Horse Illustrated Magazine

A global phenomenon has struck young girls: Bella Sara horse-themed trading cards. Developed by Danish social worker Gitte Odder Braendgaard for Seattle-based Hidden City Games, Bella Sara trading cards feature a magical, fairytale-like illustration of a horse along with a  positive message such as “Beauty comes from within” or “Be the hero in your own story.”

According to Hidden City Games, the messages on the cards stimulate pro-social dialogue both among girls and between girls and their parents and educators. The cards strive to engage children with topics beyond looks and other superficial characteristics, focusing instead on developing each child’s inner strength and beauty.

There’s also an online component to every card. Each trading card features an activation code that “unlocks” a virtual horse: Kids enter the activation code onto the Bella Sara website (www.bellasara.com) and put their horses into their own cyber stable. Once a horse is online, a child cares for her steed by feeding, grooming and nurturing it. In addition, the virtual equestrian world features magical fairytale settings, such as castles and forests, beaches and racetracks–everything a child could wish for. According to Hidden City Games, the company has more than one million registered users worldwide.

Now Hidden City Games has launched its huggable Bella Sara plush toy horses just in time for the holiday season. Each stuffed animal comes in a gift box with a pack of Bella Sara cards and an activation certificate used to unlock and nurture the plush horse online. 

“Bella Sara has really struck a chord with girls everywhere and continues to grow, so we are excited to once again expand the Bella Sara universe and offer another way for girls to play with their favorite horses,” says Peter D. Adkison, CEO of Hidden City Games.
Each $12.99 Bella Sara Small Plush Gift Box comes with one of four popular Bella Sara 6-inch plush horses (Bella, Jewel, Fiona or Nike) and an exclusive plush online activation certificate for that horse, plus an Ancient Lights Card Pack with seven cards. Each card has its own activation code, so kids can play with those horses or objects online too.
For more information, visit www.bellasara.com.