Hoof It!

Sans Stirrups
26 November 2007

I've spent this past month working on the newest release of the EquiReal range, which I hope you'll be as pleased as me to know will be released this weekend. There have been some big chages between the first EquiReal and the new model, most of which you'll have to wait and see - but one of them is I've decided to do away with the stirrups.

All shapes and sizes of people (and animal!) buy horses, and whilst I've tried to account for this by allowing you to change the height of the horse, there's no simple way to make stirrups that will suit everyone. I make horses using an 'average' (standard) female avatar, but if you're a lot taller or a lot smaller, things just aren't going to fit right and it comes down to adjusting the stirrups yourself in edit mode to get them in the right spot for you. Some people are fine with this - some aren't. And so this new horse won't have stirrups.

My reasoning is that when you're riding, people can't really see the stirrups anyway, and I really don't think they detract from the look at all. In fact, I bet if I hadn't mentioned it, nobody would have noticed - oops! It reduces the prim count of the horses, and personally I think you look a lot more sensible with no stirrups than with stirrups that don't fit poking out of your knee caps. Anyway, I'll see how this goes. Feel free to give feedback as to whether you prefer the look, despise it, or couldn't care less.

OMG WINDLIGHT
15 November 2007

It doesn't have to be very shiny to impress me, and this is VERY shiny. Beautiful! Bravo LL!

Swimming amongst the reeds

Stopping to smell the flowers

Hoof It never looked so pretty

EquiReal
10 November 2007

Well, you didn't think I was only going to cellebrate one year of Hoof It with just a party, did you?

This time last year, our first horse Gregory was released and Hoof It was born. Even today, Gregory is our most popular horse - and so it seemed only fair that for all his hard work, on his Birthday he should have a little makeover - please welcome the new Gregory, reborn as the first Hoof It EquiReal horse.

So what is EquiReal? It's exactly what everyone's been asking me for for so long! Animated riding horses, full of life and energy, who run, walk and jump with beautiful realism. Each horse comes with a HUD allowing you to control his features - you can set his height so he fits your avatar, play sounds, toggle hoofprints, dust clouds and hoofbeats, rear and poop! Not only do you get the riding horse, you get a lower-prim standing model in a halter to live in your stable. He blinks, twitches his ears, makes random sounds if you want him to, poops on command and snorts happily when you touch him on the nose.

Demos are available at the barn - they work for 30 minutes and are limited to one demo per person. I'll leave you with a little video of Gregory in action. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Hoof It! Pictures
10 November 2007

Thank you everyone who came last night! It was a total blast and I think we hit an all time record, partying for five hours straight. Thank goodness Birthdays only happen once a year, I think I'm getting too old for 5am finishes..!

As well as cellebrating one year of Hoof It, it was our DJ Aryanna's Rezzday, so double the party! Thank you Ary for spending so much of your day keeping us dancing to awesome tunes, and to everyone who kept the tips rolling in thick and fast!

I don't have much else to say except to repeat my thanks to everyone who came and made this such a fun event, and for supporting Hoof It for an entire year! Here's to another awesome one... let's see those pictures!

"Tum te tum"

Birthday DJ Dancy Ponymare v.1.0

I only just spotted the unfortunate framing of this shot, sorryyyyy...

FLAMING MARES!

Bwahahahaha sorry about this one Burt...

GLOWING STALLIONS!

Thanks everyone! Same time next year?

Hoof It Anniversary Party - Tonight
9 November 2007

Just a reminder to everyone that tonight we're cellebrating Hoof It's first Birthday, so come down and join us for a great evening!

However, it does seem that SL is being flakier than ever right now - I'm having trouble setting anything up (or even logging in for that matter) so my apologies if things are a bit chuggy tonight - well, I'm not apologising for SL - but I will feel bad if people have trouble. Well, whatever the weather we'll have some brilliant tunes from DJ Ary taking your requests and a whole bunch o' great people - so even if we spend the night walking into walls it should be good fun! Hope you can make it :)

Hoof It Anniversary Party - Friday 9th Nov
7 November 2007

This time last year I stood on a hillside with my good friend Burt and he comforted me while I panicked, prodded and hurled profanities at my vendors and SL. Hoof It was born.

Unbelievably, a whole year has passed. To cellebrate surviving this long, and as a thank you to my customers who made that happen, we're having a party this Friday - come join us! Awesome music from awesome DJ Aryanna, dancing, prizes, food and drink - all are welcome, so pick up a copy of the invitation from the barn and spread the word and I'll see you there!

Horsey Halloween Competition Winners
2 November 2007

Happy Halloween, everyone! We had some FANTASTIC entries to the Horsey Halloween comptition, so I'm really glad it was judged by the public vote and I didn't have to make a decision! A big congratulations to Dis and Raven whose winning pictures snagged them a Bataloosa avatar and bridle each. Hope you like the pictures!