Ow's Spanish Mustang

A new type of horse is coming to the game very soon. And it's not just a new breed either. Currently if you visit Ow's profile page, find the 'Other Horses' tab at the bottom and look at the last row - you will see the new Spanish Mustang. Now this new horse is not an ordinary horse. However, it is also not a Divine or Special horse. It is, in fact a 'Wild' horse - the first of it's kind on Howrse.

So what's special about it and how can you get one? Well, as it's a wild horse it needs to be tamed before training  can begin. There are no details about how this will be achieved, but it may well be that you will need the help of other Spanish Mustang owners to tame your own horse. Once tamed, the horse can then be trained and entered into competitions as normal. However, every year of his life until he is 80, you will get a Diamond from him.

Now to get one of these new horses, I'm afraid it's not great news for most of us. To get the very first Spanish Mustangs - you will need to come in the top 100 places of the Western Grand Prix. Now the current Western objectives run until 4th March 2012, so we're assuming that players who finish in the top 100 of the Western Grand Prix over the next 3 weeks will win a Spanish Mustang.

According to Ow, the first 100 Spanish Mustangs to be tamed (as mentioned, we don't know how this works yet) will be given a unique number and also have a slightly higher Genetic Potential (GP) than all the other Spanish Mustangs.

So - most of us will never finish in the top 100 of the Grand Prix, so guess what? Yes of course - Spanish Mustangs will soon be available in Horns of Plenty (HoPs) so if you really want one, you can try your luck with a HoP.

As we get more information we will of course share it with you.

Good luck!

Patsy

The highest-skilled Donkey on Howrse?

We rarely talk about Donkeys on Ultimate Howrse, but I have always loved them and found to be intriguing to breed. I know many players love their 'Donks' and enjoy breeding them too. Now as you may or not know, Donkeys are designed to work differently from Horses in the game.

When you breed Horses, you increase their GP by blupping and training properly. This way, Horses's GP and inborn skills increase with each generation. Donkeys are different.

If you BLUP and train your Donkey correctly, the next generation will be born with a LOWER GP. So to increase a Donkey's skills is unusual. Only careful BAD(!) breeding and no training will increase the Donkeys' GP. Strange but true.

Thanks to some wonderful breeders, who have produced Donkeys with very high GP's, I was lucky enough to get two such foals. From these two I bred Taffy.

So I have now have my  rather splendid Donkey - Taffy who, I think may well be the highest-skilled Donkey on Howrse right now with an amazing 702 skills. And whether he is or isn't the highest-skilled, he is still a Donkey and as long as Howrse have them, I will be very happy. So if you haven't thought about breeding Donkeys, why not give it a go?

Now if only we could breed Mules ....

Patsy

Holsteiner - the new breed of horse

A new breed of horse has appeared today - The Holsteiner. Details are a little thin on the ground right now, but this is a picture of one of the first adults on Howrse. A quick look at the genetics shows that their top three skills, in order, are Jumping , Gallop and Dressage.

At the moment, you can only get a Holsteiner when you win one as part of the bonus puzzle - see below.

Patsy

UPDATE: They are already appearing in the sales at rather immense prices!

Breeds - Newfoundland Pony

The Newfoundland pony is a breed of pony originating in Newfoundland (Canada). Their ancestors arrived in Newfoundland from the British Isles. They are generally hard working little ponies and easy keepers. They are one of the original pony breeds on Howrse.

- Species: Pony
- Size: from 11.1 hands to 14.0 hands

ALLOWED COATS

Roan 6 %
Black 7 %
Strawberry roan 1 %
Flaxen Chestnut 3 %
Flaxen Liver chestnut 1 %
Liver chestnut 8 %
Bay 12 %
Chestnut 11 %
Dark Bay 14 %
Cherry bay 12 %
Cremello 1 %
Light Grey 8 %
Dapple Grey 10 %
Mousey Grey 3 %
Dun 3 %

Top 3 skills: Showjumping, Speed and Galloping

Best competitions: Showjumping and Galloping Races

Lucy

Breeds - Canadian Horse

The Canadian Horse is a breed of horse developed in Canada. The Canadian Horse has influenced many other North American breeds, including the Morgan, American Saddlebred, and Standardbred. It originates from Canada. On Howrse, the Canadian Horse was one of the original breeds.

- Species: Horse
- Size: from 15.0 hands to 16.0 hands

ALLOWED COATS

Black 49 %
Flaxen Liver chestnut 1 %
Cherry bay 7 %
Liver chestnut 12 %
Chestnut 3 %
Bay 9 %
Dark Bay 19 %

Top 3 skills: Stamina, Dressage and Jumping

Best competitions: Cross Country

Lucy

Breeds - Australian Pony

The Australian Pony is a breed of pony that developed in Australia. It was greatly influenced by the native British breeds, especially the Welsh Pony, as well as some Arabian bloodlines. On Howrse, the Australian Pony was one of the original pony breeds.

- Species: Pony
- Size: from 12.1 hands to 13.3 hands

ALLOWED COATS

Bay 11 %
Black 5 %
Light Grey 18 %
Cherry bay 4 %
Chestnut 9 %
Cremello 1 %
Dun 3 %
Dark Bay 4 %
Flaxen Chestnut 6 %
Flaxen Liver chestnut 1 %
Palomino 2 %
Roan 1 %
Strawberry roan 1 %
Liver chestnut 8 %
Dapple Grey 24 %
Mousey Grey 1 %
Fleabitten Grey 1%

Top 3 skills: Jumping, Speed and Dressage

Best competitions: Showjumping

Lucy

Breeds - Appaloosa

The Appaloosa is best known as a stock horse and is used in a number of western riding disciplines. It is known for its distictive leopard spotted coat and originates from the USA. They are one of the original breeds on Howrse.

-Species: Horse
-Size: from 14.2 hands to 15.2 hands

ALLOWED COATS

Chestnut Blanket 14 %
Bay Blanket 9 %
Dun Blanket 3 %
Black Blanket 9 %
Palomino Blanket 6 %
Few Spots 1 %
Chestnut Leopard 9 %
Black Leopard 12 %
Chestnut Snowflake 3 %
Bay Snowflake 4 %
Black Snowflake 1 %
Chestnut Spotted Blanket 11 %
Bay Spotted Blanket 10 %
Isabelle Spotted Blanket 2 %
Black Spotted Blanket 3 %
Palomino Spotted Blanket 2 %
Black 1 %

Top 3 skills: Speed, Galloping and Dressage

Best competitions: Barrel Races and Galloping Races

Lucy

Breeds - Hanoverian

Hanoverian's are Warmblood horses originating from Germany. They are known for their good temperament, athleticism, beauty, and grace. On Howrse they are a very popular breed and regularly top the Showjumping elite.

-Species: Horse
-Size: from 15.0 hands to 16.3 hands

ALLOWED COATS

Chestnut 19 %
Bay 12 %
Cherry bay 9 %
Strawberry roan 1 %
Flaxen Chestnut 9 %
Black 7 %
Liver chestnut 12 %
Dark Bay 14 %
Light Grey 5 %
Dapple Grey 9 %
Mousey Grey 1 %
Roan 2 %

Top 3 skills: Showjumping, Speed and Galloping

Best competitions: Showjumping, Galloping Races and Barrel Races

Lucy

This is a normal Newfoundland Pony

OK, so the screenshot to the left is of a normal Newfoundland Pony. Nothing remarkable about him is there? Quite pleasant to look at we think.

Now have a peek at the 'Newfie' below....

Patsy

And this is NOT a normal Newfoundland Pony

We're not quite sure how or why this has happened although it is, rather boringly, probably just a glitch on Howrse. However, we love this little fella. Isn't he cute? He reminds us of the old style Shetland Pony graphics.

Personally, we think he's a normal 'Newfie' who is a little scared by all the new Sand Horses and has run away to a safe distance! What do you think?

Patsy

What is a Humphrey?

I get asked this question a lot. Mainly because I have a Humphrey as my avatar. Many people think he's a Divine horse or a Special horse. Well, although he's special to me, he's just an ordinary Arabian with a Golden Apple (GA) coat on. It's just a bit of fun really. LucyLou has one too as do a few other players, although there are not many about.

The coat was created by 'moonbean' who has a very special version of the coat - with wings on. And my Humphrey (and other people's) is called that because that was the name moonbean gave to the GA coat when she created it.

The 'Humphrey' coat is now retired so you can't buy one unless you buy a horse with it already on. People seem to love the coat as much as we do and therefore it has become extremely collectable and valuable. Someone recently paid 200,000 equus and 20 passes for one! We often get offers for ours, but we love our 'Humph's' too much to sell them.

Another reason we love Humphrey is because he is so silly and fun. To celebrate this, moonbean has created a truly fabulous profile page which shows pictures of Humphrey travelling the world. If you search for moonbean's page in the Player's Directory, you can see for yourself why we love our Humphrey's.

And we hope you will too.

UPDATE: The lovely moonbean has been in touch with us and let us know that just 31 Humphrey GA coats were created. The last two appeared on 11th May 2010. An even rarer vesrion of the Humphrey coat - called 'Here's Humphrey' was a pegasus version of this fab coat. This one had just 3 uses. One of these can be seen on moonbean's page as the player's avatar. So Humphrey is indeed a very rare and wonderful coat - with or without wings!

Patsy

Breeds - Arabian Horse

The Arabian Horse is the most popular breed on Howrse. It is also usually found at the top of the Genetic Potential rankings. The Arabian Horse is one of the oldest breeds in the world and has been used a lot as an improver for other breeds because of its numerous qualities. It is one of the original breeds on Howrse.

-Species: Horse
-Size: from 14.2 hands to 15.2 hands

ALLOWED COATS

Mouse gray 6 %
Roan 1 %
Black 4 %
Buckskin 1 %
Dun 3 %
Gray 27 %
White 27 %
Light bay 5 %
Cherry bay 5 %
Dark bay 5 %
Strawberry roan 1 %
Chestnut 15 %

Top 3 skills: Stamina, Dressage, Jumping

Best competitions: Cross Country

Lucy

Breeds - Connemara

Another one of the original pony breeds on Howrse, the Connemaras are Irish ponies.

-Species: Pony
-Size: from 12.2 hands to 14.2 hands




ALLOWED COATS

Mouse gray 8 %
Roan 5 %
Palomino 4 %
Black 15 %
Dun 9 %
Gray 15 %
White 25 %
Light bay 4 %
Dark bay 6 %
Bay 4 %
Strawberry roan 1 %
Chestnut 4 %

Top 3 skills: Stamina, Dressage, Jumping

Best competitions: Cross Country

Lucy

Breeds - Welsh

One of the original pony breeds on Howrse. The Welsh pony comes from Wales and the breed is split in to several different sections, depending on height.

-Species: Pony
-Size: from 12.2 hands to 13.0 hands



ALLOWED COATS

Mouse gray 8 %
Roan 2 %
Palomino 4 %
Chestnut 16 %
Strawberry roan 4 %
Bay 8 %
Dark bay 10 %
Light bay 2 %
White 10 %
Gray 17 %
Dun 8 %
Buckskin 3 %
Black 8 %

Top 3 skills: Galloping, Dressage, Speed

Best competitions: Galloping race, Barrel race

Lucy

Breeds - Quarter Horse

Welcome to your mini-guide to all the breeds on Howrse. All the posts in the 'Breeds' section will give an overview of a breed, what those horses are good at and any interesting things we know about them.

So we thought we'd start with the Quarter Horse. One of my favourites as that's what I started off with!

The first picture on the left is what the Quarter Horse used to look like with the old game graphics and the second picture is what the breed looks like now!

The Quarter Horse is an American horse. It takes it's name from the fact that it is the quickest horse over distances of a quarter of a mile or less. It is one of the original breeds on Howrse.

-Species: Horse
-Size: from 15.0 hands to 16.0 hands

ALLOWED COATS

Chestnut	17 %
Bay	9 %
Cherry bay	8 %
Strawberry roan	4 %
Flaxen Chestnut	11 %
Flaxen Liver chestnut	1 %
Black	8 %
Palomino	6 %
Roan	6 %
Liver chestnut	7 %
Dark Bay	7 %
Cremello	1 %
Light Gray	3 %
Dapple Gray	6 %
Mousey Gray	3 %
Dun	3 %

Top 3 skills: Galloping, Dressage, Speed

Best competitions: Galloping race, Barrel race

Lucy