Now I'm looking for ridable (rideable?) horses!

I'm asking Santa for a horse for Christmas. I've tried out some demo horses, but I'm just not sure I've seen all that's out there. I've tried: AKK, Everlite, and Hoof It!

Haven't checked out the La Bicyclette horsies yet.

Thoughts? Recommendations? Warnings?

Ride me!

AKK is the best

wow, now THERE's an offer I hadn't considered!

Best horses are at Grendel's Children...
The only trouble is, you need a friend to buy the avatar wear it and be at your service when you need a ride, then you get a talking horse too =)

/me loves Grendel's <3

I own an AKK and a Lonestar Ranch horse, both are really good.

Thanks, Kira. I really liked the AKK demo horse.

Haven't been able to locate usable English saddles (seen some "display only" types)....do they come with the horse?

Hello! The AKK horses are fab, but La Bicyclette horses are no slouch, she does Centaur AVs too ;0) Also there is a full on calvery HUD available and one of the best Pegausus I"ve seen that is ridable as well. Good luck!!

Thanks, Jacquelin. I'm headed to La Bicyclette tonight to take a look-see. And oooh, a Pegasus. VVVVERRRY intriguing.

the ones i know about are....


akk
maclean (the only horse so realistic, it poops.)
wunderbar ranch
hoof it (these are not animated, as i recall.)
lone star (new on the scene, very nice models, good prices)


have to check out this everlite and la bicycletta? hmmm... and who makes the mundo expensive friesians?


wunderbar and lone star also put out horses for tinies. lilliput has horses exclusively for tinies. just so everyone knows; i expect you're not looking for that in particular ;)



what to watch out for:

highly scripted horses that cause a lot of lag. if the horse doesnt have toggles to turn options on/off, you can expect to do poorly in group situations (rodeos and such).

permissions. personally, i wouldn't buy any horse that isn't mod/copy. but i like to tinker. if you get a no mod or no copy horse, expect to pay less. (your expectations might not be MET....)

if it is modifyable, make sure it comes with a method to change the height your avatar is sitting, or else you will end up with a small horse floating in the air, or a big horse sunk into the ground.

ask about updates. akk just released a new version, and i dont know if i can get any kind of 'upgrade' deal or if i have to buy a whole new horse to take advantage of the new features. (i haven't checked yet, i'd better write that down.)




oh! join the sl riding club! if you haven't already :) they have riding trails, info and such, and different events.

take your time and pick a horse you like and enjoy!

The new range is For shameless self-promotion see the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydeyq3-TevM

And they poop Sculpted poop, if that's one of the things you judge your horses on... um.

Personally I really like the look of the new Maclean's - nice realistic models. And the Friesian that came out - is that Lonestar? I think basically you've just got to judge it on which appeal to you visually, and what features you're after. But in the end, a lot of people are releasing horses with a lot of similar features, and it's gonna come down to which one you like the look of.

Friesian?? oooooh, I have to see me one of those babies! Don't think I've checked out a MacLean's yet, either. Thus far, AKK is winning the contest for me, for utterly aesthetic reasons. I LOVE their manes and tails. And they seem to move much more smoothly than others I've tried. And of course, there's the easy maintenance of no pooping.

Some horse roundups in my weekend plans!

Gosh, thanks Jacquelin!

Well, since this IS the "Products Wanted" forum, I suppose I can be self promoting here. My horses were made specifically because I wanted a realistic Victorian riding horse. To that end, I looked up the tack of the time, as well as the famous Muybridge stop motion photography of horses in motion.

There are three breeds (Roan, Grey/White and Black) all with English Saddle (astride) and Sidesaddle versions.

The horses have separate gallop and walking gaits (I don't actually speed the "frame rate" up, I just have fewer frames for the gallop, as well as different leg movements). The horses also have jumping animation and a rearing animation that includes pawing the front legs.

The horses include the obligatory gallop, walking and whinny sounds. Sound volume can be adjusted or turned off.

The horses are mod/copy, and rider height can be adjusted via chat commands ("raise" "lower". I sized them for normal riding horse size, but I've seen customers make them rather huge, as well as pixie sized. One customer even retextured her horse and added steam to make a Steampunk horse!

Demos are available at the Carriage House in Caledon Eyre, adjacent to the telehub. Northern Caledon is a wonderful place for riding (even if you don't buy my horse ) and there is a riding trail that starts in South Eyre.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Eyre/48%20/183/23/

Well, shameless self promotion over. Do IM me if you have any questions.

The Bicyclette horses look great! Thank you for all the info.

See you in Northern Caledon!

my fav is the mcleans horse, very real looking, and LOVE absolutely LOVE the eyes!!

check out all the places mentioned before you decide

(also mcleans gives you the non ridable, grazing and standing ones too, in case you have a place to display such as a ranch hehe)

Heh - planning to stop by MacLean tonight to take a look at their choices. And I do like yummy eyes, no matter where they're found...

And thanks for the suggestion about the non-ridable ones, too. VERY handy.

I have an AKK horse that I'm very happy with. I didn't know about the Lonestar brand but would have considered that just because of the name. (Just a Texas thing, LOL)

I've also seen a horse that will leave "horse droppings". I thought that was pretty clever, but a horse that doesn't do that I would consider an improvement over the real thing. Not sure what brand of horse that was.

On a serious note a horse that is "wearable" has some advantages over one that you "rez then ride".

The AKK's also allow you to rez a copy for display purposes.

Happy riding!

Thanks Tex. I'm with you on the horse droppings...lol. One less thing for the princess (moi) to worry about!

Bought an AKK last nite. hard ti make up my mind b/t English Saddle and Western Saddle! I bet I can guess which kind you have....

Thanks again.

mcleans do the droppings but only if you want it to

I fell in love with the mcleans ones

just never had a preference for the akk ones (the eyes on the mcleans did it for me)
too much white on the akk ones I saw

Saddles come with the horsey.
The AKK demo horse, which I am sure you have seen.


My horsey:

Another of my horses: