Seeing Spots

Hi everybody. 

It probably goes without saying, since my non-virtual horse is an Appaloosa, but I love horses with appaloosa spotting. Hence, I was thrilled to add Toasty the Noriker, our first appaloosa-spotted horse, to our herd back in November. I don't much like the looks of Knabstrups and Appaloosas on Horse Isle 2, nor do I like the reduced skills of most grade horses and ponies, so I didn't expect to find another spotted horse anytime soon. I have dreamed of finding a really nice Nez Perce ever since the breed was added to the game, but so far Nez Perces have eluded us completely. I hadn't even considered... *drumroll *... the POA!

Most POAs are quite small, so I figured the odds of anyone finding one that was both big and had good stats were pretty slim. Turns out I was wrong!

Julie and her newest horse, Hazel, were out on Petal Isle collecting giant pollens for a quest when they found him. He refused to face the camera for his screenshot. XD 

Score! 14.0 hands!

It's weird that white leg markings don't show up on POAs...

Fortunately, in addition to being 6/6, this handsome chestnut leopard POA is maximum height and weight for the breed. Less fortunately, he is only +57, and none of his skill categories even make it to 400. I think I'll probably still keep him (what are the odds of us ever finding another wild POA as nice as him?), but I haven't decided for sure. 

Hmm. His avatar sure is cute!

Wow, have we ever hit the jackpot in finding 6/6 ponies on the leaf isles this year! First Jessamine the New Forest and now this guy!

Purple Horse!

I've been livery stalking again on HI2, and you know what that means...

Yep, another new horse. But how could I resist, when he was a Missouri Fox Trotter (I've always wanted one), +93 for his breed, and... purple! 

Here is my new buddy, Quasar:

an unusual horse deserves an unusual name!

Definite purple shine, wouldn't you say? Seal brown Dartmoor ponies are the same way - I know because I caught one of those once. Sometime I'll have to check if this phenomenon occurs in any other breeds. 

Quasar is the minimum height and weight for his breed, which may explain why he ended up in the humane society (like Esker and December). So many players are all about having tall horses... Their loss! 14 hands is quite respectable, isn't it, boy?

check out that dramatic tail swish!

Quasar came with the name "Cola Cola." xD I think Quasar suits him better.

His avatar is nothing near as fancy as his close ups, but that's okay. He's still quite different from any of our other horses so far. Welcome to our ranch, Quasar! *gives him a pat*

Stem Isle Surprise

Guess who just found our first 6/6 equine of 2014 on Horse Isle 2? =D

Zephyr and I had just arrived on Stem Isle to harvest petal piles for silkworm cocoons. (We go through those cocoons like crazy in crafting beading cord for necklaces.) We were on our way down the beach to the far east side to begin searching when this beauty came into view: a white gray New Forest Pony.

By standing so close to the beach and pretty much walking into my lasso, it was almost like she was looking forward to being caught. 

And now for her close ups:

she's pretty tall for a pony

swish that tail!

I have a feeling she is going to get on well with Brio, our other 6/6 Socialite. She'll probably be fond of Vinca, our stellar little Newfie, too.

This pony is the 10th 6/6 equine we have ever caught and our 2nd 6/6 mare! The 6/6 wild tally now stands as follows:

Lily: 4

Bethany, Felicity, and Julie: 2 each

Just try and catch me, sisters! :-)

Here's one last screenshot of what she looks like under saddle:

She looks great with our avatar's January outfit. Maybe that's why she seemed so eager for me to catch her. ;^)

Isabelle

Well, she's here. American Girl's 2014 Girl of the Year is Isabelle Palmer, a dancer with a special talent for costume design from Washington, D.C.! 

Our conversation when we first saw her online on the 1st went something like this:

Felicity: Really? Another blond?

Bethany: Of course another blond. 

Felicity: Yeah, it's been two whole years since AG had a blond girl of the year. The universe might explode if they held off any longer than that!

Bethany: Blonds sell well, I'm sure.

Julie: Well, it does make sense. When I imagine a ballerina, I do think of a blond in a pink tutu...

Felicity: Wasn't one blond in pink enough? They just introduced Caroline in her pink number in 2012.

Lily: Hey, do you have something against blonds?

Felicity: I just feel they are overrepresented. As are brunettes. We've had plenty of blond and brunette girl of the year dolls, but only 1 with black hair.

Bethany: 2 if you count Sonali.

Felicity: True, but Chrissa was the star of that show. And Sonali was a big jerk in the movie.

Bethany: I was rather hoping for an African American doll of the year to add some diversity.

Felicity: Or a Latina doll. 

Julie: They already had Marisol. Wasn't she Latina?

Felicity: I don't know. 

Lily: Yes. She was. But she was way back in 2005.

Felicity: Oh. Then how about a Latina doll with darker hair?

Bethany: I've always wanted to see a black haired doll with gray eyes.

Felicity: Why doesn't AG make dolls with gray eyes?

Bethany: They do. Molly has gray eyes. 

Lily: Molly's retired.

Bethany: She is?!! Bummer!

Lily: I think most young girls are going to prefer blue or the new aquamarine to gray, so I doubt AG will be bringing gray back anytime soon.

Felicity: What is with this "aquamarine" business? I've never seen a person with aquamarine eyes in my life.

Bethany: Ditto. But it is pretty. 

Felicity: What's with the asymmetric pink shirt? 

Lily: Because she likes clothes design. Keep up, Felicity.

Felicity: And the pink-tipped hair clip ins?

Lily: Young girls will like them.

Felicity: Gag me.

Bethany: I like that she has hazel eyes. 

Lily: ...Says the doll with hazel eyes. 

Bethany: AG doesn't have any other hazel-eyed dolls with her shade of blond hair. Just this My American Girl with "honey blond hair."

Lily: Oh, then it's about time. I think Isabelle's cute. And her movie should be entertaining.

Felicity: At least her name isn't spelled funky like Saige's was.

Julie: Her hair looks pretty in the twist thing.

Lily: Yeah, it does. I should try it on you guys sometime.

Bethany: I'm glad she doesn't live in New York. That's been done plenty already.

Julie: Do you think AG will ever make a doll from Michigan?

Lily: Nope. Not when they've already done Caroline from New York by Lake Ontario. 

Felicity: Arg. Thanks a lot, Caroline.

That's all for now, but check back soon for a look at Isabelle's clothes and accessories. I'm sure we'll have plenty to say about them too.

Wild Hunting with a New Buddy

Part of what makes Horse Isle 2 so entertaining is its other players. The game wouldn't be nearly as fun without chatting with buddies and meeting new people. 

We started out our HI2 new year by meeting PandemoniumGal, a wonderful player who - wonder of wonders - actually has visited this blog. =) I, Julie, was riding Shady around the decay isles when she sent her first PM to us.

We ended up deciding to do a little wild hunting. She rode out to the decay isles, but we had no luck finding any horses. I did get a few Kasper dust specks, pirate treasures, and emeralds, though. I hope she found a few things to help pay for travel costs too.

Then, off we went to bake in the sun on the vast Desert Isle. We rode and rode, and just when I was starting to think we weren't going to find anything there either, PandemoniumGal spotted an Alter Real. As I rode towards her to watch it for her (she wanted to save it for one of her other buddies, AmazingEshrohs, to catch), I almost ran into my own first wild of the new year, a bay American Mustang. XD I was so excited I that forgot to take a screenshot before catching her for PandemoniumGal. Whoops! I did get a few shots of the Alter Real hiding behind a sand dune, though:

It took Esroh two tries to catch this elusive wild. 

Oops. I didn't mean to give Shady and myself a reddish glow...

Silly wild. Hiding underneath her isn't going to work.