When Howrse was 'born'

Howrse - April 2007

For those of you that don't know, Howrse first appeared in April 2007.

The game was really quite different then to how it is today.

Amongst the many things that didn't exist then are: Divine horses, the Pegasus account, Western Competitions, the Grand Prix, 25 breeds of horse, Unicorns, the Item Exchange, diamonds and so much more.

There were also things which existed then but have since disappeared, such as foal games (to earn GP),  comments on horse sales, salt stones, abortions (yes, really - pretty controversial) and an icon-only navigation menu.

Well, we've uncovered some screen shots from the early days of Howrse and thought we'd share them with you. Just click on them to view in full size.

Enjoy your nostalgic trip!

Patsy

The Treasure Race

This week Howrse have introduced a new contest - the Treasure Race.

It's a slight variation on the Pinata contest which we saw earlier in the year. The idea is that you have to click on your current obstacle to knock it down, earn gifts and move to the next level.

There are 20 obstacles in total and if you knock them all down you win a Treasure Chest which contains a new Divine horse - Earth.

To start off with you can click on an obstacle once every 24 hours. Your friends can also help you out at a cost of 200e and a maximum 3 friends per day. The first level requires 2 clicks to complete.

If you complete the objectives on the first two levels you can then click on your obstacle every 12 hours and have up to 4 friends help you. As you move through the levels you'll get more and more help but the number of click taken to complete a level will also increase!

The contest runs until the 18th October - so good luck and enjoy your adventure!

Lucy

Trophies

Howrse has recently introduced the Trophies for those players who have completed all the 100 Objectives.

The idea is that if you collect a certain set of horses, or coats or UFOs you earn a Trophy which is displayed on your page. There is a new ranking to be part of and the top player currently has 180 trophies.

The first set of trophies concern having all the available coat colours for each breed on Howrse. So if you own all the different coat colours of Arabs, you earn a trophy.

There are also trophies for owning Divine and Wild Horses, Golden Apples, Unicorns, Companions (remember those!) and even having a large amount of manure!

You can see your Trophy collections by going to Profile -> My trophies.

So good luck with your collections and let us know how you're getting on.

Lucy

The Titans' Challenge - new Black Market item

Howrse have introduced a new Black Market item called the Titans' Challenge.

It is a bit of a twist on a Horn of Plenty, as the Titans' Challenge allows you to win gifts for your horses but you have to take a bit of a gamble.

The item costs 2 passes. When you purchase it, like a Horn of Plenty, it takes you to a special page where it tells you what you have won. However, with the Titans' Challenge you can decide if you would like to accept the gifts you have been given or go on to the next level to try and win even better prizes.

The gifts can be anything from aging points, ranking points and equus to Black Market items.

Beware though, if you reach a level with no prizes, you automatically lose everything you already have! So decide if you think it's worth the risk or not.

Some people have managed to get all the way to level 8 where you can win a Wild horse of varying breeds.

Until 08.00 Game Time on Monday 24 September you can win a free Titans' Challenge to try for yourself - you just need to win 10 competitions with your horses.

Here's how I got on with mine...

This is the page you get at first...

...I think I'll keep going...

...still going well...

Oh dear!

So good luck - and let us know what you win!

Lucy

Set the horses free!

Well it's a brand new contest on Howrse this week - Set the horses free!

Basically you have to complete a series of levels to earn prizes using your own horses. Each country or level asks you to set free three horses with specific traits. For example, on the first level you have to set free a horse with a black coat. So you have to chose a horse you own with a black coat and set them free.

NOTE: You will not get your horses back. If you chose to set them free then they will disappear from the game.

You can win all sorts of prizes from Black Market items to tack, food and diamonds. The top prize for completing all the levels is Venus - the brand new Solar System Divine.

You can earn Joker horses which automatically fill the place of a horse you don't have. You earn one every day for logging in and can buy more using passes or equus.

So it's a bit of a different contest this time round - have fun but remember not to let your horses go if you don't want to!

Lucy

All new Howrse foal games July 2012

Since the removal of the companions in July 2012, Howrse have made some further changes to foal games.

You can now play games with foals between the ages of 8 months and 1 year and 4 months. Your foal will earn an extra 60 skills for completing games correctly, rather than the 1.2 GP gain (they now get this automatically at birth).

Follow our all new foal games method below CAREFULLY and you will get the full 60 point skill gain for a foal of any breed.

Board your foal in an EC with carrots and 100% clean and fertile meadows. Ensure your foal is put to bed aged 6 months with 100% morale - this is very important! If it's below 10C you will need to put your foal to bed in the box each night.


8 months
Groom/1 Hr Pasture/1 Hr Games/Turnip/Feed 4 Pounds/1 Hr Games/1.5 Hrs Pasture/7 Hrs Games/Stroke/Carrot/Water

10 months
Groom/1 Hr Pasture/1 Hr Games/Turnip/Feed 4 Pounds/8 Hrs Games/Stroke/Carrot/Water

1 year
Groom/1 Hr Pasture/1 Hr Games/Turnip/Feed 4 Pounds/9 Hrs Games/Stroke/Carrot/Water

1 year 2 months
Groom/30 Minutes Pasture/1 Hr Games/Turnip/Feed 4 pounds/10 Hrs Games/Stroke/Carrot/Water

1 year 4 months
Groom/2 Hr Games/Turnip/Feed 14 Pounds/10 Hrs Games/Stroke/Water

Check out our post on Training Methods to find out what to do next.

Lucy

The Companion Journey

The companions are going home!

To celebrate the fact that Howrse are releasing all the companions back into the wild they're holding a contest - called the Companion Journey - from now until 2nd August.

This is very similar to the journey to the North Pole if anyone remembers that from last year.

You can send all the companions you have left in your inventory off on a journey to earn you gifts. Don't worry though, any companions that are already on your horses will stay.

There are 5 natural habitats that give different gifts and are the home of different companions:

• Farm
• Prairie
• Forest
• Savannah
• Divine

You can win lots of things from aging points and equus to BM items and the new Solar System Divine: Neptune. Journeys take a different number of days and different companions depending on the gift. You need to have completed 25 journeys before you can go and get a Neptune.

NOTE: Your companions DO NOT return at the end of their journey - so plan carefully!

You can earn extra companions in various ways:

• by logging in each day (4 per day)
• by winning competitions (max. 4 per day)
• by coming last in competitions (max. 4 per day)
• in the store
• in UFOs
• in the special companion exchange that has been set up
• in HOPs (4 in each)

At the end of the contest any remaining companions will be removed from the game and you will be credited with 100e for each.

As the companions have been removed from the game you can no longer play foal games with your foal. Foals are now automatically given the 1.2 GP gain at birth. You can however now play games to gain extra skills - visit our All new foal games July 2012 post to find out how.

Lucy