Long Live Livery Stalking!

It was your average Wednesday evening, around 7 pm our time. After dropping a 3/6 wild off at the Narrowed auction house, I figured I might as well have a look in the livery on my way north.

I started clicking through the horses: cute Abacos, two 5/6 Appaloosas, a pretty apricot dun Argentine Polo Pony... Nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. Before long I got to the lone Connemara, a dark bay stallion - fully trained, 6/6, awesome stats. I was really tempted to adopt him, but I left him be. 
1. I figured somebody was passing him on to someone else, and I didn't want to be that click-happy person who screws it all up. 
2. We already have a 6/6 livery-found Connemara, the beautiful Esker. 
3. For once, stallions outnumber mares in the herd, so it's really mares I should be looking at if I'm going to look at any.

On I clicked. And then there he was:




Oh my goodness! Another! Still, I was hesitant. He was another he, after all, and his name made it seem like he was intended for this MysteryDream player.

As I clicked on, I became more and more amazed. The parade of exceptional horses continued. I saw a gorgeous dapple gray Kinsky, several stunning Morabs, a petite Shire, a handsome dun Sal, a Swedish Warmblood, a mare-stallion pair of blue-eyed black sabino Tennessee Walkers, and a bunch of Westies.

More were in the parade than I've listed - these are just the ones that I found most memorable. I was in too much of a rush to document all this with screenshots like I should've. As best I remember, nearly all were 6/6 with tons of experience and trainings, and the majority of them were stallions. Many had personalized profiles (though clearly the Kaimanawa did not). All of these gems sprinkled in amongst the average livery horses were surrendered by the same player. Whoa! I sure wonder what the story was behind this!

The first thing I did once I reached the end of the list was to go back for the Kaimanawa. Looking at him and one of his former names, Blueberry, gave me serious deja vu. Maybe I really have seen him in competition or for sale before, or maybe he just reminds me of a wild I've caught of the same breed and color. Whatever the case, the Kaimanawa had not been claimed my MysteryDream or anyone else and was still there. However, many of the others, I noticed as I scrolled, had already vanished. Presumably, word of what was going down in the livery was spreading, and quickly. I took the Kaimanawa's continued presence and that odd haven't-I-seen-you-before feeling as signs that he should to go home with us.

After adopting him, I went back to check on the Tennessee Walkers. It seemed wrong to split up the pair, though, and I only had room for one more horse at the time. Before I'd made up my mind, both horses had vanished. I returned to the rapidly-disappearing Westies, hoping maybe to find a mare still left, since I'd just screwed up our mare to stallion ratio even more. Sure enough, the one I'd thought was the prettiest was still there, this perlino:




I took her home too.

Mom has a page-a-day horse calendar this year. We didn't realize it until later, but guess what color the horse was on the page for that day? 

A perlino! Gotta love these horsey coincidences. =)

Here's what the horses look like in avatar form:

The Kaimanawa. He looks like a super dark 7Up. =)

For comparison: 7Up, our Shagya Arabian mare

The Westie

For comparison: our only other perlino, Aspen the snowflake perlino Nez

Wow, talk about being in the right place at the right time! These new horses have left our barns nearly full. Sorry sisters, but I ask you: how was I supposed to resist commemorating such an occasion? Never have I seen so many great horses in the livery at once, and I doubt I'll ever witness anything like it again!

Our herd actually went down by one the next day, because our little duplicate Exmoor mare finally found a home! Our buddy Gem offered to take her on after she read Bethany's last post. The pony was ecstatic. Dasani, her twin, was a little sad to see her go, I think, but I assured her I'll take her on plenty of visits to Gem's ranch. Gem has named her Exmoor Vita, after Vitaminwater, a beverage she thoroughly enjoys.



Sometime we need to make our avatars look like identical twins, dress them identically, and ride around together on our Exmoors in identical tack. Just because we can.

My, what a long rope you have!

Last weekend here, it snowed several inches. This weekend, it's in the 70's and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. West Michigan weather sure has a flare for the dramatic. My sisters and I much prefer this April extreme to the last!

We haven't been on HI2 much lately, so no big news to report. The sidekick Budyonny is still sticking around in rank 16, waiting for us to make up our minds already. 

Somebody actually asked me how much I wanted for him on Friday during the brief window of time when I was playing. He was tagged as "want to sell," but I was still surprised. Nobody's asked about our poor duplicate +6/6 Exmoor, and she's been sitting there tagged as "want to sell" for months.

You'd think somebody would want this cutie!

*Sighs* Anyway, I told the inquiring player the truth, that we still hadn't decided if we were actually selling him. She accepted that and graciously didn't point out how the tag really ought to be changed. XD I have since changed it to "not selling now."

We all love the Budyonny's personality, and he is quite cute too. The issue is that - in our eyes anyway - he looks a bit odd in halters and hackamores: there's always an awkwardly long loop of rope. 

It's not an issue in most bridles, hence we have him wearing an English bridle for now. 

Since, as a rule, our horses all end up in bit-less headgear, though, it's not a permanent solution. I suppose if we kept him, we could always keep him halter-less and say he hates having stuff on his face. Or we could just get over it and let him look a little wonky. He is a sidekick, after all, and sidekicks don't generally look as picture-perfect as the hero anyway.

And now, since this post is still rather short, here is a random picture is for your entertainment:

That's right, conjoined baby carrots that look like a pair of orange pants. Mom discovered them in a package of normal ones as she was packing her lunch the other day.

You're welcome.

March: In like a lion, out like a... Fjord?

Felicity here again. I know, I know, I just posted last week. If you wanted to hear from another sister, tough! In light of this past week, I couldn't stay silent.

On Tuesday the 29th, we met up with our buddy Gem. The day before, she had bought a +5/6 Fjord!

Why is this a big deal? Well, let me explain:
In addition to loving horses with spots, I also love Norwegian horse breeds. I've wanted a Fjord, in particular, ever since we joined the game. We've had success finding the game's other two Norwegian breeds, the Dole and the Norwegian Coldblood Trotter, but nice Fjords proved more elusive.

I don't know how Gem found him or what made her think of Pepsi, but I sure am glad she did! When she offered him to us, I was ecstatic! Not only is he a he, which means he gets a cool two-toned mohawk, but he's also my favorite shade of dun on the breed, a creamy Ulsblakk, or "white dun."




Here is his cool black-legged avatar:



By the way, doesn't the avatar of Gem's new APH look like Fort's (our Spanish Barb)?



Ha ha, the big difference being that her horse's hooves wouldn't utterly vanish in sand like Fort's! XD

But anyway, back to the Fjord, Gem pointed out that he would make an excellent "Bagel." I can definitely see her point, and I happen to be a fan of bagels. Melt a slice of cheese on them, and yum, bagel heaven. Regrettably, the letter B has already been taken by stallions Brio and Brushfire. Since I am currently re-listening to the Harry Potter books on CD (we own them all, and they are awesome!), I thought he would also make a good "Lumos." Lumos is the spell that makes light appear at a wand tip - the magical version of a flashlight. This may be a stretch, but Lumos also sort of sounds like something you might spread on a bagel, lol.

Here's what he looks like in his light-in-the-dark-themed tack:

I hope Arion, my first mohawk-bedecked horse, isn't too jealous!

Love you too, little Greek buddy. <3

Oddly enough, shortly after adding a winter-loving Fjord to the herd, winter decided to make what is hopefully one last resurgence here. Check out the backyard:

*rolls eyes*

But I refuse to end on that chilly note. In case you were wondering, Julie is keeping the Belgian, and she named him Sardonyx. I like him in red just as much as I did silver. =^)

Sardonyx is a cool rusty-banded gemstone. A fitting name for a big, strong red roan, I'd say!