I love this question. There’s always a story behind everyone’s favorite breed!

My journey started way back on Horseland (the old-school version, before all the weird Flash mini-games took over). I began with Friesians because, let’s be honest, they’re iconic. All that mane, tail, and presence? I was hooked. After a while, I switched to Andalusians; still majestic, but with a bit more fire and flair.

Then, kind of by accident, I discovered Gypsy Vanners… and that was it for me. Game over. I fell completely in love. There’s just something about them that feels otherworldly! Like they belong in a fairytale or running through misty fields in slow motion.

I kept breeding them on HL until I eventually drifted away when the site changed too much. I thought that part of my online horse journey was over... until I found Horse Phenomena about four years ago. It felt like coming home. Ever since, I’ve been focused on building and training elite Gypsy Vanners.

So, why Gypsy Vanners?

It’s the whole package for me. Their temperament is incredible. Gentle, smart, and so willing to work. They're the kind of horse you'd trust with your heart. Then there’s the coat color range! From rich solid blacks to wild pintos and dappled patterns that make every horse feel unique. And visually? There’s just nothing quite like them. Feathered legs, flowing manes, soft eyes... Don't tell me they aren't like living art.

They’re powerful but kind, flashy but grounded. Breeding them isn’t just about stats or points for me; it’s about continuing the beauty and soul of a breed that genuinely inspires me.

Would love to hear from others:

What breed do you work with, and what drew you to them? Were you also a Horseland kid, or did you find your love of SIM horses somewhere else? And I'm sorry if this has been a thread before but I didn't see it recently/ see recent members posting to it so I figured I'd ask again for those of us working hard on our virtual ponies!

~shameless bump~

Ooooh cool question!
I breed vizslas becuase I kinda stumbled onto them one day and thought they looked like the most majestic, noble puppers. Since then, I've grown to love them. I adore their loyalty, intelligence, goofiness and trainability. 
(Vanners are GORGEOUS, I saw one IRL once - there aren't many here in Australia - and was utterly captivated, I see why you love them!)

I breed A LOT!!!! I couldn't help myself and choose just one haha. Thankfully, Lakra saved me from myself and allows me access to a ton of her spare upgrades so I can train a lot of breeds easily. I was a HL kid, and I couldn't choose just one breed there either haha

Main breed here: Paints because my RL girl is an APHA registered Paint. Always wanted a horse. Never got one until my 21st birthday when I got the one I still have today. So obviously I'm going to breed them here. I dont remind what my main breed was on HL but the HL days was long before I had a RL horse.

Other breeds that I started here because of knowing RL horses of that breed at one point in my life:

• Standardbreds - my sister's RL horse that she got at the same time I got my Paint was a standardbred gelding named Mr. Punch (yes, my mascot contest entry of this year haha)

• Arabians - my favorite lesson horse where i learned to ride was a bay Arab gelding named Rozz and the horses my riding instructor always rode for trail rides was a bay Arab gelding named Caleb and then when he died, it was a Grey fleabitten Arab mare named Tia.

• Pintabians - Tia's filly was a gorgeous tricolored Pintabian named Nori

• Thoroughbreds - a super tall mare named Banner that I loved to ride as a kid at my lesson barn

• Lipizzaners - my mother had taken me to see the World Famous Lipizzaner Stallion show when I was growing up and it had actually come all the way over to my secluded corner of the U.S.

• Chincoteagues - because I always wanted to go watch the pony swim on Chincoteague Island, Virginia while growing up. My husband just surprised me with a vacation to it for my birthday a couple of years ago.

• Canadian Horses - an all black gelding of this breed named Geno at my childhood lesson barn 

• Belgian Drafts - my childhood lesson barn had a gelding boarder named Jerry

• Fjords - my childhood lesson barn had a gelding named Gromar

• Haflingers - my childhood lesson barn had a gelding named Teddy

• Quarter Horses - my childhood lesson barn had a gelding named Teddy and Dawson (Dawson was bred to my mare to produced one of her foals before she was mine)

• Welsh Ponies - my childhood lesson barn had a mare named Lady

• Shetlands - my childhood lesson barn had a mare named Ginger who was the first horse that my younger sister had learned to ride on. They also had an old Shetland gelding named Flicker that they allowed to roam loose around the barnyard at all times like a dog.

• Donkeys - because my RL horse is fascinated by them when we ride by any on the side of the road. Plus, I knew one personally named Hickory; he was so cute!

• Percherons - The last real boarding stable where I kept my horse before she closed to boarders owned 2 all black Percherons named Princeton and a mare who I cant think of her name right now (but she wasn't as friendly as Princeton)

• Mustangs - the last boarding stable where I kept my horse had another boarder at the time that was a mustang named Fuego

• Miniatures - the last boarding stable where I kept my horse had 4 little minis at the same time named Mabel, Tootsie, Sparky, and a rescue named Shithead (3 were boarders, one was owned by the barn owner)

• Tennessee Walkers - the rescue that I worked as a hand at during the COVID quarantine years had 2 black, rescued TWH mares named Nellie and Sassy

• Saddlebreds - the rescue that I worked as a hand at during the COVID quarantine years had 2 rescued Saddlebred mares, a bay named Duchess and a bright red named Xena (or Baby Z)

• Morgans - the mare that my horse was boarded with last summer, Arya

• German Shorthaired Pointers, Australian Cattle Dogs, German Shepherds, Beagles - my childhood lesson barn also had 10 or so different dogs that they just let run loose on the farm at all times

• Labs - childhood family friends had an old chocolate lab named Max

• Golden Retrievers - my mother's cousin had 2 Goldens when I was growing up, Bristle and Duke

• Newfoundlands - because I saw 2 walking the waterfront park where my first job was (I was a landscaper for the town where I grew up) I thought they were just beautiful, snuggly balls of fluff like a big teddy bear

• Cocker Spaniels - my aunt had one named Gremlin when I was real little

• Anatolian Shepherds - the family that is currently leasing my horse had a pair and had just bred them last summer

Dutch Warmbloods - because I breed them as one of my many breeds on HL too and made Dutch Harbor Warmbloods based off of the show Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel

Gypsy Vanner - because, just like you Shadow, I just think they're majestic looking. Plus, they combine my love of Paints with my love of Draft horses haha

Zebras - because of the Racing Stripes movie

Ojibwe Ponies - because of the Spirit Rider movie

Kuvasz - because of the Homeward Bound movies. Delilah is so pretty!

Saint Bernards - because of the Beethoveen movies that my great grandmother gave me on VHS as a kid. I watched these movies so many times!

Huskies - because I always wanted one! I love the blue eyes with that coat pattern!

Australian Stock Horses - because the favorite trainer of my childhood lesson barn was Clinton Anderson who owned 2 Australian Quarter Horses, Mindy and Diez. HP doesn't have Australian Quarter Horses so I just went with Australian Stock Horses.
Mearas - because Shadowfax from Lord of the Rings duh

Andalusians - because theyre so majestic. I love the long thick flowy manes

Lusitanos - because theyre similar to Andalusians, and Uta is my friend. And who can resist her pretty linearts?!!

Budyonnys & Selle Francais - because Uta was my friend and she was rehoming most of her breeds and i had trained all these for her every single week for like 4 years straight. She was the only budyonny breeder so I took them to continue all her hard work with them. And Lost Woods had a Selle pair that I rescued from the HA and wanted to retirement breed to get her lines going again anyways.

Hanoverians - because Lost Woods was my friend and we had started them together

Holsteiners - because Lost Woods's RL horse, Cartier, is a Holsteiner

Orlov Rostopchin Sport Horses - because Kury and I were friends and I wanted to support her in getting them added to HP

Paso Finos - because their gait is so fancy and pretty

Clydesdales - because the Budweieser Clydes (no, I dont drink. Just thought it would be fun haha)

Faroese - because I was trying to support binx in getting them added

Finnhorses - because I was trying to support Rukku in getting them added

Kiso Horses - because I was trying to support kiyoko in getting them added

Exmoors - because they were a mascot entry with binx one year

Knabstruppers - because they were a mascot entry with adeina one year

Unicorns & Pegasus - because you cant do HP and not do some sort of mythical breed haha
Rocky Mountain Horses - because I love the iver chestnut with flaxen mane and tail coloring!

Palominos - because I love the coat color!

Suffolks, Friesians, Shires, American Creams - because I love draft horses! So I had to do all of them haha Plus, American Creams are basically a Palomino and a draft horses in one like Vanners

Abaco Barbs - because they're a rare, feral breed so they're cool haha

Przewalskis - because its one of the oldest horse breeds so they're cool haha

Spotted Saddle Horses - becayse Farewell and I wanted to partner on a horse breed sinxe we were doing Cattle Dogs together. And this is the one we picked.
Mastiffs - was a partner breed with Lafitte originally. I love big dogs! And I ended up keeping them going even after fitted stopped suddenly.
Dalmations - because of the 101 and 102 Dalmations movies. Plus, I really like the history of them in being used to calm carriage horses when spooked by fire and such

Oh I love this!! On HL, I bred Irish Warmbloods because I've always liked Irish Sport Horses and thought "Irish Warmblood" sounded cooler, lmao. (In my defense I was a teenager!!)

When I moved to HP, we didn't have IWBs so I started up my ISHs and bred them until I left the game. I think I was on Gen 9 before I left?

When I came back last summer, I debated starting my ISH lines back up, but now that I finally have my own horse...! I started my Brandenburgers in his honor. :) My horse is a German Sport Horse (DSP), but his dam was a Brandenburger. Technically "in real life" I believe the Brandenburger registry was combined with several other smaller studbooks to create the DSP studbook, but I like that they are still on HP and I can train them! Scooby has the Brandenburger brand, which I also have as a tattoo.

As for dogs, I've always bred Chespeake Bay Retrievers because I want to own one someday! 

On HL, I bred Straight Egyptian Arabians because I did love the Arabian as a breed, and I was (and still am) a big lover of Ancient Egyptian mythology and history, so those two went together like bread and butter. XD I bred all Arab strains on HL, and even ran the Arabian Breeders Association (ABA) during the very early HL years, making it a place where people could go to ensure purebred lines at a time where you could just manually edit the breed so an Arabian could suddenly become a Lava Lamp. XD I also continued to breed SEA's in the short lived game Ludus Equinus. (I still remember the Kikis...)

After I left HL I went to the game EquusNation (Formely known as DUHS), and by that time my love had shifted away from Arabians to the draft breeds. I love me some big chonks. I was a major and top breeder of Gypsy Vanners in that game. I just loved the way they looked and how majestic they were. I had many other breeds I loved, but the Vanners were my top choice.

When EN shut down and I ended up here on HP, I decided I needed a change. So I decided that my main breed here on HP was going to be the Black Forest Horse. They're majestic chonks just like the Vanners, but their unique coloration and the fact that they are such a rare breed made me fall deep in love with them. Plus like a week after I came to HP I found an entire Black Forest Horse family of Schleich figurines which I snapped up so it was a sign! 

I still breed my Gypsy Vanners and SEA's, I just don't consider them a main breed anymore. And I actually just got started re-creating a 40 generation SEA line I had in EN here on HP! I'm not gonna go over all my breeds, but I am going to list a couple!

Kerry Bog Ponies - These were one of the last breeds I managed to get added to EN before it died, and I bred the heck out of them. To know they are potentially a Vanner founding breed, they're Irish in origin and their breed back-story of near extinction made me fall in love with them! I was stoked I could get them back here on HP.

Spanish Norman - One of my two favorite crossbreeds, the other being the related Desert Norman (Percheron x Arabian) which isn't on HP. I like the thought of the chonkiness of the percheron drafts being blended with the more elegant Andalusian refinement. I liked the crossbreed so much my first Mascot entry was a Spanish Norman! 

Kiso Horse - I am going to admit I have never bred Kiso Horses before in any game. XD My go-to Japanese horse breed has always been the Taishu Horse. However, the Taishu never existed in HP and would require 5 players instead of 3 that I needed to bring back the Kiso, so I went with them. Plus when doing research I did see that they were the horse of the Samurai, so that made me fall in love with them even more. My 2026 Mascot entry will be a Kiso Horse! :D

North Swedish Horse - Another chonker breed I carried over from EN, I love their coloration and build, and on HP they had a very Norse Viking theme, as it's believed their ancestors had ties to the Vikings, though I think recent research may have debunked some if not all of it. I don't care, I still think they're very viking looking.

Marsh Tacky - This breed is currently not on HP. It was one of my top 5 breeds in EN and I am really, really hoping to successfully bring this breed to HP probably later this summer or early fall, whenever the timing feels right. Because this is a breed tied to coastlands and the ocean, I kept these horses with a nautical/pirate theme and I hope to continue that in HP if I can get the breed added. 

Mearas - I am a mega Lord of the Rings nerd, what more can I say? XD Love them sooooo much.

As for dogs.. well.. I've never really been into the dog side of HP. Not much of a dog person myself (more into cats), and not a fan of their shortened training time. However, I am currently trying to force myself into breeding Kitsune's because they're the only breed I looked at that looked even remotely interesting. Any bets on how long I can keep them before the account they're on is shifted to another horse breed? XD