Amaretto Limited Edition ‘Save The Tatas’ horses, originally uploaded by =^..^=Kitty O’Toole =^..^=.

OK- first up is something VERY important; if you’re considering getting into Amaretto horses then you MUST check out what has been released to support Breast Cancer research. For L$1010 you can be the very proud owner of a special edition ‘Save The Tatas!’ horse. Of course you don’t know what sex you’re getting until it’s out of the box, but there are a couple of colour options available: pink or white body with contrasting (pink or white) tail. They sport the breast cancer ribbon emblem on their rump, and each one has a ribbon eye. Not only that, but SOME of them have been coming out of the box sporting long manes and tails…so as you can imagine they’ve proved exceedingly popular, which is great news and means lots of lovely cash going to charity.
Alas, some people are re-selling them already. It looks as though people have bulk bought to try and gain traited horses, and are re-selling the horses they don’t want at a lower price. I’ve seen them going for as low as L$500 already; this doesn’t really sit comfortably with me. Obviously the initial purchase dollars went to charity, but anything further goes to the seller. I think in future special edition horses such as these would be better engineered as no transfer, to avoid re-selling, but if you want one you’d better come quick. Today ( Oct 31) is the last day that you can buy one officially, and I highly recommend that you do. The interesting part is finding out what traits these beauties will be passing on.

I got one, a lovely wee female which I’ve named ‘Deedee’ for obvious reasons. I’m really glad that Amaretto have done this for charity, and I really hope that other breedable companies take note and follow suit. On a more reflective note; I know that Dionne ( Deedee) would have gone absolutely crackers for the Amaretto Breedable Horses had she been here. She loved animals, and owned a horse during her teens. Ever since release day I’ve thought of her in Second Life, with a sim full of horses ( and bunnies, and whatever else she could get her hands on) and I know that, wherever she’s resting now, she’d totally approve.

Moving on to other matters horse related and it was 1.3 update time last week, and for most people, myself included, it seems to have gone without a hitch. It’s an easy process to follow, and takes a matter of minutes to update your horse and reset settings. I couldn’t help thinking of all those people that own hundreds of horses though, updating must be a hellish process for them. But it also got me thinking about why you would want so many horses anyway, and of course the answer to that is ‘To make Money’. We’ve already seen what happens when people breed too much with the Ozimals Bunnies, but it seems we’re already headed for a crash with the horses UNLESS Amaretto can help the community at large prevent it. But what can be done? Already at auction prices are dropping and horses aren’t selling, and this is because the grid is completely saturated, with mares mostly. It’s still not easy to breed a stallion from a small breeding stock; I know this myself since I have only ever managed to breed ONE out of a total of 45 bundles! But what is easy to do, and will help with the problem of over-saturation, is to NOT birth un-traited bundles. I know a few horse breeders in-world are already taking this step, and even deleting bundles too, and I think it’s actually a a very sensible one. There are way too many horses out there for the market to manage folks, we need to (pardon the pun) reign ourselves in.

I myself have been taking bundles into my inventory that aren’t traited, and just leaving them there. It’s no biggie..you don’t need to birth every bundle that’s born. For some people I think birthing has become an addiction, and gives the  phrase ‘Doin’ horse’ a whole different meaning.
Fortunately Amaretto have got wise to this issue sooner rather than later, and included in the update was the option to send your horse to Horse Haven. Like the much promised ‘Bunnybury'( which is about to enter closed Beta at last) Horse Haven isn’t running as yet, but it looks as though it will follow similar guidelines with redeemable tokens issued for bundles or live horses submitted to the scheme. There’s even voting taking place on the official forums as to what these tokens should be called ( ‘Horse Cents’ seems to be the most appropriate name if you ask me!) and I do strongly urge you to log in, vote, and also read what the horse community on teh whole has to say about the idea. It’s great to see a breedable company willing to get stuck in so soon after the product was released and even more inspiring to see that them want to address a pricing crash before it happens. Let’s hope they’ve caught it in time, and that the market will continue to thrive… but in the meantime, here’s what any responsible horse breeder should do:

1# DON’T birth an un-traited bundle. By traited I mean long mane/tail/coat and hair conditions and special eyes. Even if you’re 100% convinced that by birthing the bundle it will turn out to be a colt and you’ll be able to make some lindens don’t be so sure..the market is a tad jiittery at the moment and you may find yourself stuck with a horse you don’t want or need. If that is the case, take it into your inventory; designate a folder for horse that you will perhaps consider sending to Horse Haven when it’s released.

2# When selling horses don’t undercut market value. Fortunately a LOT of breeders are being VERY vocal about people selling bundles at L$100 a shot..even though it may seem like a great way to make a quick buck, in the long term it is damaging to the market, and brings the value of the horses down. There’s a notecard doing the rounds with a suggested pricing structure on it for horses/bundles ( IM me if you’d like a copy) and it makes some sense that someone (Sadly I don’t know who- if you know who produced it please IM me and I’ll give them a credit here on the blog) has taken this brave move to try and evaluate what a horse is worth and how much it should be sold for. You may not agree, but you cannot condone them for giving it a shot!

3# Remember; it’s just a game! You DON’T have to have a huge collection of horses to make some Lindens. A couple of mares and a stallion with exceptional traits will probably do you more good in the long-term than a herd of forty horses that you struggle to feed and manage. Which leads me on to the next point..

4# It’s NOT all about the Lindens. The secondary market is a huge element of the breedable game of course, but actually owning and riding the horses is tons of fun. You can buy some beautiful saddles and accessories for your horses and there are some great horse trails on the grid, and of course you can get some stunning riding outfits too!

Which leads me on to my most important point of all…..

Relax and enjoy your horses, that’s the most important element of the game. Don’t you think it’s sad to think of all the breeders out there that have never saddled up and rode a horse around a beautiful sim? Besides, I look hot when I’m riding horses, and I don’t mean in a sweaty way….(evidence below!)