EQ's Training Centre or TeeCee as I affectionally call 'her' is like a bi-polar, hormonal, dissatisfied lover and for some reason she seems to have marked me as her somewhat clueless and ignorant boyfriend. Though just for the record I am not male in any way, shape or form.
TeeCee and I meet on a daily basis, sometimes for a short time when I only have a few horses to train and sometimes for a little while longer when I have many pixels to work. The glorious 'highs' of her personality is maybe what keeps me coming back but then maybe it's just the fact that I don't have a choice, for we are destined to be together one way or another. The 'highs' are when she allows my 3yo filly to tw 120 before a cup or when a favourite bred 2yo jumps 15pts in tw rating. Those highs happen, sure...but as gravity proves in life, what goes up...must come down.
The depressive 'lows' and angry, bitter hatred that can accompany them are like acid in the eyeballs sometimes. Not that I would know what that's like (and hopefully never do) I need something extreme to make my point. TeeCee is a venemous she-devil that can turn on you in a matter of seconds. From tw'ing a horse 113 lower she will spit out a 99 higher than usual on a horse whom last week was giving me 110's. These moments are tough to bear, but can be remedied with turnout or even just racing the beast of a pixel in a level down for the week.
No, those times are actually quite manageable, in fact maybe even pleasant compared to what the evil TeeCee really has boiling inside her. Take a normal wednesday afternoon, I will be innocently checking what horse's need working, in particular those entered in cups before heading to my darling's humble abode (fiery pit of hell). When it's time for said cup horse to work, I swear if she had eyes across them a darkness would appear. She takes my sweet 2yo pixel who is all excited for their cup debut and works them until they come back with a measly 92 tw rating. 10pts lower than their last work of course I must add. TeeCee hands me back my now heartbroken and nervous pixel knowing she has killed any chance the little thing had in it's first cup race.
What did I do TeeCee? I cry, angry and frustrated. Silence... Why won't you answer me? More silence... What have I done wrong? I can hear a pin drop at this point... When a woman won't talk to you, you know that something is very, very wrong. For some reason I can never bring myself to leave TeeCee until all of my horses train even though I probably should. For the rest of the afternoon I get nothing but crap in the timed workout rating department. Typical. Dejected and mallow I go back to my main stable not knowing why she does this to me all the time.
Unfortunately I have to deal with TeeCee and all her horrible emotional baggage, as I really don't have a choice. Yes like many a bitchy woman there is a reason she is the way she is. Some guy out there really must of done a number on her. Arghh if only Jackie would build a new training centre, one that hadn't been rejected and battered by men of the past! Well I must pull my boots up and be a man (so to speak) as it's my duty to her. We have much time left together and our relationship must survive through the ups and downs if I want my pixels to stay fit. But as they say and I take with great understanding, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...'
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Terrible Two's
As the first races for 2yo's are a day away from running, i'm sure there are many players out there waiting with baited breath, waiting to see how their precious babies will run first time out. As for me, I dread the day they take their first steps onto a (virtual) racetrack. On Saturday morning, which is the time I will be able to check the friday races, I will know little more than I know today about my fresh batch of 2yo's. Sure I might be able to see signs of a 'dud' 2yo but I sure won't know who is going to be the next 120 rated superstar and neither will anyone else.
We can all spend hours analysing our 2yo's tw's and race ratings. Look up our best 3yo's first works and compare them to these ones and so on. But truthfully there is no 'magic formula' on how a top horse starts out in EQ. My top current 3yo, Stringybark Cottage now 128 rated, won the Sunrise Classic with a slashing 125 rating as a 2yo. His first tw was mid 60's and his first race was a fairly good 87. While I have a mare who started out with a 49tw and a first race of 69, yet went on to run 120 as an early 3yo. Others start out in the 70's, labelled as a hot 2yo then debut in the 90's but later on never get over 100 in HRR.
I could go on for ages about where my top horses started as 2yo's, most have all taken a slightly different path. Improvement I suppose is the indicator but even then some of the best horses take tw drops sometimes once even twice early on in their careers. The only true way to tell about a 2yo is to wait. Wait and wait and wait for the end of the season, when most of the good horses start showing little signs. But even then pixel ponies surprise us, jumping from a 90's tw to an over 100's within a week or two.
Basically all this ranting and raving points to one thing...I hate 2yo's! I hate them so much, it's not even funny. I hate the way they stand in their stalls all mysterious, maybe superstars? maybe useless claimers. I hate the way they look like champions one week when they tw welll and look terrible the next when their tw's drop. I hate the way they make people spend millions and even real money on their so called 'promises' and then go out of their way to disappoint them. I hate them full stop. Why do I get so excited my new 2yo's into the main barn at the start of every season, only to dispise the sight of the little beggars the next day? The only answer is 3yo's. Yep, one day these stupid little 2yo's are going to be 3yo's and that will be the day I fall in love with them all over again, like I did when they were little yearlings.
Note: There is the odd exception towards the end of the season, like Stringybark Cottage who I loved as a 2yo. I don't want him to read this and get mad... (yes pixel ponies can read)
We can all spend hours analysing our 2yo's tw's and race ratings. Look up our best 3yo's first works and compare them to these ones and so on. But truthfully there is no 'magic formula' on how a top horse starts out in EQ. My top current 3yo, Stringybark Cottage now 128 rated, won the Sunrise Classic with a slashing 125 rating as a 2yo. His first tw was mid 60's and his first race was a fairly good 87. While I have a mare who started out with a 49tw and a first race of 69, yet went on to run 120 as an early 3yo. Others start out in the 70's, labelled as a hot 2yo then debut in the 90's but later on never get over 100 in HRR.
I could go on for ages about where my top horses started as 2yo's, most have all taken a slightly different path. Improvement I suppose is the indicator but even then some of the best horses take tw drops sometimes once even twice early on in their careers. The only true way to tell about a 2yo is to wait. Wait and wait and wait for the end of the season, when most of the good horses start showing little signs. But even then pixel ponies surprise us, jumping from a 90's tw to an over 100's within a week or two.
Basically all this ranting and raving points to one thing...I hate 2yo's! I hate them so much, it's not even funny. I hate the way they stand in their stalls all mysterious, maybe superstars? maybe useless claimers. I hate the way they look like champions one week when they tw welll and look terrible the next when their tw's drop. I hate the way they make people spend millions and even real money on their so called 'promises' and then go out of their way to disappoint them. I hate them full stop. Why do I get so excited my new 2yo's into the main barn at the start of every season, only to dispise the sight of the little beggars the next day? The only answer is 3yo's. Yep, one day these stupid little 2yo's are going to be 3yo's and that will be the day I fall in love with them all over again, like I did when they were little yearlings.
Note: There is the odd exception towards the end of the season, like Stringybark Cottage who I loved as a 2yo. I don't want him to read this and get mad... (yes pixel ponies can read)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
End-of-EQ-Season-Impatient-Itis
I'm generally a patient person, but when it comes to EQ I morph into having the patience of a cranky toddler. The upcoming new season is one of the worst times for me. Constantly trying to decide who to get rid of, frustration at not being able to sell horse's normally worth millions for only small change. Racing crappy claimers that I know are going to FR'd to make room for my new 2yo's is endlessly painful. When I don't care about a horse any longer, the time taken to train and enter such horse feels like a complete waste.
Last week M and I were PM'ing as per usual, counting down the days to the new season. 9 days to go *arghhhh* 8 days to go, 8 days to go again...*argghhhhhhhh* seriously we started to worry that days were starting to go twice as long. Real life didn't seem any slower but in the world of EQ everything was crawling along. M is also a usually patient person, but she also suffers from the same condition as me. End-of-EQ-Season-Impatient-Itis.
It is now Thursday in Australia and still Wednesday evening in EQ. That means approximately a day and a half until the 'year' ticks over and all the horses age. Thinking ahead to all that exciting stuff I can do makes the condition worse. TW'ing the new 2yo's for the first time, moving some main barn mares and stallions to the breeding shed, breeding the first babies of the season and my personal favourite thing: FR'ing those useless, mangey, good-for-nothing, that are taking up valuable stall space, don't deserve to be called horses to the pasture in the sky forever...i'm getting non-sensical here...
So forgive me for the lack of good grammar and eloquent sentences this blog hasn't got today, my conscience is a day and a half ahead. End-of-EQ-Season-Impatient-Itis is ravaging my once sound (ish) mind.
Last week M and I were PM'ing as per usual, counting down the days to the new season. 9 days to go *arghhhh* 8 days to go, 8 days to go again...*argghhhhhhhh* seriously we started to worry that days were starting to go twice as long. Real life didn't seem any slower but in the world of EQ everything was crawling along. M is also a usually patient person, but she also suffers from the same condition as me. End-of-EQ-Season-Impatient-Itis.
It is now Thursday in Australia and still Wednesday evening in EQ. That means approximately a day and a half until the 'year' ticks over and all the horses age. Thinking ahead to all that exciting stuff I can do makes the condition worse. TW'ing the new 2yo's for the first time, moving some main barn mares and stallions to the breeding shed, breeding the first babies of the season and my personal favourite thing: FR'ing those useless, mangey, good-for-nothing, that are taking up valuable stall space, don't deserve to be called horses to the pasture in the sky forever...i'm getting non-sensical here...
So forgive me for the lack of good grammar and eloquent sentences this blog hasn't got today, my conscience is a day and a half ahead. End-of-EQ-Season-Impatient-Itis is ravaging my once sound (ish) mind.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
It's More Than Just A Cup
Last Saturday night was a nightmare for me, 1. I had a killer headache and 2. my most favouritest (it's a real word...honest) homebred filly was lining up as favourite for the Daisy Cup. I could have murdered Jackie when she picked her to win in the field write-up, especially as another filly worked a 120 as well like Faithy (Chocolate Faith LD). I am a true believer in the 'moz'. It might be an Australian term, might just be a term my partner and I made up when we watch races, I don't know. Basically a good example of a moz is when someone watching a horse race says "this horse is home.." and then the horse which was 2 lengths in front suddenly gears down to snail pace and gets beat.
Well when it comes to my horse's running in cups there is a few things I do not do. 1. I never, ever say out loud that my horse has a chance at winning and 2. I never, ever choose my horse in the handicapping contest. I would rather lose the tipping contest than 'moz' my cup runner. So when Jackie picked Faithy to run first, I was a little worried. Nevertheless the days before the cup were spent trying to push thoughts of having my first homebred cup winner out of my mind.
I went to bed later than usual on the saturday night with butterflies in my tummy, could've been the nausea accompanying my migraine but I put it down to the cup anxiety. We had to get up early to go to my in-laws for the day and I took the laptop to our room so I could check the results while still in bed. For those not familiar with the time difference Canada races run at 3am here and I find all the best cup races are typically run in Canada. I had a terrible night, tossing and turning, lightly dreaming of logging on and the news reading Chocolate Faith wins the Daisy Cup or having nightmares of her running last. I kept checking my phone for the time, 11.58pm, 12.45am, 1.30am, 2.13am, etc.. Finally it turned 2.58am and I turned the laptop on hurrying it to load.
I turn the laptop off at nights, especially being in my room that night the little fan sound would've bugged the hell out of me. As the computer loaded, my mind skipped ahead to all the possibilities that could happen. Would she win? Would she run second? Would she injure, run nowhere? Arghh the anxiety was fiercely pounding my sleep deprived body. I logged on right before the cup race had run (so no results to be seen on the front page) but one navigation away from my stable info and a new private message popped into the left hand corner. My earnings went up dramatically enough as well, though I can't remember if any of my other pixel ponies were running in Canada that night.
She had won! My little Faithy had won the Daisy Cup! My tired eyes could not beleive what I saw, was this a dream? I found the race results page only to see she had won by a nose. And I mean a nose. The second horse had run the exact same rating, I felt so lucky that it wasn't Faithy that had gotten beaten so closely. I don't know how I would've delt with it, probably still pleased I had a homebred cup placer I suppose. Thinking of her running second kinda hurts though so I must move on...
My headache still pounded yet as I laid down to sleep finally after shutting the laptop down, my heart had slowed to a steady beat, the butterflies in my tummy were gone. I managed a few grim hours before I had to get up at 6am dreaming of Faithy once more, hoping that when I woke up her cup win hadn't been a dream after all. When I got up I hurriedly turned on the computer, excited to see what article had been written about my girl. 'Chocolate Faith Wins Photo Finish in Daisy Cup' I smiled, knowing that it was all real, as real as winning a virtual horse race with a pixel pony could get.
Well when it comes to my horse's running in cups there is a few things I do not do. 1. I never, ever say out loud that my horse has a chance at winning and 2. I never, ever choose my horse in the handicapping contest. I would rather lose the tipping contest than 'moz' my cup runner. So when Jackie picked Faithy to run first, I was a little worried. Nevertheless the days before the cup were spent trying to push thoughts of having my first homebred cup winner out of my mind.
I went to bed later than usual on the saturday night with butterflies in my tummy, could've been the nausea accompanying my migraine but I put it down to the cup anxiety. We had to get up early to go to my in-laws for the day and I took the laptop to our room so I could check the results while still in bed. For those not familiar with the time difference Canada races run at 3am here and I find all the best cup races are typically run in Canada. I had a terrible night, tossing and turning, lightly dreaming of logging on and the news reading Chocolate Faith wins the Daisy Cup or having nightmares of her running last. I kept checking my phone for the time, 11.58pm, 12.45am, 1.30am, 2.13am, etc.. Finally it turned 2.58am and I turned the laptop on hurrying it to load.
I turn the laptop off at nights, especially being in my room that night the little fan sound would've bugged the hell out of me. As the computer loaded, my mind skipped ahead to all the possibilities that could happen. Would she win? Would she run second? Would she injure, run nowhere? Arghh the anxiety was fiercely pounding my sleep deprived body. I logged on right before the cup race had run (so no results to be seen on the front page) but one navigation away from my stable info and a new private message popped into the left hand corner. My earnings went up dramatically enough as well, though I can't remember if any of my other pixel ponies were running in Canada that night.
She had won! My little Faithy had won the Daisy Cup! My tired eyes could not beleive what I saw, was this a dream? I found the race results page only to see she had won by a nose. And I mean a nose. The second horse had run the exact same rating, I felt so lucky that it wasn't Faithy that had gotten beaten so closely. I don't know how I would've delt with it, probably still pleased I had a homebred cup placer I suppose. Thinking of her running second kinda hurts though so I must move on...
My headache still pounded yet as I laid down to sleep finally after shutting the laptop down, my heart had slowed to a steady beat, the butterflies in my tummy were gone. I managed a few grim hours before I had to get up at 6am dreaming of Faithy once more, hoping that when I woke up her cup win hadn't been a dream after all. When I got up I hurriedly turned on the computer, excited to see what article had been written about my girl. 'Chocolate Faith Wins Photo Finish in Daisy Cup' I smiled, knowing that it was all real, as real as winning a virtual horse race with a pixel pony could get.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Managing Real Life Around EQ Addiction
Every morning I wake up the first thing I do is turn on my laptop and while I wait for that to load I make myself a coffee. I think to myself I'm one of the lucky ones, at this stage in my life I am a stay-at-home mother so I get full computer access all day, every day. Except for instances when we go places, etc.. With horror I think of all those other EQ'ers out there who have to juggle school or work around their EQ addcition, often unable to get the hours needed on EQ to satisfy their habit.
But that's only a fleeting thought and I soon get back to drowsily sipping my coffee and typing 'eq' in my browser to bring up the EQ site address. I try to make sure I get up each morning before my toddler gets out of bed so I can have a few minutes alone with my 'drug of choice'. Usually it would be results I first look at, followed by a quick visit to the forums to see what's been posted. Ahh I feel at ease, any anxiety soon passes after a few minutes of time with EQ.
I am quite secretive with my habit, other than my partner no-one in my real life is aware it has such a hold on me. He is quite familiar with "Just a minute, I need to quickly enter these horses..." or "Just a second, I have to reply to this forum PM..." To him it is just a game and I know he'll never grasp the real truth. Holidays are a nightmare, especially when we have no computer access. I can only imagine what my pixel ponies are doing without me.
But what about other EQ'ers? I know i'm not the only EQ junkie out there. A perfect example is my good friend 'M'. She works in an office job and has all day access to her precious pixel ponies. I imagine her walking to work (as she does everyday) not agonising over the mundane tasks she has to complete but rather excitedly imagining what pony has busted out a new 120 rating for her. Her addiction is a secret too, her employers certainly don't envision her playing EQ as part of her duties. She'd have it down to an art now, talking to a client on the phone whilst secretly spewing over the fact her favourite 2yo has dropped in TW rating.
At the end of the day us EQ junkies might juggle our real life to fit in with EQ, but is it truly a bad thing? EQ has brought me such joy with 120 rating homebreds, quiet satisfaction when a horse I buy cheaply sells on for many millions and heartbreaking sadness when my favourite horse runs 4th in a cup. I have found new friends in my own country and on the other side of the globe, whom I would've never met any other way. All those other, 'normal' people don't know what they're missing. EQ Addicts Unite!
But that's only a fleeting thought and I soon get back to drowsily sipping my coffee and typing 'eq' in my browser to bring up the EQ site address. I try to make sure I get up each morning before my toddler gets out of bed so I can have a few minutes alone with my 'drug of choice'. Usually it would be results I first look at, followed by a quick visit to the forums to see what's been posted. Ahh I feel at ease, any anxiety soon passes after a few minutes of time with EQ.
I am quite secretive with my habit, other than my partner no-one in my real life is aware it has such a hold on me. He is quite familiar with "Just a minute, I need to quickly enter these horses..." or "Just a second, I have to reply to this forum PM..." To him it is just a game and I know he'll never grasp the real truth. Holidays are a nightmare, especially when we have no computer access. I can only imagine what my pixel ponies are doing without me.
But what about other EQ'ers? I know i'm not the only EQ junkie out there. A perfect example is my good friend 'M'. She works in an office job and has all day access to her precious pixel ponies. I imagine her walking to work (as she does everyday) not agonising over the mundane tasks she has to complete but rather excitedly imagining what pony has busted out a new 120 rating for her. Her addiction is a secret too, her employers certainly don't envision her playing EQ as part of her duties. She'd have it down to an art now, talking to a client on the phone whilst secretly spewing over the fact her favourite 2yo has dropped in TW rating.
At the end of the day us EQ junkies might juggle our real life to fit in with EQ, but is it truly a bad thing? EQ has brought me such joy with 120 rating homebreds, quiet satisfaction when a horse I buy cheaply sells on for many millions and heartbreaking sadness when my favourite horse runs 4th in a cup. I have found new friends in my own country and on the other side of the globe, whom I would've never met any other way. All those other, 'normal' people don't know what they're missing. EQ Addicts Unite!
Monday, September 6, 2010
The Plight Of The Sophomore Stallion
As breeding season approaches in EQ, I spend a good chunk of my time browsing the many stud line-up threads that are published by my fellow EQ players. When I read through a stud post, I will closely inspect the racing credentials of a sparkling new freshman. Full of promise, stunning lines and great racing achievements, freshman lure the EQ player to breed one of their fabulous mare's to him. And we do so happily, nothing is more exciting than introducing new bloodlines in your barn.
After I've done inspecting a player's freshman prospects I will briefly pass over their somewhat less sparkly sophomore stallions. I think to myself that it's best to wait to see what this boy produces before sending one of my prize mares to him. That then begs the question, what's so different about a freshman and a sophomore? Is one season all it takes for an exciting freshman to lose his sparkle and become a dull sophomore? Well the answer is obviously yes. The fact of the matter is sophomore stallions will see the least amount of mares from anyone, including their owners. When a freshman is in your barn, you will send as many mares as you can possibly part with to him. The sophomore, well he has to wait until at least a few weeks, when the owner can see how his first crop debuts.
As for outside breeder's, well the temptation of new sparkling freshman or a 120 producing superstar stud, far outweighs the rather dull looking sophomore. Sure he has great racing credentials and fabulous breeding, but he has a whole bunch of yearlings waiting to be tested on the track. Why breed now when we can wait a month and survey his progeny a little? Even then why wait a month when next season we'll definately know how his 2yo's are performing. I know I won't 'waste' my fabulous mares on an outside sophomore stallion. Even my own sophomores are gingerly offered 4 maybe 5 mares if they are lucky, meanwhile I keep checking their new 2yo's to see how they are going, hoping i'm not making a huge mistake!
The fact of the matter is only time will tell if a stud will become a superstar, a complete dud or even a Joe-Average producer. Meanwhile the poor sophomore will have to wait his bogey season out with the hope that his 2yo's can do him justice at the races. Once his foals pass the test, he will line up in his junior season at stud with a little more prospect of pulling some more mares like he did as a freshman. I only can be glad that this season I won't be worrying so much about the plight of the sophomore, because this season I don't have any in my barn!
After I've done inspecting a player's freshman prospects I will briefly pass over their somewhat less sparkly sophomore stallions. I think to myself that it's best to wait to see what this boy produces before sending one of my prize mares to him. That then begs the question, what's so different about a freshman and a sophomore? Is one season all it takes for an exciting freshman to lose his sparkle and become a dull sophomore? Well the answer is obviously yes. The fact of the matter is sophomore stallions will see the least amount of mares from anyone, including their owners. When a freshman is in your barn, you will send as many mares as you can possibly part with to him. The sophomore, well he has to wait until at least a few weeks, when the owner can see how his first crop debuts.
As for outside breeder's, well the temptation of new sparkling freshman or a 120 producing superstar stud, far outweighs the rather dull looking sophomore. Sure he has great racing credentials and fabulous breeding, but he has a whole bunch of yearlings waiting to be tested on the track. Why breed now when we can wait a month and survey his progeny a little? Even then why wait a month when next season we'll definately know how his 2yo's are performing. I know I won't 'waste' my fabulous mares on an outside sophomore stallion. Even my own sophomores are gingerly offered 4 maybe 5 mares if they are lucky, meanwhile I keep checking their new 2yo's to see how they are going, hoping i'm not making a huge mistake!
The fact of the matter is only time will tell if a stud will become a superstar, a complete dud or even a Joe-Average producer. Meanwhile the poor sophomore will have to wait his bogey season out with the hope that his 2yo's can do him justice at the races. Once his foals pass the test, he will line up in his junior season at stud with a little more prospect of pulling some more mares like he did as a freshman. I only can be glad that this season I won't be worrying so much about the plight of the sophomore, because this season I don't have any in my barn!
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