Swift Pink Hawkstrider

Swift Pink Hawkstrider is an epic ground mount added to the game in The Burning Crusade expansion (patch 2.0). It is one of three swift hawkstriders bred by the blood elves in the stables beyond the walls of Silvermoon City. Despite the name, the bird's coloring is more of a light peach with a pink tint on its crest and wings — it looks striking, especially paired with blood elf armor.

The mount is sold directly by hawkstrider handler Winaestra at the Turon's Stables — a small settlement just past the eastern exit from Silvermoon City. The price is 10 gold. Blood elf players have access to the mount immediately, while all other Horde races must first earn Exalted reputation with Silvermoon City.

• Blood elf racial mount — hawkstriders are considered a symbol of Silvermoon, and the Swift Pink is one of their most recognizable colors. If you play a blood elf and collect the racial set, this mount is a must-have
• +100% ground movement speed — this is a full-fledged "epic" ground mount running at Artisan Riding speed. It's in no way inferior to a raptor, dire wolf, or horse
• Low barrier of entry for blood elves — just 10 gold and Apprentice Riding. You can buy the mount as early as level 10, as soon as basic riding is granted
• A plus to your overall collection — the mount counts toward meta-achievements for the number of mounts in your collection
• Account-wide — after purchase, the Swift Pink Hawkstrider automatically becomes available to all your Horde characters. Even if your main isn't a blood elf, you'll be able to use the mount on a blood elf alt without buying it again

In the current patch, riding skills are unlocked automatically upon reaching the required level; you don't have to pay for training separately. Apprentice Riding is unlocked at level 10 — from that point on you can already buy and summon a hawkstrider.

Winaestra is a blood elf, a hawkstrider breeder. She stands near pens full of birds, at a small farm just past the eastern border of Silvermoon City. This is the traditional place to buy blood elf racial mounts since The Burning Crusade.

In addition to the swift ones, Winaestra also sells ordinary hawkstriders (red, blue, black, and purple) for 1 gold each. Her selection of swift hawkstriders consists of three colors.

If you're already collecting all the Horde racial mounts, it makes sense to buy the whole trio at once in a single trip.

For a blood elf player, the procedure is as simple as possible — literally a few minutes if you're already near Silvermoon City.

1. Fly to Silvermoon City. The easiest way is to take the portal from the Orgrimmar portal room or use a Hearthstone bound to the blood elf capital
2. Leave the city through the eastern gate (from the side of the Court of the Sun)
3. Cross the small bridge and follow the road to the left until you reach the hawkstrider farm — this is the Turon's Stables
4. Find Winaestra near the pens — at coordinates 61.0, 54.6
5. Open the dialogue and switch to the trade tab
6. Buy a Swift Pink Hawkstrider for 10 gold
7. Right-click the item — the mount will be added to your collection forever
8. Summon the hawkstrider through the collections menu (the C key by default, the "Mounts" tab)

From logging in to adding the mount to your collection takes no more than 3 minutes.

If you play an orc, troll, tauren, Forsaken, goblin, Horde pandaren, Dracthyr, or any other race, Winaestra will refuse to trade with you by default. To access her selection, you need to earn Exalted reputation with the Silvermoon City faction.

Quick ways to gain reputation with Silvermoon City

• Reputation bonus weekends — every few weeks, WoW activates the "Pilgrim's Bounty" event or a Darkmoon-style buff that grants +50%–100% to reputation gains. Farming during these windows is 1.5–2 times faster
• Quests in Ghostlands, Tirisfal Glades, and the Plaguelands — even at max level, old quest chains still grant Silvermoon City reputation. Complete everything available before settling in for the grind
• Turning in cloth to Sorim Brightsong — the Horde cloth quartermaster in Orgrimmar accepts cloth in batches of 20 in exchange for 75 reputation points with Silvermoon City. This is the main way to finish off the last levels from Revered to Exalted
• Daily quests for the Scarlet Enclave in the Eastern Plaguelands also grant small portions of reputation with Alliance and Horde cities, including Silvermoon City

How long it will take

For an average Horde player starting from scratch, the path to Exalted with Silvermoon City takes 5–15 real-time hours depending on the method. The fastest way is to combine quests, cloth turn-ins, and reputation bonus windows.

The fastest way to bypass the reputation requirement is to create a blood elf alt. The procedure takes about 15–20 minutes:

1. Create a blood elf character of any class on the same account
2. Run through the starting zone to level 10 — that's a maximum of 10–15 minutes, especially with Chromie Time
3. Buy riding (granted automatically) and fly to the Turon's Stables
4. Buy a Swift Pink Hawkstrider for 10 gold (you can transfer it from your main character by mail in advance)
5. The mount automatically unlocks for all characters on the account, including your main

This method is many times faster than farming Exalted with Silvermoon City from scratch. The same scheme can be used to buy all three swift hawkstriders at once.