Really late to the party...

Happy February! We're noticing the days starting to get longer at long last. Felicity and Julie aren't griping about the weather either: 40's and sunny is about as good as it gets here this time of year.

So, last weekend, we tried something new. We've been curious about it for quite some time, but when we tried a few years back on different computer, it didn't work. Since we watch horsey YouTube videos occasionally, we couldn't escape the reminders about it. 

Forgive us, HI3, but we tried again, and now we have an account on Star Stable!

When you go to sign up for the game, it lures you in with a free trial of being a Star Rider, a mystery free gift, and the fun of personalizing your character and horse right off the bat.

We checked out the horses first, naturally.

The choices were a whole bunch of solid-colored horses and 2 pintos. Even though they're at the top, which probably makes them even more frequently-chosen, we couldn't resist the pintos. We liked the one above, but we found the necklace-like marking distracting.

...so the first pinto it was! The only realistic mane/tail for this one was white, which made that choice easy.

We modeled our character loosely on Mom, once again, because it only seems right. Which basically means she looks like Julie too, if she was older. 

Neither Pepsi nor Summer were on the first name list we were looking at. We could've had Summer in the last name, but that didn't seem right without Pepsi. So, we fiddled around with possibilities for a while and eventually agreed on "Clara Lakesong." "Clara" because we just liked it, "Lake" because we live near a huge lake, and "song" because we all enjoy music.

For our pinto buddy, we went with "Frostflight." It has a nice ring to it, his coloring reminds us of melting snow/ice/frost, and we are ready for winter to make its exit. =)

We started out wandering around the Moorland Stables area, getting used to the controls, missing having control of the camera, and trying to get our bearings. It was a Saturday morning, and there were all sorts of other players riding around on fantastic horses. The starter horses, all Jorvik Warmbloods like Frostflight, are cute and kind of cartoony. Many of the horses you can buy in the game take it to another level entirely - such lovely, realistic graphics!

We mutually agreed from the outset that we were NOT going to buy any additional horses until Frostflight has been trained all the way, which we think means getting him to level 15. At the rate we're going (too busy to play much except on weekends), this should give us plenty of time to admire the many options and pick an eventual horse #2. Because c'mon, when the game gives you a personal stable with multiple stalls, who's only going to have one horse indefinitely?

Fortunately for Frostflight, he doesn't have to be lonely when Clara isn't around. It took us a while to discover a mailbox, but once we did, we were in for an awesome surprise: our new player gifts were a "winter terrier" and a saddlebag he can ride in. He bears a striking resemblance to my real-life pup, Scampy. <3 The little guy can either scamper along next to Clara/Clara and Frostflight or ride in the saddlebag. We're not quite sure what triggers it, but every now and then when we're riding along, the pup will give a little bark and suddenly be on the ground instead of in the bag. Maybe he just wants to stretch his legs? He also seems to end up back in the bag after running alongside Frostflight for a while. (Tired?) Well done, Star Stable. So much cuteness.

Because it's wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere, I take it, right now players have the option of toggling snow on and off. 

The default is having it on, so we have spent lots of time with it on.

...but a lot of the quests make more sense if it's not on, and I find it easier to navigate when everything isn't white, so we've toggled it off a lot too. 

Some highlights from questing so far:

Very impressive fire graphics! And remarkably, no matter what we do on the game, so far it doesn't seem to overly tax our laptop - no fan running on turbo even in busy areas.

...smuggling an NPC from one location to another in a sack. Long story.

Don't ask me how she stayed on Frostflight's rump.

We've logged in quite a lot when it's evening/nighttime on the server, and the northern lights are so pretty!

Venturing out on a bridge in dire need of repair. Frostflight was not fazed in the slightest...

Fixing the bridge was a labor-intensive process. One step involved retrieving logs to be made into planks. They balance on the horse's rump so nicely. XD

After fixing the bridge, Clara was tasked with setting off a celebratory firework.

Giving NPC Sindra a lift

Herding two horses to Fort Pinta

Fort Pinta's mayor, a "talking" pony named Mayor Peanut. Another long story.

So far, we are really enjoying Star Stable, even if it is geared for a younger crowd. HI3's amazingly diverse equines, breeding possibilities, and seemingly infinite world still make it our favorite, but the graphics on Star Stable are so cool, and it's fun to be questing again. (We've never really gotten into HI3's questing options - so addicted to lassoing wilds, ha ha.) Time will tell if Star Stable has the same staying power with us as Horse Isle 2 and 3. We were totally sucked in and paid to become a Star Rider, so we're hoping it does! In our opinion, the more fun horse games in our lives to give us a break from real life, the better! <3