Howrse - Howrse

I'm female, an adult, and I live in Eastern Time (GMT -4 or -5). I'm a veteran player who's had a multitude of accounts: gifted9 in 2008, tusleatslynx in 2009, and OperaticSkeleton in 2011-12 (as far as I can remember). I also go by gifted9 on Webkinz and Webkinz Insider, and OperaticSkeleton on Dogzer and its affiliates. Drop me a message if you recognize me!

My preferred nickname is Skel. I'm on the Canada server with the same username, formerly was on Equideow, but International is my main account. I play strategically, but I've always been an on-off player. ~~I'm hoping to break the top 10,000 in general ranking this time around.~~ I broke the top 10,000 on my 24th day of seniority, and the top 1000 on my 188th day of seniority! I had a lot of money banked in wheat bran before the price increase and still try to keep my equus reserve as low as possible to save on vet fees - usually by bidding on horses in auctions that I know I'll be outbid on. I was a non-pass buyer for all three of my previous accounts, but I buy passes on occasion on this account, usually only when I can get a good deal. Total passes bought: 10,400

I'm the most familiar with cross-country skillset horses: I breed Connemaras non-competitively by myself (Skeleton Connemaras), I used to breed Canadians non-competitively with jumpersdream (Organic Pears), and I bred Gypsy Vanners non-competitively with Courageous Empire from March to May 2016. I was on Lightning Thieves, the #1 Canadian Unicorns team, from March 2017 until 2018. I was on Crystal Warriors, the #1 Shagya Arabian team, from June to July 2019. I was on Risen Empire, the #2 Quarter Horses team, from March 2017 until its elimination in February 2018. I'm grateful to be on The Chincoteague Crew, the #1 Chincoteague Pony team, and Cheshire, the #1 Welsh unicorn team. In the interest of diversifying my breeding farm, I've set a goal to breed and fully BLUP one mid-to-high GP equine of every breed (One of Every Breed).

If I buy a horse with a "real name," I usually don't rename it any more than just adding a tag. I name my breeding program horses (and a lot of things, actually) after ~~underappreciated scientists~~ edit: has been expanded to "people who have accomplished something significant" in general. I give my AP farms human names. For fast-moving programs, or special horses that don't belong to one of my breeding programs, I like to name horses with something obviously sequential - I've used the phonetic alphabet and American presidents before, and am currently going through the periodic table of elements and names of wedding anniversaries. I like to use unflattering celebrity photos as my avatar. Suggestions are welcome for all of the above.

"Special symbols" drive me up the wall. I've accepted their use in affixes, horse names, EC names, and team names, dislike them in usernames, and absolutely despise them being used in the place of regular text. My only hard-and-fast rule for contacting me is to type in normal text. Other than that, be a reasonable human being and we'll get along fine.

I accept all friend requests. I end the friendship with any random friends if you haven't been active for 30 days or more, but feel free to resend me a friend request if you become active again. There's no need for me to write a whole list of PM rules since none of it differs significantly from basic Howrse etiquette, so I'll just say that I won't like you if you're annoying and I'll act accordingly.

I trade BMIs in the Exchanges. I'm usually looking for Pieces of Cloud (most wanted), Zeus' Lightning Bolts, Horns of Plenty, Morpheus' Arms, Fertility Wands, or Golden Apples. I'm usually trying to get rid of Poseidon's Packs, Pandora's Boxes, Achilles' Heels, Hypnos' Blankets, Helios' Rays, Chronos' Timers, Apollo's Lyres, and Philotes' Strokes. I buy when I see good deals, but I rarely sell anymore.

I'm always on the lookout to buy Falabellas for equus. Feel free to make an offer on any horse in my Sales breeding farm - with the exception of a few that are waiting for my team's sales release, most of them are only in there because I'm too lazy to price and sell them. I sell my horses frequently, and most of them are negotiable even if I haven't designated them as such (however, I don't typically negotiate for horses priced under 5000e). If we come to an agreement in negotiation, I'll reserve the horse to you. If you don't buy the horse within 48 hours or specifically arrange otherwise with me, I'll put it back in direct sales for its original price and block you from asking for reserved sales again.

If you need an item gifted to you for an objective, just PM me and send a friend request and I'll send you an item. If you need wins, I'll fill competitions for you, just PM me the links to the competitions and the name of your horse. If you're asking for any other favours, I expect you to do most of the legwork - the more I have to poke and prod at you for details, the less I'm inclined to help.

* indicates a Lighting Thieves Canadian unicorn; it's followed by the GP
~ indicates a Risen Empire Quarter horse; it's followed by the GP
- indicates a Crystal Warriors Shagya Arabian; it's followed by the GP
+ indicates a Cheshire Welsh unicorn; it's followed by the GP
• indicates a The Chincoteague Crew Chincoteague Pony; it's followed by the GP
A number not proceeded by symbols or letters indicates the number of greenstars; this is the top horse in the breeding program or otherwise special
T/ indicates that the horse is in training, R/ indicates that the horse is retired; these are followed by the number of greenstars
AP/ indicates that the horse is part of my AP farm, likely training to be a filler
F/ indicates that the horses is fully tacked and ready to fill competitions; it's followed by the trained skill (St, Sp, D, G, T, or J) and the level of skill
The gender designation is always at the end of the tag: either the Venus or Mars symbol or M or F, depending on when it was named