A horse walks into a bar.
The bartender says, “Hey, Buddy. Why the long face?”
(Pause for laughter)
OK…OK...OK…so it was a joke. I am not serious.
But what IS serious is a lovely sim I stumbled upon called
Woodbine Downs Estates. There I was met by dozens and dozens of the finest
representatives of the equine species to be found anywhere on the grid. The
ultimate in realism, as you wander the carefully groomed grounds, you will see
animals that are unmatched in beauty and class. The brainchild of Marine and TaffyMarie
Torraze, this is indeed unique among sims. Walk with me as we wander these
beautiful grounds and chat with the owner.
Josh (Thomas1 Bellic) JB: Hi Marine. Thanks for agreeing to answer a few questions
about your operation here.
Marine Torraze (marinefiend.redinamus) MT: No problem Josh. I love this place and never pass up an
opportunity to share that passion with others.
JB: So, tell me. What
is Woodbine Downs Estates all about?
MT: Woodbine Downs Estates offers a Unique place for
Boarding/Breeding and Selling ABC
Horses, Ponies & Kaiila's. I have spent at least three months in the design
and planning of Woodbine, building and designing the sales yard with custom
built pens, seasonal changing trees, and walkways, custom-designed breeder
barns. We also offer ABC's own brand of Bid Boards. We have custom-designed
stalls only found at Woodbine. The feel at Woodbine is very upper class. You
can feel a sense of pride about just walking around and enjoying the scenery.
The atmosphere here is breathtaking.
JB: Yes Marine. I agree.
The “atmosphere” around most barns can be described as
“breathtaking”…but I wander. Just what
are “ABC Animals” anyway?
MT: ABC Awesome Breed Creations, is one of the fastest-growing
ventures on the grid. ABCs unique blend of scripting, building, and team of
experienced people will be sure to produce a product and provide an environment
in which you can rediscover breedables as they were meant to be. These
breedables are one of the only racing horses on the grid. Weekly race events
for various breeds are held on ABC's special racing sim. You can track and
trace sales, breeds, and generations of your breedables in the MyABC website.
Read more about ABC here - https://awesomebreedcreations.com/
JB: How did you first
get interested in breeding horses?
MT: I have been in
breedables since at least 2010. Breeding many different things in Second Life.
Bunnies, horses, dogs, and cats. I got hooked on ABC back in early 2012 when I
was invited to the beta program of ABC by the owner. I had 4 sims at the time
with 2 being a mall, one being my Club and one was a sales yard and auction
house for all types of breedables. I switched to strictly ABC in mid-2012 and
became one of 6 certified ABC auction houses.
JB: What types of
events do you have here?
MT: Other than our
auction house, that starts up on Sept 26th at 10 am SLT, we have yet to do any events. I have a
training track we placed up in the sky to allow people to train and play. The
track is the same size as an official ABC track system minus the starting gates
and timing systems. So in the future, we may come up with something fun.
JB: Over the years,
there have been many different types of breedables in SL. What makes your operation different from
those breedables that have gone before it?
MT: Woodbine is a
unique breedable place strictly for ABC Horses & Ponies. We provide
superior customer service. We walk the yard daily to ensure all the horses are
safe and sound. I am personally available 24/7. I can be found online at least 12
hours a day, and all direct offline messages come to email, so if its a serious
matter, I can log on and deal with any situation that arises.
JB: I see a really
varied population of horses here. Just
how many of those beautiful animals are there here?
MT: There are 75
different breeds of horses and 32 other breeds of ponies. Each has six unique
traits. Coat, mane, tail, eye, face marking, and leg markings. ABC is like real-life
horses, must be fed and cared for, or they will become sick and eventually die.
ABC foals are born live, and they must be with their mothers for nourishment
during their first three days (ages 0-2). At age three (3) they begin to eat on
their own. Between the age of seven (7) and ninety ABC horses are eligible to race,
as long as they haven’t bred. The racing side of an ABC Horse has Skill Sets.
These skill sets are the specific ability that the horse uses in horse
competition. Each skill is trainable and has its own values. Each skill will be
determined by the breed of the horse The Horse skills increase as the owner
trains the horse over time. The owner must choose the trait that he/she wants
to train.
JB: Tell me about
your Auctions. What are those like?
MT: Auctions are a
fun place to come and sell your horses and ponies. A true form of bidding area
allows multiple buyers to bid against each other to buy a breeder's animals. I
am usually found sitting in the back with a bag of popcorn, watching it all go
down. Or sometimes jumping right in the fight. There are also Raffles and Fun
Give-Aways, which many people enjoy. All Auction houses meet specific
requirements and follow the guidelines put in place by ABC and must be
certified.
JB: Anything ELSE you
would like to share with our readers?
MT: I would just like
to thank all the people that have helped make Woodbine possible. Without the
ABC community support, there would not be a Woodbine Downs.
JB: How can
interested parties learn more about your operation here.
MT: Please feel free
to come to visit our Sales Yard and enjoy the unique relaxing atmosphere. All
are welcome to enjoy our Auctions to see for themselves the fun that is found
when attending. I doubt they could not
leave without bidding on one of the beautiful beauties on display for auction,
or they just might walk away with their first freebie horse if entered in our
auction raffle.
So…Stop horsing around and go check it out. And that’s No Joke!
Be there. Aloha!
JB
Posts
