older Generation 3 breeds that we're not big fans of. Will all our remaining star coins make it through the next two bazaars? It's hard to say for sure until we know for sure the breeds and prices! For now, we're focusing on our beautiful new mares.

Until next time!