Spring Has Sprung

Yay for May and for Always Dreaming, the handsome horse who won the Kentucky Derby yesterday! I was rooting for Gunnevera, who came in 7th. At least I didn't pick Thunder Snow. XD I love Always Dreaming's name, though, so I was still quite happy.

No new horses for us on HI2, Thoroughbred or otherwise. In the livery, we did spot a Florida Cracker mare in one of Bethany's two favorite FC mare coat colors, though.


Run-of-the-mill stats, unfortunately. Keep on dreaming, Bethany.

Cider and I found another 5/6 Orlov Trotter too. This time it was a brown-toned mare from Brown Isle rather than a crystal-toned stallion from Crystal Isle.



She's pretty as far as HI2's Orlovs go, and who wouldn't love that personality? If her stats had been higher, it would've been really hard to let her go!

As fun as it is to add new horses to the herd, I'm relieved we haven't had much luck lately with our flutes. Even though we haven't officially added either of the two horses below to the herd yet, my sisters have named them and put them in tack. I fear they're getting too attached to part with either one. Hence the last thing we should add to the equation is yet another tempting wild.

Here is the Kaimanawa that Felicity promised to put back in the livery if we caught a higher-stat horse in March. Two months and one higher-stat horse later (Caraway), we still have her. *Sighs* I should've known. She has been named "Blush" due to her pink skin and overall pinkish tinge.

And here is our first 6/6 catch of the year, that goofy Selle Francais stallion. We wanted to name him something that started with an X because of his X-shaped personality distribution. Xyris, a genus of yelloweyed grasses, seemed to fit him. He may not have yellow eyes, but he is golden-toned with golden dapples.

With HI2's latest update came several changes that my sisters and I heartily approve of. First of all, HI2's Irish Draughts have lost those less-charming reworked eyes. I can't speak for the formerly-blue-eyed IDs (since we don't have one), but I can tell you that Palladium and Galena's brown eyes have been restored to their former glory. Yay!

Reworked:

Now:

A new breed of horse has been introduced to the game with the update as well, the Iberian Warmblood. I do like them, though I think their necks look a tad stumpy, especially on the mares. What's cool is that they come in manchado, a rare pinto pattern, in addition to many solid colors. Here are two manchado examples from the BBB:

And finally, diamond and tardisian barns have been added to the game, both of which can hold 10 horses each. Up until now, the largest-capacity barns have been platinum barns, which can only hold 8 horses each. So, obviously, we will be gradually replacing our ranch's platinum barns with diamond or tardisian barns to gain a few more of those precious horse slots. =)

Diamond Barn

Tardisian Barn
(I don't know much about Dr. Who, but I still appreciate this.)

I will leave you with these shots of some Michigan wildlife that Mom spotted this week. <3

This family was grazing on the banks of a pond, and they didn't seem in any hurry to move when Mom pulled her car into a parking spot right by them. 8 goslings! 

They did eventually get back in the water and swim away. 

On the same pond was another geese family with 6 goslings (not pictured). The parents would not let them mingle, though. Major hissing went on when a few goslings tried. 

On Saturday morning, Mom glanced out her bedroom window and noticed this trio strolling through the front yard. By the time she got her camera out, they'd already progressed to the other side of the cul-de-sac. A mom and two big fawns, maybe?

Deer wandering around in broad daylight is nothing new around here. We've observed them in the backyard before - we've seen them easily clear the chain-link fence to get in and out. Mom occasionally sees them out and about while she's walking around the neighborhood in the afternoon too. Once this spring, a few of them went bounding within feet of her while fleeing from a brown dog. (The dog gave up the chase when it reached the boundary of its invisible fence.) Deer hooves make clip-clop noises on pavement like horses, in case you were wondering. =)