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BY
JNFERRIGNO
The color Black has always been a challenge to
paint in the equine community. And taken literally, by its own simple
definition, there is no such thing as a ‘black’ horse. However imagine
how foolish we’d look if we were to call a horse, blue-black,
purple-black, or grey-black. Instead we prefer to use the simplest term
of black, and this can additionally be supported by genetic evidence.
Irregardless, there is no
denying that a Black horse
can come in
many different shades, and this is where the complications begin.
Factors like season, shade, background, time of day, food, health, and
even fur length contribute to the horses outer appearance. The results
are horses who appear to have green, brown, blue, grey, and purple
shades of black hairs.
For digital artists, the
eyedropper is a godsend,
choose your
picture, highlight the area, pick a color up, and begin painting.
However for traditional artists, this poses a bit more of a challenge.
Below, I have some swatches using a digital medium. For those
traditional artists, compare your swatches to these colors, and mix and
match as needed.
Greys are the most common
color use for
highlights on black horses. However very few horses in real life will
actually have grey highlights. It is usually the result of a camera
flash, or high exposure of sunlight on a sweaty or wet horse.
These are also called Fading
blacks, and are
generally the most common.
Soft black is another brown
shade, but like its name
has soft highlights as opposed to hard crisp highlights.
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Blue blacks are thought to be
homozygous
blacks,
and this true black will never fade. However the colors that make up a
Blue black appear to be vast, and more along the lines of grey black,
plus a few additional blue hues.
Purple Black, some times
called Violet Black, is
a deep dark color when out of the sun. However when the sun hits the
coat of a Purple Black horse, it almost glows purple. This color has
been most commonly seen in ponies, and gaited horses. Under most lights
they appear like a soft or grey black, but in the natural light they
change.
This color is the same as the
other blue and
purple blacks, however some areas or the horse appear to be brown black
as well, like head, hip, and inside the legs. |
BY
ALIAS
It is the general
agreement between people who hold train offs that the
host should know what they are doing. Or at least, pretend to know what
they are doing (like me!). For starters, you need to have something
that appeals to a lot of people.
The host of the train
off should offer prizes of decent amounts,
depending on how many horses are in the train off. Twit said about
prizes, “It depends on the train-off. A large one with 15-30 entrants
should have a prize of at least a dye or 30 million for first. A
smaller one with maybe only 10 entrants can have a lower first prize of
10-15 million. There should be at least 3 prizes, unless the first
prize is exceptionally good (like 45-100 million or something).”
Offering a lot of money
but requiring people to give you all of the
winnings is a No-No. Offering a part of the winnings and money as a
prize is preferred to taking all of the money from the entrant.
Offering a goody dye, sponsor upgrade and cash as well as part of the
horses’ winnings as a prize has also been regarded as fair. The entrant
would be working for money, an upgrade, and sometimes even a foal from
the horse they trained. If that horse was trained and evented very
well, the prize itself would be worth quite a lot. However, people do
not want to enter train-offs that require them to make special events
for their horses, say Draft Track Racing. Keep this in mind if you are
going to hold a train off.
As the host of a train
off you should take the responsibility of
offering the horses for the people entering the train off. The general
consensus of all the people who gave me their opinions was that the
host should provide horses with comparable stats that would be trained
and evented fairly without one entrant having a better horse than the
other. This helps keep the whole thing fair, and makes it possible that
you can pick out the better trained horses.
When a host writes the
rules they should be conscious of the effort it
takes to train the horses and the time and money it takes to event the
horse. This means you need to let them keep some of the winnings, or
offer a prize that will be worth the amount of time and effort to the
entrant. Prizes and rules should be kept the same from the beginning to
the end of the train off. People enter events for the prizes and the
difficulty of the overall train off. Rules should NEVER be changed .
Keep the rules simple and straight-forward. Drastically changing the
rules after an event is underway could cause you to lose your entrants
and earn a bad reputation. Especially if the rules are changed to make
the event less fair, or the prizes are lowered. My personal opinion on
prize changes is that the prize should only be changed to go up not
down. Ever.
Keep your train off to
a good length. People have said that train
offs lasting more than a month loses the interest of their entrants.
Rule of thumb: Keep it long enough that people can properly event their
horse, but not so short that they feel rushed to get it done and end up
messing up the horses’ training.
Keeping the
horse/entrant standings updated when events are run or when
there is a change in standing is appreciated by the entrants because
they like to know where they are in the winnings of your event.
I have gotten mixed
reviews about whether a horse should only enter 11k
shows or if they should be allowed to enter lower purse shows as well.
Some people say that entering and winning lower placed shows to enhance
the win/place/show average is cheating to make the horse look better.
Others think it’s fair in the respect that if the horse is being judged
on winnings, this gives them more chances to win and get more winnings.
It is my opinion that you should ask the host of the event what types
of events to enter. They may say that any event is free game or they
might say that you can’t event low purse shows with the horse. However,
entering overly tailored events (events that have been set up with age,
prize, point , and breed type restrictions to make it impossible for
anyone but that person’s horse to win) is usually forbidden and you
could even get into trouble for making them. Best bet is to just ignore
or report them to the host when you see them.
Difficult or impossible
events don’t seem to get many entrants and
people also won’t enter train offs that have a complicated rule/judging
system that they don’t understand. If they don’t understand it, they
won’t know how they are being judged and may think they are doing great
when in reality they are at the bottom of the horse standings list.
Remember the Train Off Golden Rule: KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid.
So let’s see… I’ve gone
over keeping it creative but not impossible, and prizes. Let’s move
onto Host and Entrant Etiquette.
If you are thinking
about entering or are entered into an event, there
are a few things you should keep in mind. One of these things being,
saying you'll enter a train-off is like a verbal contract/promise. If
you enter a train off, you need to train and event the horse you chose.
If for some reason you can’t continue your training or eventing of the
horse then you need to let the host know instead of just let it sit
there. Other than wasting the Hosts’ time with waiting for your horse
to be evented or waiting for you to tell them what is going on, this is
rude and just plain uncalled for. If you are entered in more than one
Train Off, then you need to make sure you can handle the work load and
not screw one Host or the other over. Make sure you can do two or more
at once before doing so.
Do not enter a train
off for an event you know nothing about. Using
train off horses as practice for your new endeavor is not a good idea
and you wouldn’t be allowed to enter the contest. If you enter a train
off, make sure you are dedicated to seeing it through until the end.
The number of events
hosted by the Train off host or other people can
determine the amount of entrants into a Train off. If the train off is
for something like Draft Conformation people won’t enter it because
there are rarely Draft only Conformation events up. Make sure your
train off has events up that are not just hosted by yourself, but
others as well. This provides entrants with the ability to enter more
events, and for them to enter events during training.
Hosts should keep in
mind that the people in their train off might be
in other train offs and busy with real life things and should not
constantly message them to tell them to get on with the
training/eventing of their horse. This could cause people to lose
respect for you or your event and drop out. I mean, who would want to
enter an event where the host is breathing down your neck the entire
time and pressuring you to do everything on their time and not your
own?
A successful
train/event off seems to include good prizes, great
horses, simple, understandable rules and a discipline that has a
sufficient amount of events on the show page. Entrants look at the
prize, rules, host and discipline the most before committing themselves
to a train off and if you change these things to make them less than
reasonable, you won’t have a train off.
When everyone shows
good sportsmanship and competitiveness, everyone is
happy. Bashing other entrants, being rude, and rudeness in general
makes people not like you too much and no one wants to be the recipient
of such comments. Friendly teasing between friends and entrants is
usually allowed, but try and keep it friendly.
And lastly, listen to
your participants; they usually have good ideas on how to improve your
event. |
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BY JNFERRIGNO
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It’s the
first day of fall, and Judith can be
found excitedly walking into the new barn she leases from. The subtle
smells of fresh hay cause her to sneeze slightly, never the less, she
proceeds down the isle eagerly greeting every horse with a pat on the
nose. A moment later, she catches a new and familiar smell. She grins.
It was the smell of hot chocolate! As she walked faster and faster to
the end of the barn, she could hear other people laughing as she ran
towards the kitchen. Upon entering, there stood a women holding a mug
out to her, “Would you like one cream or two?” she asks. Judith is
excited, her first day of riding, and they are making home made hot
chocolate!
“Good
morning everyone, welcome to your
first riding lesson. This
morning we’re going to do a little science experiment,” she says with a
smile.
What? Science? But Judith
hated science. Although, there was hot
chocolate calling to her. Maybe she could tolerate it after all. And
thus, through the magic of chocolate, the instructor introduces
everyone to their first, and likely most memorable, science lesson.
The cream gene is what we
call a dilution gene, and the result lightens
(dilutes) the horses coat color. The horse can carry one dose, or two
doses of the dilution gene. For this experiment you will need some
Hershey Chocolate syrup, milk, a measuring cup, four clear cups, plus
some friends to share with.
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To begin the
experiment, add 1 cup of chocolate syrup to the first clear
container. This represents your basic undiluted horse coat. Note that
it is solid, and not lightened by the cream (milk). What other horse
colors remind you of chocolate? Bays and Blacks, maybe even Chestnuts.
These are what we call hard colors.
In the second container
add 1 cup of milk. This represents your pure
cream gene. In science, we call these first two cups your Control, they
are untouched and unmodified. They are intended for representation, and
color comparison.
In the third container,
add in 3/4 cup of chocolate syrup. This
represents your solid colored horse before dilution. To that, mix in
1/4 cup of milk. This represents a
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horse with 1 cream gene (Ccr).
Compare it to your chocolate control you have in cup 1. Does it appear
lighter?
In the fourth
container, combine 1/2 cup of chocolate syrup, with
1/2 cup of milk and mix together. We use a 1/2 cup of milk here to
represent the 2 doses of cream gene the horse is now receiving.
Line
up your containers in order from darkest to lightest, note the changing
in color with your chocolate milk? The top row is your pure color, and
pure cream. While the bottom row represents a horse with 1 cream
dilution (on left) and a horse with 2 cream dilutions (on right).
Now for last step, raid
the fridge of all your fruit, check the freezer
for ice-cream, and gather up the cookies from the pantry. Use up the
rest of the chocolate syrup and milk as you see fit! |
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BY
DRAGONWINGS
Draggy can't sleep. What
does Draggy do when she can't sleep? She complains and vents LOL
10 - How have they
not fired you yet?
So I’ve been pondering
getting a new digital camera. So I went to
Wal-Mart, just to look and see what they had. So, the person behind the
counter is this little 18 year-ish old thing, who has nails the size of
eagle talons and is smacking...yes, literally moving her mouth in an
odd circle as to chomp on her gum in the most annoying way possible.
*snap
pop...pop...pop…chew chew chew * "Can I help you?"
Ohhhh God. Self
control....MUST maintain self control. Come on Draggy...you can do
it....you can dooooo ittttt....
"Yes... is there
someone working who I can speak to about the digital
cameras? I have a few questions about the different types."
*snap chew chew chew
chew chew chew chew chew* "Yeah... me."
"And you're familiar
with how they work?"
"Uh...yeah...you just
push the button...and it takes a picture" *chewchew snap snap pop*
Alright. Lately I’ve
had my fill of what I consider 'stupid people'.
People bidding 0 on my horses and whining at me to sell them, children
blowing smoke up my rear about how they have a spectacular breeding
program and I should sell them my horses...even though it states
everywhere that they’re not for sale...you guys get the drift.
Now, I come from a
customer service background. I loved working retail,
most people can’t stand it, I loved doing it. When a customer asked me
about a product, if I didn’t know it like the back of my hand, I would
find a sales associate who did. Because THAT’S what you do when someone
needs something.
"I need to speak to
someone who knows about the particular features,
I'm looking for something that’s suitable for photographing miniature
work."
"Well it has a zoom."
*snap*
"Is there someone else
working in this department that I may speak
with...perhaps someone who isn't trying to fling cherry flavored
spittle at customers as she chews her rubbery cud like a dairy cow?"
Crap. There it goes. It
just...flew out! Like a cat niped calico who had a vendetta against
the mailman. Crap crap crap. I expected a quip back. Hell, even on my
best days when a customer got snotty with me I would use a few large
confusing words and watch them tilt their heads like a puzzled poodle.
*snap pop pop* "Huh?"
Oh dear god.
"I..... Want... to....
speeeaaaaak...... with....... a...... manager."
*snap* "Why?" *snap
snap*
"Because I know that
I'm getting dumber the longer I converse with you."
She just stared at me.
And chewed. And chewed.
"Pick up the
phone...yes...see that beige thingie with buttons on it?
Yeeeees! Very good! Now....push the sequence of numbers that will let
you talk to someone else...preferably someone like your boss. Someone
who can answer the questions I have."
*snap snap snap snap*
"But I answered you questions."
About that time a cute
little old lady in a blue vest wandered over,
her Spidey Sense must have tipped her off to the disaster that was
ahead.
"Hi there Miss, did you
have a question about any of our cameras?"
The woman was instantly
surrounded by a beam of heavenly light, the
very saint I needed to continue on my camera buying journey.
At that point she turns
to the girl who’s standing there... still chewing.
"Why on earth are you
back here??? You're supposed to be unloading the
truck. And get rid of that gum. This is the second time today I’ve told
you that it looks disgusting and how you're not allowed to chew it
while you’re working.
*snap pop* "But I was
going to take a break."
"A Break?? You've been
here 20 minutes!"
Needless to say she was
sent home. Permanently. I guess she had also pocketed a few opened
CDs...on her second day on the job
The lady ( Who was
apparently an assistant manager, who stated several
times that she was NOT the one who hired the kid ) Told me that for my
trouble she would be happy to give me a discount on the camera I should
decide to buy. She then went over every camera she had in stock, along
with a few new ones that they would be getting in next week.
This is what happens
when I don’t drive the extra block and a half to Target.
9 - I Am The
Underpants Queen!
I’m sorry. No matter
how old you are, it’s ALWAYS okay to grab a pair
of underwear out of the dryer and stick them on your head. Granted
they're your underwear, and you know where they've been. Because
wearing a strangers underwear is just wrong.
8 - May Contain Nuts
I think it’s funny when
a can of roasted cashews has a little warning
on the side that says 'Caution...may contain nut or nut products.'
It’s a can of nuts.
That’s why Im buying it...because I WANT to consume nut or nut
products. *shakes head.
7 - Less than Zero
Do not go bid 0 on a
horse and claim its 'So You Know Which Horses Im
Interested In Buying' Yeah. I’m not a moron. Just give me horse numbers
or links...like everyone else. Anytime a person bids 0 on a horse, it
looks bad. Many of us transfer horses by bidding 0 on them from one
ranch and then accepting. It looks shady. Don’t do it.
6 - Tales Of The
Donut Snatchers
So, all week I’ve been
craving them. Little mini choco coated cakey
nuggets of fattening happiness. I have wanted mini donuts all week. So
the poor regs in chat had to listen to me complain about donuts. Hey
Draggy what’s? I WANT DONUTS! Uh huh...okay.
So I went to the
grocery store on a mission...must have mini choco donuts.
So when I got home I
had choco donuts for dinner. WEEEEEEE!
And then....it
happened. A huge choco donut of destruction filled my tummy. And
then...it started.
"Kaaaaaaaaaay.....my
tummy hurts."
"Why?"
"I had too many
donuts."
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"Why?"
"I had too many
donuts."
O.O "For dinner?"
"And dessert"
So she took them from
me. And she ate the rest of them.
Meanwhile...back at the
ranch...
My brother was over
visiting...and he informed me that my bathroom smelled as if someone
had crapped a chocolate donut.
Well then. That shall
teach me.
Why can’t we have
donuts for dinner
5 - If You Give A Newbie A Cookie
Now, I know that many
of you help new players every day. As cranky and
rude as I can be I do train, make banners, and slide a bit of money to
newer players, who want to learn the game and work hard. You hard
working new players, please disregard the following porting of this
vent.
*If you're a new
player...don’t click the chat room as your first
action on the game. When you barrel in there, being rude, using
excessives, and demanding money, it irks everyone else in the chat
room. It’s amazing how many kids can find the chat link...yet cannot
find the help files.
*If you’re going to
barrel into the chat room before you actually look
through the other game options...then READ THE BLOODY CHAT RULES! It’s
not my fault that you get in trouble because you DID NOT READ THEM.
Don’t think that calling me and the fellow Ops every name in the book
is justified because you didn’t take 5 minutes out of your life and
READ THE RULES.
*VHR players’ don’t
like spam mail. Some like Spam, but not spam
messages. Here are a few examples of what NOT to send other VHR
players:
- OMG IM NEW ND EYE NEE
B HOSRE SELL ME ONE
- Hi I have 17 horses
andnomoney please buy my horses cause I have no
money and theyre good horses and I like them alot so no you cant have
they but you can buy them I have a 4 year old frsian her name is Gypsi
Hegan and shes a driving horse she hasnt won anymorey but if you event
her shell win she is a million dollors so hurry abd bid cause I need
money thanks.
- I am a rescue ranch
and I need money so I can dave horses send me money
- You have a lot of
money give me some because god says you should help people.
*Don’t run your mouth
off when someone tells you no. It’s also not the
most polite thing in the world to message people and ask if you can buy
a horse that’s not for sale.
THIS one irritates me the most. And it’s not just
newer players who do
it. Dont message me and claim that you're some big wig hot shot breeder
/ dealer / player and you're going to offer 100+ mil for a horse. Im
going to laugh and stick you on ignore. When I take the time to stash
horses on private ranches so I won’t get messages, it irritates me when
I get people begging for things.
Now, for all of you
hard working new players, there are some AMAZING
aid programs out there, ran by some very good players who are willing
to help you get started. Some will train your horse for free, tack and
vaccinate your horse, stick shoes and tack on it, heck, some will even
give you a horse to help you get started.
Just take some time to
get acquainted with the game before you start
telling players that they're going to Hell because they didn’t give you
a 75 mil winning horse
4 - Way To Ruin A
Lucas Film
Just stick the Shiloh
kid in it.
Honestly, that little
wretch makes me just want to vomit on my shoes.
Yet another snotty, egotistical, full of himself kid shoved into
Hollywood that I must suffer watching. Hes not talented, he's only
being used for eye candy. Perhaps he'll get some morals soon
3 - Why Not Do It
Yourself?
We all know one. I see
a couple in chat on a regular basis. The people
who want to start a new discipline...and don’t want to figure it out
for themselves. Now, call me crazy...but when I thought Id give
Endurance a shot, I got some high stated foals, went and looked at the
events to see which horses were winning, and tried different techniques
to get the stats like that by a certain age. Sometimes I failed
miserably. Sometimes I did really well.
Use a guide if you
want...just don’t do this...
So what do I need to
train in to start with....uh huh, and then what
should I use to get str so high...well how do you do it....when do I
meth it....so is this how you get winners....well how do you do that
before this age....so is this how you train winners.....so do I do this
this way...how many meths....well go over it step by step...why not, I
want to win.....but I won’t tell anyone it’s how you train....now I
won’t use it......yeah but no what....well how did you get disc so
high....oh okay I got it thanks....HEY everyone Im offering Endurance
trainings, I finally figured out how to get winners send me your horses
now now now!!
Does that irk anyone
else? Cause it irks me. Perhaps they'll read and get a clue 
2 - Only The Lonely
Here's a few things
that suck about living by yourself:
You have no one to
blame when there’s only a half an ounce of milk left in the carton.
Its YOUR fault that you
can’t find the T.V remote.
As powerful as ones’
mind can be, there is no way you can will the Great Dane into bringing
you another roll of toilet paper.
No one is around to
warn you that singing Stars at the top of your
lungs while you’re in your Mr. Bubble P.Js is only a good idea if the
kitchen blinds are closed.
No one is there when
you lock yourself out of the house...while you’re wearing a towel.
The cats only have one
person to get mad at when you forget to feed them.
The neighbor focuses
all of their 'hit on' energy on you :/
1 - NERDS! (This is
for Jelly )
One of the KangaKiwi
Ops brought this to my attention tonight. Why DO
they glue down the little tab slide-y thingies on the boxes of Nerds
Candy?
Quote:
Step 1 for opening the
packet: Pull the tab [done that]
Step 2: Slide the tabs
[near impossible cause they glue them down
Open damnit
I can't even get one
side open
Stuff it . . . the box
is being torn apart |
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