The contests are always on! 

Flowers and Snowballs - Much appreciation to my friends who have tossed me gifts.  I am sorry I haven't been reciprocating as well.  I am just not on the computer that much and normally don't find many UFOs.  If I catch more I'll definitely toss them back your way! 

I also love to help people water their gardens!  

Good luck everybody!

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I'll accept friend requests.  From now on I'll be dropping the players off the bottom of my list  who haven't logged on to the game for 50 days or more, and keep the regular players at the top.

Thanks for your respect, it is mutual  (-:

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I like to see what other people wish to accomplish in this game.  Here is what I am aiming for now that I have played for a while (my first vow being I would not spend real money on an online game).  These I feel might be within my reach considering my self-imposed restraints.

Successful accomplishments in blue:

• • To be in the top 100 in seniority - made it on October 11, 2012!  It took more than 5 years, wow.
  • Now, ten years later, I have made it to # 23, not quite on the main page.  Those top 20 are serious attendees!.  
  • To regularly earn 30,000+ Eqs a week standing stallions I have raised: 10/12/2012 - 11/04/2012 > 34,000 Eqs
  • Ranked # 5 in Popularity (on the main page!) on Dec. 20, 2012 with 424 visits- thanks all!. (You sure do have to click a lot to be clicked though.  It's fun!)
  • To have over 1,000,000 Eqs - reached in early October 2012!  
  • I have since reached over 2,000,000 a couple of times.
    And close to 3,000 passes without spending real $$.
  • To breed and raise 4 Western and 4 English horses that have P.Stones and A.Heels who'll run in the Grand Prix and win regular competitions.
  • To place in the top 1,000 in the Grand Prix - Achieved by Flaxy Breeze, placed 661st on 03/22/13 (o:
  • To place in the top 500 in the Grand Prix, placed @485 in Cutting on Oct. 14, 2013, with my purchased Gypsy Vanner - go figure....
  • To be in the top 50 in seniority - I am at #46 now! (Oct. 2016)
    and #41 in November 2017.
  • 
    
    • To raise a pure QH with really good trot skills
    • To win a rosette with a horse I have bred and raised
    • To place in the top 500 in the Grand Prix with a horse I have bred and raised

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Real life

I too am in the adult player category - in the grandmother section (o:

In real life I live in the northeast USA and used to have a real horse to care for, along with the property and helping as a caregiver for our aging parents

I sold our last Quarter Horse gelding, a gelding born June 2012.  He went to a facility that holds programs for people with special needs of all types.

He is smart and playful, he's also confident and careful.  I hope he is doing well with his new job.

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Game world

In this game I have gotten this far not spending any real money (although I have been tempted at times!)  It has turned out to be impossible to keep up with most of the game players if one doesn't buy passes so we have to be satisfied with playing every day and gaining passes slowly and eventually breeding to one of those high ranking stallions.  It is time-consuming so I can in no way keep up with folks who have lots of time and passes - I play at a whole different level. 

Every time I gain stars with one of my babies other folks have already gained 20 more beyond that because they can breed and breed....

They must just be logged on forever......

And click and click and click...........      (Seriously, my fingers get bored and tired of all the clicking involved!)

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My breeding farm on Howrse:

Turkey Hollow Farm

Many years ago I started with just one horse, a buckskin Quarter Horse stallion named Moonlight Tide, and I am kind of proud of how well he did considering his humble start  [Now he occasionally runs in the Grand Prix and earns me 1,000Eq.]

April 2009: Since my start I have collected a bunch more horses by breeding and shopping.  More than half of them have skills over 500. 

August 2009: This is fun, I am seeing how many of the horses from around the world I can collect.  I may make a stable with all different horse breeds.  That would be fun.

September 2010:

I am still enjoying the game seeing how talented a QH I can breed without buying passes.

Playing the side games has made things more interesting too forcing me to race my horses or buy or sell or even breed when I wasn't really planning to, that's okay.

November 2011:

Still slowly breeding QHs.  I've gotten to 30 - 40 *s now.  I am working on gaining EQs as well by offering regular coverings from two of my stallions and always running two mares in the Grand Prix races.

I might offer horses for sale but I ask for passes with the lowest price so haven't gotten very far with that.

I have stalled on the achievements because I don't have any friends to ask to play, nor can I breed a unicorn, I am just not on the Internet 24 hours a day.  My next achievement is to own something like 40 plus horses and I just don't feel like going out and buying horses just to do that.  Time-consuming don't-cha-know?

May 2012 - 2014

It seems I have added Gypsies to my collection:  They do better in the western events than the Quarter Horses. Go figure!

I haven't tacked a Gypsy in English yet because I needed the sure winners in Western.
All my western horses do best in Trail and the QHs used to win in cutting but not so much anymore.

My English horses used to win in XC and gallop but now the new ones are best at dressage and gallop.

I still feel the same about time.  I notice they removed the Unicorn achievement and switched it to an EC achievement (and soon the achievements themselves will go away, so it goes...).  No help for me since I don't have time to go the whole EC route.  So I need to have 44 horses, 5 in an EC and make manure.  That's not happening, sorry.  (I have plenty of real manure though. (o; )  

These days I care for a number of howrses each day here, generally to earn black market items in the specials, and 8 Grand Prix earners.  That takes up all the time I can spare, especially during the summer when I have plenty to do with real horses.

I agree with many about the special events the folks add to the game.  It is fun to win Black Market items but it does take time from our regular breeding and training.  So during those lotteries, or calendars or whatever, I just can't get a howrse bred or trained.  I could use a month or so of free time to train up a couple of really good howrses, maybe even win a rosette!

January 2016:
Things are different in my game and horse collection.  Mostly because of the change from achievements to trophies.  I now have 75 horses!  Many are foals that I have hung on to because of the color trophy, others are horses with animal companions because of another trophy.  Due to some of the promotions I also have a couple of unicorns, donkeys and draft horses.  I have yet to win a fancy horse that gives one prizes, I really wanted a Sagittarius because that is my sign but even using all the passes, and HOPs I could scrape up, I got nowhere close to winning one.  But what the heck, I have lots of stuff to sell back if I need EQs so I may try again for one of them during a less busy time in real life.
I have and compete any breed now.  I've noticed it doesn't matter what breed you run in which competition so I just go with their record...  If I need to produce a foal for some promotion I'll choose my mare with the highest genetic ranking and breed to a stallion in her breed with the highest trot skills, the cost is no problem, EQs I got.....  I don't cross breeds.
My regular playing style has changed too.  Instead of offering breeding from my stallions I simply run 8 cheap horses daily in the Grand Prix.  Eventually they'll age and I'll be able to get passes for them.  If there is not a promotion going on I might take an extra few minutes to continue clicking whatever horse(s) are in training at the time.
If there is a promotion I hope it is one where caring for and competing my horses is a major part of it - seriously, why have good horses if they can't win you BMIs?
I have to say though that one of my earliest born horses, March of 2010, 86 years old, with just 14*, is my most consistent winner.  Great mare!

I still don't run an EC although they have given me one.  Therefore I have all sorts of equipment and supplies piling up.  I would have to be pretty bored to add that element to my playing time.

January 2017:
I hadn't even considered having an EC until 2016.  A friend mentioned I could save lots of EQs so now I have one mostly to board my own horses - although to earn passes or whatever I end up needing to buy more boxes.  Now I have lots of boarders. I use up my EC prizes (like water tubs & showers) and do the missions that involve ECs. But that is it, no cattle as yet, no comps, just like real life. I run a real farm and I need real time to maintain real fields and keep real barns and sheds repaired and clean.

So I continue to play on.

Thanks guys!