First Impression
I was excited when the game arrived. The front of the package has an adorable photo of a mare and foal. The back has several images from the game, one of which (pictured below) shows a rather large foal (or a rather small woman) with a backward Western saddle. Odd. But maybe part of the game is about learning how to put a saddle on a horse? Why you would put a saddle on a foal, I don't know. But I'll try not to be too picky about realism if it's fun.

I also noticed the instruction book has pictures from the game that say, "Pippa Funnell: The Golden Stirrup Challenge" instead of "Horsez." The package and description don't say anything about Pippa Funnell, and so far there's no mention of her in the game. Confusing.

Playing the Adventure
Horsez starts by having you select a horse and give it a name, then watch a short movie that introduces the adventure. The game is set at a prestigious riding academy. The head of the academy has recently died and new partners have taken over. A young woman is chosen for the academy, but as she is speeding up the road on her scooter, she crashes.

This brings you to the first challenge -- direct your horse to find and save the girl. You have two minutes and three tries before the game ends and you have to start over. After nearly two hours I have yet to find the girl. Frustrating. And there's no option to turn off the timer even in the easiest mode.

Training and Competing
There is a training mode where you can practice riding and competing. The first level is a jumping course, but it looks like more courses unlock as you advance. This part is similar to other riding games. You use the arrow keys to speed up/slow down your horse and must hit the spacebar at just the right time as your horse approaches the jump, otherwise you get a fault or a refusal. After three refusals you're disqualified.

Quality
The overall quality of the game is good. The graphics are 3D, the horses are fairly realistic, and there's beautiful scenery of locations around the world. It comes on three CDs, so it's a large game and appears to have a lot of play value. Horsez is also available for the Playstaion 2 and Nintendo DS. I have not seen those versions, so don't know if the game play is similar.

Mixed Messages
So far my biggest disappointment is that Horsez seems more like a typical horse adventure game and riding simulation (jumping, cross country, dressage). That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I expected a horse care and training game similar to Dogz, Catz, Nintendogs, etc. Perhaps there's more as you get into the game, but I may never find out since I can't seem to get past the first challenge...

Review, or Not?
Most likely I will not write a full review of the game because (most likely) I will not play it again. For me, it's important that a game capture my interest from the beginning. In the first two hours of playing Horsez on the PC, I mostly felt confusion, frustration, and disappointment.