Happy Halloweeeeen

Halloween Card Collection!

Happy Halloween TotalHowrsers! As you've probably seen around horse, we've wwelcomed in a new event 'Halloween Cards'.

How to get the cards
 - 2 for your first log on of the day
   1 if you win a competition with your horse (max 2 per day) 
   Purchase them in the flash sales (1 per each level every two days) 
   Trade duplicate cards for five diamonds - (1 per day) 


What you win: 
You can get individual cards (ones that don't belong in a series, and will give you prizes)
Each series also has a prize - 
 -Witches House Series - 1 x Philosophers Stone
 -Abandoned Villiage Series - 20,000equus
 -Mist Lake Series - 1x Morpheus Arms
 -Haunted Castle Series - 5x Diamonds
 -Cursed Forest Series - 10x Diamonds
 -Creatures of The Night Series - 1 x The 5th Element
 -Vampire's Crypt Series - 1 x Vampires' Privilege (A new 'item' that gives you 1 Medusa's Blood every month for a year)

When you have completed all the series' there is a special prize. 

A Divine (Of your choosing) From either the Gemstone Series (Ruby, Emerald, Jade, Sapphire etc.), from the Solar System Divines (Saturn, Jupiter, Earth etc.) Or a Greyfell of your choice, from the ones you don't already have.

Objectives and How to do them! 1-10

100 Objectives, all different. How will you do?

For each objective you complete, you will recieve a prize, so here we're going to give you the list of objectives, and how to complete them.
You can find your objectives at the bottom of the home page and in Profile > My objectives

1.  Buy 7 turnips at the store at one time ( Go to Breeding > Store)
Prize: Poseidon's Horseshoes
2. Post your postion in the breeder's ranking (Go to Ranking>Breeders>View My Position in the Ranking)
Prize: 3 aging points
3. Participate in two competitions with your horse (Breeding > My horses > (select horse) > choose a competition)
Prize: 1 trained horse. 
4.. Reach a Given Seniority - (Log on each day)
Prize - unknown
5. Reach ____ years with a horse you produced (You bred the horse, and your username is listed as the breedr)
Prize: 300 equus
6. Go riding for at least 4 hours in a row with one of your horses (Breeding>My Horses> (Select Horse) > Choose a discipline for riding (Trop, Gallop etc), select four hours or more.
Prize: 1 diamond
7. Offer a covering with one of your stallions. (Breeding>My horses> (select male horse) > Reproduction > offer a covering (either to your horse or one in the public domain)
Prize: 1 MG Saddle
8. Give a lesson with one of your horses (Breeding > My horses > (select horse) > Lesson)
Prize: 5 turnips
9. Sell 20 droppings to the store at once (Breeding>Store> Resell Items> Select 20 droppings)
Prize: 100 more droppings.
10. Congratulate 3 players on their game - (you can either do this by going to your friends if you have any, returning congratulations on your page or by going to Ranking>General Ranking and then congratulating any three players there.

Stay tuned for 11 - 21 :) 

Goodbye Lottery, Hello Trophies

Yes, we here know that the trophies aren't 'new' but, seeing as the lottery is over once again, we thought trophies would be the perfect topic. 

The trophies are for those who have completed all their objectives. (Listed in the next post)
Here are some (listed on your home page) of the trophies you can collect
1. Own all the breeds of horses (So one of each kind)
2. Own all the coats (These can be both regular, GA, DA and RC)
3. Have caught a certain amount of UFO's.

Horses are only counted if they are alive
You can lose trophies
Trophies are displayed on your home page if you have a Peggy subscription. 

Trading and Safety

It's great that we can trade items that we no longer need for something we do. But how does it all work? How can we do it safely? and How do we know we aren't being ripped off?

1. Trading BMI. 
We always suggest looking here before using passes and diamonds to buy something. All sorts of BMI can be found here. (Breeding Farm > Store > Item Exchange) 
Tips:                                      - Look around in the Black Market for both the item you want, and the item you will trade for it. Find out their pass values and decide whether the trade will be fair for both parties. 
 This is the only form of trading Howrse encourages, as it is kept safe. 

2. Trading Outside of the Item Exchange
Tips:                                      -You can only trade with 'friends' - so make sure the person you're adding as a friend a) allows random friend requests and b) allows trading, most people will say so on their profiles, but if they don't feel free to PM them, as long as you use the magic words 'Please' and 'Thank you' even if they don't want to be your friend or trade. 
                                              - Both agree on what you want to trade, and if you feel like you're being taken advantage of, say kindly 'I'm sorry, but I don't think I can trade with you, thank you for your time', that way nobody is being hurt. Once you both agree, it's time to trade. 
                                              - Howrse and TotalHowrse don't condone trading outside the site or privately, and encourage you to trade in the Item Exchange, however some people won't do this and all trading outside of the IE is done so at your own risk. Some people won't be unfair and will carry out the trade, however there is always going to be one person who doesn't. 
                                              - How to avoid a scam - Normally, avid traders will say so on their presentations, they may even give the names of people who they trade with regularly, feel free to PM these people and ask how the person trades, if they say they respond and say 'quickly' etc. then that is a good indication that the trader is genuine - but not always. Remember, if they offer you something that is totally 'too good to be true' then it probably is.
                                      

How to Price My Horse For Sales

Selling a Horse? Read this!

At sometime or another, we've all put a horse up for sale for more or less than it's worth. 
Nobody will buy a horse that is over priced for what it is, and you'll be taken advantage of
if you underprice. Here is some great tips for getting what your horse is worth.

Before pricing, take these things into consideration.
- What is the horses breed and species? -  some breeds are worth more than others, Donkey's are worth far more than a regular horse as are unicorns, divines and specials. Pegasus' are not worth much more than a regular horse and the reason for this is that they are given out to every player as an objective, and can easily be created by purchasing Medusa's Blood. You may want to check the directories to see how many horses of your breed, to determine whether they are worth more money or not. 
-What is the Gender, are they Gelded? - Many people are only looking for males and many for females. Female horses are in some respects worth more than males as they play the main part in reproducing. Other players will buy male horses for more, if they have potential, they can be gelded and a bonus will come from that. Don't just geld your horses to earn more money, as some players don't like gelded horses. 
-Horses Coat- As there are so many coats on howrse, the ones that are the lower percentage are obviously worth more. Many players will pay more for horses with the Flaxen Liver Chestnut and Cremello coats, but this depends on the individual. Horses with rare coats wont fetch you thousands of equus' extra at sale, but they can increase the price by 500 - 1000 equus. If you have a rare coat, why don't you change the horses name to '1% Coat', so players are aware of the coat rarity. Many horses also have GA (golden apple) RC or RA (Retired Coats or Retired Apple) and DA (Diamond Apple) Coats, and these will push up the price further, especially to RC and DA collectors.
-What Items does your horse have? - Items can really dramatically effect the price at sale as they are purchased with passes. Horses with Philosophers stones often make good money, as well as horses with DA or RC coats. Look around the the Black Market to determine whether an item you have can add to the value. If you have a chronos' timer, but the horse is already fully trained - then the CT is basically worth nothing. 
-Pure Bred- In many cases, PB horses are worth more to breeders, whereas Cross bred horses are good foy players who aren't interested in competition. 
-Skill Level and GP- The higher the skill and the GP the higher the price will go. Any skill above 1000 is good and 1600 is great. GP can be in phenomenal amounts. Horses with the standard GP of 350 aren't worth much at all. 
-Look in the Horse Directories- The horse directories will tell you several things as well as your horses breed profile. They tell you the rarity of coats, how many of those horses are in existance, what the favourite breeds are and what they have been selling for. 
-Look around the sales - Find horses of the same breed, either PB or CrossBred. If a horse is similar, base your price on that, if you find one that is of lower quality then you know that price is too low, if you find one that is of better quality, then the price is too high, so set your price between these two numbers!

Changes to Uni Breeding Times.

Read this notice, as it will be beneficial. 

Today, Howrse has annouced changes to Unicorn Breeding Times (UBT) We have seen hundreds of posts in the forums (world wide) and we thought we'd update you and fill you in, with help from ModX.

We all recieved the PM about it, and yes, we understand it was a bit confusing. 

X: "The Uni breeding times have changed, or will change. We will no longer be breeding uni's from the game time, only local time. Please make sure that you either set the correct time zone (Profile >My Account) or make your own conversion from selected local time to real local time. It is a change that will make breeding easier and better to understand. Thanks"

Here's an example. 
Prior to the change: GMT: 10:00 - LT: 4:00 - breeding time set 10:01. Under the old system, you'd have to breed your uni in one minutes time. 

Under the new system: GMT: 4:00 - LT: 10:00 - breeding time set 10:01. Under the new system, you will breed in 1 minute, not in 6 hours time. 

These changes take effect on the 29th of October, and we've been told that all unicorn owners will have the chance to change breeding times.

 

New Posts!

We surveyed 50 people, on what they wanted to see on TH, 35 people said "We'd like to know what each BM item does, what it is and why it helps." - You asked, we listened!


First up is... The Philosophers Stone 

 This is the Philosophers Stone.  It is an item all new players will come accross as it is given to your foundation horse during yhe tutorial. 
Use: Makes horse immortal (They will never die!)
Why it's helpful: It's great for new players and old players, it means no matter what mistakes we make, our horse will always survive. 
Cost:   3 passes in the Black Market!

Lottery!

Roll up, Roll up, The Lottery has returned.

It wasn't that long ago that we were saying sayonara to the lottery, but Howrse has brought it back again for this promo. The major prizes are horses from the Solar System Divine Range, and each day there will be a new divine, I'm assuming this means the lottery will only be in operation for a week. Here are the draw times (Remember, they are in Game Time, not local time!)
02:00, 04:00, 06:00 and 22:00 - So remember to purchase yourself tickets for the draws when you wont be around, or will be tucked up in bed!
How to get some tickets? You get three for each use of a pass (None if you spend a pass on a horse purchase) One for coming first in a competition, or last and can trade with friends (1 per contest). Tickets start at 100 equus, but triple for each ticket purchase (100,300,900 etc.) 
The Prizes are these:
Divine, Hermes' Winged Staff, Pack of three passes, 1 Month Pegasus Subscription, stars, equus and other important BM items.

Foal Game Schedule

Foal Games Schedule (As of October 2012)

It's a great idea to play games with your foals, they have so many benefits.  
They give your foal the best start in life. For those of you who aren't up-to-date
with the new system, Howrse has removed the 1.2 GP gain (when we said good-bye 
to the companions) and swapped it with a +60 skill point gain.

I see these questions in the forum all the time 'How can I do games if there are no companions?' 
Well totalhowrsers, the answer is simple.

Before you start, you'll need....

- A sparkly new foal (under 6 months)
=An EC with carrots, large and impeccable meadows
- Turnips

6 Months (prior to actual games)
- Send the foal to bed with 100% energy
- 100% morale 
- 100% health.
Don't overfeed, give water, groom, carrot, turnip and stroke. Send to bed before 10 pm. 

8 Months - 
Feed 9 pounds, Groom, 7hrs play, drink, carrot, stoke, turnip, 1hr play, Put to bed. 

10 Months -
Feed 9 pounds, groom, 8hrs play, drink, carrot, stroke, turnip, 1hr play, Put to bed.

1 year - 
Feed 9 pounds, groom, 9hrs play, drink, carrot, stroke, turnip, 1hr play, Put to bed

1 year 2 months, 
Feed 9 pounds, groom, 10hrs play, drink, carrot, stroke, turnip, 1hr play, put to bed

This is the most crucial part, please read carefully.

1 year 4 months,
Feed 9 pounds, groom, 10hrs play, drink, carrot, stroke, turnip, 2hr play, put to bed
(yes, you will be putting your horse to bed late, it doesn't really matter)
Congratulations, you've achieved your 60 points!

Training and BLUPPing.

 Whether you play howrse for fun, or to gain money and improve GP throughout the course of generations, you need to train and BLUP.These are steps to increase skill points and train quicker.

1. Complete foal games (see foal games schedule for correct way to do games) -These will give your foal 60.00 skill points before they can be trained. It's worth doing, otherwise there isn't much interaction that can be done with your foal. 

2. Training - to train, we need to fill up the training bar on the right of the screen. I would recommed purchasing a Chronos' Timer for 1 pass. They half the time necessary to train. Do one skill at a time (See Training Schedule).

3. Complete Rides - These include Gallop, Trot, Steep Slope and Beach. (See Riding Schedule). They increase skill level and BLUP.

4. Competitions - You must win 20 competitions (they can be mixed discipline) e.g 5 wins - trot, 5 wins - dressage, 5 wins - Show Jumping, 5 wins - Cross Country. These will increase skill level and BLUP

5. Do Horse Riding Lessons - they give you small gains in your best two disciplines and some equus. 

6. Bold - Bolding is where the disciplines have reached the maximum possible gain.

SS Divine Mercury

This is Mercury, he's available on day 4 (25th of October) in the HoP

Name: Mercury
Age: 3000 years
Gender: Male
Skill: 1200
Riding and Training: Black Hole Rides
Benefits: Brings owner 1 diamond every time the date is a prime number providing you've logged on during the last three days.






Our next divine...... Suprise ;)

SS Divine Neptune

This is divine Neptune - he is c urrently available on day 3 (24th of October) in the HoP

Name: Neptune
Age: 3000 years
Skill: 1200
Gender: Male
Training and Rides: Rides around Pluto
Benefits: 1-3 diamonds every 10 days, assuming you logged on the day before.




Coming up...... Mercury

SS Divine Saturn

This is Saturn, He is available on day 2 of the HoP giveaway (23rd of October)

Name: Saturn
Age: 3000 years
Gender: Male
Skills: 1200
Training and Rides: On the Milkyway
Benefits: On each full moon (So about once a month) he will reward his owner with 5 diamonds (as long as his owner has logged on at least once over the past 3 days)



Stay tuned for our synopisis on...... Neptune!

Divine Givaway and Mars!

Solar System Divines in the HoP!

Ok, so, we fibbed a bit in the title - they aren't just giving away our favourite Divines (unfortunately) but - they are again available through the Horn of Plenty!

Starting the 22nd of October 2012 - Each day for one week between 0:00 and 23:59 game time.
       Day 1 - 22nd - Mars
       Day 2 - 23rd  - Saturn
       Day 3 - 24th - Neptune
       Day 4 - 25th - Mercury
       Day 5 - 26th - Jupiter
       Day 6 - 27th - Venus. 

This page starts a synopsis of each of our SS divines!

Mars - 

 
Name: Mars
Age: 3000 years
Gender: Male
Skill: 1200
Training and Rides: Rides on the Supernova
Rewards : You recieve a diamond for every 20
skill points you add to his 1200
Covering: Yes. 

How to Make Easy Equus!

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (We do!)

 Total Howrse's top tips to make a living on howrse.

1. Breed, Don't Buy!
It saves you money, it's much cheaper to breed a horse instead of by spending huge amounts of equus. If a big breeding farm is what you're after - you'll find it's much cheaper to cover your own horses or buy cheap coverings.

2. Sell, Sell, Sell! 
As the title says, sell your horses! You may only make a small profit on each horse, but every little bit adds up. horses can be sold for 500equus to 1,000,000. The better your horse, the more you'll make. 

3. Resell your unwanted items! 
Droppings included. Tack, mash, turnips, apples, everything. It's great when you're low on funds and even when you're not. Many of these things you wont ever need, may as well sell it and put it to good use. 

4. Lessons and Competitions.
If you're able to compete, do. Horses over 3 can participate in competitions. If you have access to the Grand Prix, enter. Any place earns you alot, (1000eq) alot. Even coming dead last will earn you a few. Participating in lessons will give you at least 30 equus. 

5. Cover!
If you can cover, (Male, non gelded) You can offer coverings to other players for a set fee. The higher the GP the more you can ask. 

Divines and Specials

Divines and Specials.

1. What are they

Divine horses are special horses that are quite rare, as goes for specials, some possess special abilities which benefit the owner and other players who do not own them.

2. Where do they come from (How do I get them?)

Divines and Specials can be won in various events (such as the lotto and the treasure race) and won in HoP's. Some (like wild horses) can also be purchased through the reserved sales for passes. Some are no longer available (to win) and others such as the Solar system divines (such as Earth) can still be won.

3. Do they breed?

 Yes and no. Some divines are able to breed, and others can't. Some that can include: Snow and Mist, who together create Ocean, Sapphire and Emerald. Ones who cannot: Gypse, and Balios.

4. Can I sell them? 

Again, only certain Divines can be sold, these include:  Xanthos, Sleipner, Balios, Gypses, Croesus, and Gemstone divines (except Diamond), and other divines. Most specials can be sold.

5. What special abilities do they have? 

Some have the primary purpose of bringing their owner diamonds and passes. For other users, they can give aging points (Archimedes). Stroking Xanthos can give the non-owning player 10% energy for one horse and if five are stroked, occasionally you will get either a HoP or 1,000eq.

Forums - what is and isn't allowed!

I've recently been spending time helping players on the game play forum, I've noticed many things, one being that people don't understand what is and isn't acceptable on the game play forum as well as many rude people. So I've decided to post what is and isn't ok as set out in the Forum Guidelines. Reading this could help many of you, and potentially save you from losing karma and being banned!
 1. Cursing, that's right ladies and gentlemen. It isn't ok to swear in the forums (and no where on howrse) So that means none of the big five, no 'hells' 'dammits' 'craps'. None! Speak on howrse how you'd speak to your grandmother!
2. Advertising, So don't be advertising horse sales, coverings, item trades, training services and anything that gains you equus. You have a presentation on your profile for this sort of stuff, EC's can be advertised in the EC forum. 
3. Rudness, this is a big one for us here at TH. Rudeness doesn't just mean calling someone names or bullying them, it's anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. It can be as simple as using your seniority to talk down to other players to the obvious slanging matches. 
4. Bumping, This is purposely adding to posts once they've been answered or trolling messages up. It's annoying and takes up space, it can also be confusing to see a million posts that are contradictory or totally unrelated.
5. Using Caps lock, We understand that it can be an accident, and so does the howrse mods, but please keep in mind that it can appear as shouting!
6. Chat speak, We know that in today's era technology is huge and it's easier to use the occassional 'u' as a substitute for you, but please try and avoid it when posting questions and answers in the forum. It's difficult for players using translators and also for other english speaking players who have difficulty reading it.
7. Character repetition, so basically just don't spell like 'thiiiiiiiiss' or use excessive amounts of exclamation marks and other things like that!
8. Smiley repetition, It's good to know you're happy :) or feeling a bit cheeky ;) but it's not so great if you're trying to get a serious answer to a question. On your presentation - feel free to use as many smileys as you like ;)
9. Flooding the Forum, Double posting isn't a big deal, unless you ask the same thing several times. Flooding the forum can include silly, nonsensical posts about your fave band, music, horse breeds and colours. Things that don't belong there and would be much better suited to your page!
10. Naming and Shaming, Sometimes another player will annoy you, may be cheating or bullying you and you'd like to get them punished, we understand - but the forum is not the place to do so. Please contact the moderator of your choice for this!
11. Pornography, Political statements or Religious statements, These three things do not belong any where on howrse. Pornography is an obvious no-no. Politcal statements aren't allowed as they are not included in the horse game. You may love your politics, but there are other places on the web to justify your beliefs. Same thing for Religious statements, they aren't necessary, can be hurtful and can cause tension. Keep them off the forums and off your page!
12. No opinion polls, Page yes, forum no. 

Remember your please's and thankyou's!

VIEWER POST 2

Haven vs. Heaven

It's no surprise to us here at TH, that sometimes it may be necessary to let our horses go. We've run an opinion poll about how our readers feel about giving their horses to the safe haven, and sending them to heaven

Safe haven -             It's a Great idea! 30%,       It's terrible -  70%

Our verdict? - We here at TH understand that sometimes we just can't look after our horses well. Maybe we've run out of equus, or just have too many horses to handle - maybe nobody will buy our horses in the sales. At one stage or another, we've all sent a horse there. We're fans of the safe haven. It means we don't have to kill our beloved animals!

So what is the safe haven? It's essentially a 'better place' for our horses. It means we can put them there and know they will be forever looked after. Some people believe we should be able to retrieve SH horses, but we all also know how huge that would be. After a horse is sent to the SH, it becomes 'just a picture' . All traits, GP, skill, everything that makes that horse unique is deleted from the game. It keeps his or her name, any GA coats etc and his image. 

Reader 1's opinion, "I'm unsure about the haven, It's great in the regards that people can send horses there who may not be recieving the best care, it's also great that howrse have allowed us to stroke the haven horses. I just think it would be great if they were too allow people to adopt horses, I've seen several divines in the mix at the haven, and just think they'd be better off allowing users a random chance at adopting them"

Reader 2's opinion, "I don't particularly like the SH. You get paid to abandon a horse. None of my horses will ever end up there, I can tell you that now." 

Heaven -   It's a better place - 60%,             More like hell  - 40%

Our verdict? We don't agree that heaven and the haven should be two different places. Essentially, you have to 'kill off' horses to go there, and then can resucitate them anyway. 

What is horsey heaven? It's a place set aside for horses who died, and who were killed. Horses can die from not being looked after properly and even just old age. They automatically go to heaven after their death and the owner will then have a tab called 'My horses in heaven'. Horses who die (that are under 25) can be resucitated with a BM item. Horses over 25 can not be brought back from the dead, as they died at an advanced age. Horses over 30 who die will bring their owner a pass but also cannot be resucitated. 

Reader 1's opinion "I dissagree with some crucial parts of heaven. I don't like the pass system, or the resucitation. It seems too 'gimmie-gimmie' and players will happily kill off horses if they want a pass"

Reader 2's opinion "I'm really quite undecided."

Heaven vs. Haven? 

80% of you, prefer heaven whilst the other 20% love the haven. 

Your questions, Mods answers.

Sorry to be such a poster-er but from our last interview with our mod friend 'X' we have had so many responses and questions for X. We have decided it is best to do yet another interview with all your questions.We wont name and shame you all as a fair few have been asked to be kept anonymous. 

question 1
TH fan - "X, why does it seem like mods are always nasty people, who seem to favour people with heaps of equus and seniority. In my opinion mod's shouldn't be allowed to be friends with 'regular' players as it creates an unfair playing field."
X "WOW!..... I'm shocked to hear you say that. Mod's aren't nasty people, we may seem blunt, rude even but we do this to create even-ness in the game. We can't be going onto someones forum and banning them and then onto another players' and tell them we love them, can we?, I understand that it may seem unfair being friends with players' but we log on to have fun also."
TH fan then replied: "But it is unfair. how can it not be? Who is to say you wont give them special treatment in forums, special items which only you can afford because of all your passes?"
X "We're not allowed to give out items. We also wouldn't because it's unfair. We may be friends with some players because we all joined the game around the same time, that is we learnt the ropes together and without them, we wouldn't be successful moderators. thankyou"

question 2
TH fan - "X, I'm struggling to play the game, I'm constantly being bullied by other players', i've asked them to stop but they wont. Everytime I contact howrse I get no response. What should I do about it.?"
X "Report, report, report. At howrse we take a stand against cyber bullying. Under no circumstance is it tolerated. Black list the user, record their name and small details of the abusive messages. Log on to a Mod's page and send them a PM with the details. They will investigate and it is likely that player will recieve a holiday from howrse."

question 3 - 
TH fan - "X, i won a 'congratulations from Ow' in the lottery. What is this?"
X: "It's like any congratulations you get on the game, except it's from Ow. Ow rarely congratulates people, so this is a special thing."

Thank you to all you wonderful fans, and to our ever friendly modX. 
Oh, and one last word from X. 
"Total Howrse is the best out there, how many other blogs interview moderators, love from your friend X!"

Reader Post 1 - Ideas forum?

Almost as soon as we posted our last post calling for posts you'd like to see, you sent one in. It was such a great idea that we decided to jump right in and use it as number 1. Thank you hOWselul for sending this in!

The ideas forum!

International.

The ideas forum is a wonderful place (or so we think). Players can express what they're liking, loving and hating about the game, suggesting new BM items, rules that should be changed and then, having other players comment and agree (or dissagree) with them. It is a place where howrse users can get their voice accross and where mods and administrators can get ideas for the game. We can vote on other people's ideas, and get their opinion on our ideas. It's the only opinion-based forum allowed.

what our mod-friend X had to say. 
"The ideas forum was created so players could give us feedback and essentially make decisions based on their own game-play"

Again, there are things that can't be posted, so before proposing and idea, please make sure you read the WNTP (what not to post) guide.
And as always, please remain courteous when giving your feedback, as these are other peoples' brain children and they are often very proud.  Provide arguments (constructive criticism) why you do or don't like their ideas, valid reasons only. 

e.g "I don't particularly agree with parts of this idea, it was a good try. it just wouldn't work because......" or "howrse would not approve this change because........" or "It's a great idea but these (insert suggested changes here) elements may need to be changed because...." 

If you're thinking about posting an idea, remember that everyone will have their own opinion and they are allowed to! - you need to state what the thing you want to propose/change does, what it will do for players/horses and why it would be good, as well as pictures if you wish, descriptive words of how it will look, suggested names, what it will cost or how it can be won and how they are fair/unfair.
This is an example I created -

Title - Rising Moon New BMI. 
Info - This is a new BM item I thought of, It allows one horse the ability to never sleep, that means it can participate in competitions, rides and general upkeep all night until the age of 20 without losing energy. It would mean that a horse could be trained much quicker. This would be good for new players as it would mean they could train their horses and have them in competitions and adjust to the game quicker. They could make equus a lot faster too. They could be sold for diamonds, so that new players were able to buy them with rewards from objectives. I'd love to hear how you all feel about this and maybe some suggestions? Please be kind when responding.

 

Over the next five days, us at totalhowrse want you guys to send in some ideas about things you'd like to see posts about, walkthroughs, explanations, help, competitions, BM items, interviews - ANYTHING!
The top five questions/suggestions will recieve a post dedicated to them.

 One today, tomorrow, the next day and then the day after that and then the day after that!!!

Lots of love Total-Howrse-ers. 
-Also we've added some more admins. (however we all post under the one account)
We'd like to welcome - 
"THAustralia2" Who will join "THAustralia" - they will post under THA2 and THA.
"THBritain" who is our first british admin!
and finally, "THFrance" who is going to be sending in ideas, and helping us read french questions that have been sent in! 
that brings our total to 8 admins!

lots of love - THIN*

Unicorn breeding Walkthrough

Having trouble breeding unicorns? All your answers are here!

Before you start, you will need:

 - at least one unicorn. You can't purchase a 'horn' like you could with medusa's blood. You can buy them from the sales. If you're not fussed with breed, go for whatever is cheapest, if you are wanting a particular breed it may cost you more. Some people will only ask for equus and others will want a mix of equuses and passes. Totalhowrse hint: Many moderators who breed unicorns will sell them for only equus. If possible, look at some mods' pages and see if they have any for sale. 
-time, patience and money.

Step one - finding a suitable covering.

Many first time unicorn breeders may think that unicorns can be cross bred - false! All unicorns are ppurebred and must be bred with a unicorn of the same breed. We reccommend buying a female but if there aren't any in your price range, purchase a male (check he isn't gelded) and use a Zeus' lightning bolt on him. You can then cover her. It wont hurt you just to look at the public coverings to see what is available, even if it's not time to cover. Like always, the horse with the higher GP and who is BLUPed will set you back more, so if it isn't your goal to have high class unicorns, then look for a less experienced horse. (Who doesn't love a shiny new unicorn, regardless of his or her abilities?!)

Step two - waiting until the right time.

This is the bit that must be done precisely. The original time set for unicorn coverings is 07:00 and 19:00, however you can choose to change this once every thirty days. Remember this is game time, not local time. An example of this may be that game time may be 18:12 and my time is 6:12pm. Remember this local time as a conversion for game time. So when my local time hits 7.00pm, I know that it's time to cover. It is important to have already picked a covering by this time to save precious seconds.. Do not press cover yet! Just because local time has become the right time, it doesn't mean howrse time is right. refresh the page and look at the game time. if it says '19:00' you're free to cover. If it says 18:59 - refresh again and then press cover. 

Note: If a horse has been covered within 10 hours of you attempting to cover him/her it will not produce a uni - foal. Nor will it if the horse you're attempting to cover was conceived within the last 10 hours. 

Did I get it right?

After you have returned to the horse's page, scroll down to the reproduction tab, click general. If it says covered in the right conditions - you got it right. If it says was not covered in the right conditions, then you need to figure out what went wrong. Was the horse previously covered that day?, did you refresh the page and cover at the right time? Was the unicorn you're trying to cover concieved in the last ten hours?. Try again at the next opportunity, after giving birth to the foal you're carrying. 

Please, please be a unicorn - Step three.

It's at this point where it gets exciting! You can either age your horse until it is ready to give birth, or let her go naturally. Remember to keep 200 equus on hand for the vet, and an extra 50 if you'd like an ultrasound to reveal coat and gender. (The ultrasound will not tell you if it's a unicorn or not)
When the time arrives, get your unicorn to the vet and with a stroke of luck (you have a 1 in 5 chance) You'll have a unicorn foal! If not, don't be disheartened, just keep trying.

Question Time with a Mod!

This week, we have emailed, and interviewed a moderator with all the nitty gritty questions that howrse players have. Please note: the moderator has asked not to be named. So we're going to call them X!

TH: What are the benefits of working as a Howrse moderator?
X: "There are all sorts of benefits. I like being able to help all howrse lovers in every stage of their game, the newbies and the veterans. I love that I get to talk to lots of people every day, including the other mods! I really enjoy my divine horses also."

TH: What is your favourite Divine?
X: "Definitely Amethyst."

TH: What is the hardest part of being a moderator?
X: "It's hard when players don't follow the rules. I don't enjoy awarding sanctions, verifying that people have been discourteous or participate in banning. I want our community to get on, so that we can all enjoy it and achieve whatever howrse goals we have :)"

TH: What tips do you have for new players?
X: "Read help manuals, come up with goals for your breeding farms, EC's and horses, read the forum quidelines, ask for help and ultimately have fun and be respectful to everyone else on howrse!"

TH: And tips for your 'veteran' players?
X: "Just remember that those days of seniority don't mean you know everything about the game! There is always more to learn. Try not to be cocky when helping younger players (you were new once too!) and just continue with your goals!"

TH: We all know 'chat speak' is not allowed on the forums, why do you think this is?
X: "We're an international community, even servers like Australia have members who originate from other places, not necessarily English speaking places at that. Yes, English is the language that must be spoken on some servers (international etc.). Many users from all over the globe use translators to communicate on howrse and words in chat speak can't be translated by something like google translate. It's important to allow these players to understand exactly what we do!"

TH: Cyberbullying is a horrible thing now-a-days, does it happen often in the howrse community, how does it effect players and how do you stop these bullies?
X: "Let me start by saying that, Cyberbullying on howrse is not on and will not be tolerated. It doesn't happen as often as you'd think, many of howrse users are female and as you know we can often be a bit catty. Occasionally some players may say some uncalled for things, and they are dealt with as such but for the most part players are pretty courteous which is wonderful! We will stop cyberbullies by cutting off their access to features that allow them to communicate with others, like personal messaging, forums, sales, exchanges and trades and gift giving, bans and account deletions can be handed out to players who continually bully. Cyberbullying is just not on, it can make players not want to come online, be upset, angry, lose focus and intimidate them. Just a reminder, Cyberbullying is illegal on any site and can be dealt with by police and other authorities so think twice before bullying!"

TH: Anything you'd like to say to our totalhowrse-ers?
X: "No matter what stage of the game you're in, there is always something else to do and learn. Be courteous to mods and players and play by the rules. We have so many players world wide and we're lucky to have every single one. It's the worlds best online horse game and we're incredibly proud of it. We are online long hours so you can enjoy it! So go on, what are you waiting for? Get online!"

TH: Can you see yourself joining the totalhowrse team at any point?
X: "Well, I'd love too! but right now I'm busy keeping the peace on howrse, working and looking after my horses, maybe when I leave the mod team, I'll be an admin here! But I'd love to be an honorary totalhowrser!"

Karma

TotalHowrse is dedicating this post to our friend Karma seeing as we have had several questions sent in about karma points, how they're gained and lost and what the ramifications are surrounding loss of karma

- What is Karma?
a) Karma is the system Howrse uses to punish players for breaking the rules.

- How can Karma points be lost?
a) Karma points can be lost by any breach of howrse rules. This can include continuous breaches of forum posting guildines and abuse/scamming of other players. It can be also lost by multi-accounting, innapropriate comments or photos and copyright infringement (creation space)

- I've lost Karma, how do I get it back?
a) unfortunately there is no good deed that will retrieve lost karma points. You earn 1 karma point back every thirty days.

- What happens when you lose Karma?
a) There are several things that happen, these are:
 -6 points- Loss of access to all the forums, item exchanges and gift giving
 -4 points- Loss of access to the sales and to proposing creations 
 -2 points- Loss of access to private messaging 
 -0 points- Two month ban from the game.

-How can I check my Karma?
a) (Profile> My Account>My Karma)
 

One more for this evening ladies and gentlemen!
Questions answered.

Question 1 - What is Multi-accounting and how can it be avoided - asked by Sarah1276
Hello Sarah, Multi accounting is where a player has more than one account on a single server, it is forbidden by the user agreement. It can be used to cheat, give equus, gifts, BM items etc, etc. Many players feel they can 'get away' with multi accounting but this simply isn't true. Owlient is able to detect IP addresses to determing whether a player is multi accounting. Sometimes they get it wrong, and you have to be careful when allowing siblings or friends to play Howrse on your computer as it can sometimes be mistaken for multi accounting even though you're not. One way to avoid it when other players are using your computer is to be aware not to log on yourself, log off and then allow other players to log on and off. The most efficient way to avoid multi accounting is just to not make another account. Note: It is NOT multi accounting if you have one account on each server.  Punishments can result in loss of karma, banning or even account deletion. 

Question 2 -  Can I get cheats for Passes and diamonds? where can I get them? - asked by Emmalindamen1998
Emmalindamen1998 - there are no 'cheats' for howrse. 
Passes can be achieved in the following ways:
*You can pay for them, via text, direct debit etc. You'll find out more information on the 'My passes' section under the My Profile tab. 
* You can also 'trade'  equus for passes every 50 days of seniority with 20% of your reserve.
*By sending a horse who is over 25 to heaven, you will recieve a pass Note: You can not bring this horse back as it died at an advanced age so think carefully before killing off a horse. 
* Winning them in competitions
* By planting Pass seeds in your EC. These are very rare seeds that occur in the EC shop every autumn. 
*By owning, stroking, visiting the pages of certain divines. 
Diamonds are similar to passes, they allow you to purchase black market items, aging points and equus'. You can not use diamonds for horse purchases. 
* Completing partner deals (My profile>My passes>Partner Deals) 
* Winning them in competitions
*Trading 1 pass for 10 diamonds.

Hello again Totalhowrse-ers.
This week, we welcomed in the Treasure Race. (Cool eh?) Basically, the Treasure Race follows in it's predecessors' footsteps. You get a certain amount of clicks per-day and this can be added to by completing the objectives. You win prizes by clicking and the ultimate prize is a treasure chest.
The treasure chest is similar to a HoP with a bigger jackpot. You can win 1,000,000 equus, 1,000 aging points or 1,000 passes! As well as winning a divine 'Earth' everytime you open one. It requires 20 complete scenarios to win a TC in the Treasure Race. (But we're sure you can all do it!)
A hint for new players is this:
Record the time you last clicked, it should tell you how long away your next click is - and record this too, so you use every opportunity possible to click. Your friends can also click for you, it costs you 200eq per request, but helpful! Remember to complete all the objectives that come with it, as you can't win the ultimate prize without it!. Good luck!