Other Help
Okay, here is the complete Howrse Breeder's Manual and other helpful tidbits to help you out. This has a lot of information you'll find useful!
Seasons/Weather
On Howrse, weather conditions and temperature vary every day. Weather information is available on the top-right of every page. You must take it into account when you decide where you will put your horse to bed and as well as for the crops of your equestrian center.
On Howrse, the seasons last one week. Fall starts on the first day of each real month. As it lasts 1 week, on the 8th of the month Winter begins, on the 15th, Spring arrives, and on the 22nd Summer starts. Summer lasts until the end of the real month in progress, and then the cycle of seasons starts all over again the next month.
The temperature is associated with the season in the game, and so is the amount of grass in the meadow. Grass is abundant in the fertile meadows in the Spring and Summer, but becomes scarce in Winter.
On Howrse, weather conditions and temperature vary every day. Weather information is available on the top-right of every page. You must take it into account when you decide where you will put your horse to bed and as well as for the crops of your equestrian center.
On Howrse, the seasons last one week. Fall starts on the first day of each real month. As it lasts 1 week, on the 8th of the month Winter begins, on the 15th, Spring arrives, and on the 22nd Summer starts. Summer lasts until the end of the real month in progress, and then the cycle of seasons starts all over again the next month.
The temperature is associated with the season in the game, and so is the amount of grass in the meadow. Grass is abundant in the fertile meadows in the Spring and Summer, but becomes scarce in Winter.
Time For Your Horse
The horse's day
The horse has its own day, which is not our real day. The history of the day is on the left of the horse's page. A horse's day starts at 8 a.m. when the horse wakes up. Then each action that you have the horse carry out takes a set amount of time. For example, meals take 30 minutes.
Your horse must be put to bed before midnight (horse time), after which time horses can no longer carry out actions. The only exception is foaling, which can happen at any time. To keep a horse in top shape, you should put it to bed no later than 10 pm.
Once a horse has finished its day, you must put it to bed.You have two options for this: put it out to pasture or leave it in the box. Up to you to decide depending on the weather in Howrse: don't leave it out to pasture if the temperature is below 10°C (50°F) for example.
You do not need to put foals that are with their Dam to bed. They go to sleep when you put their Dam to bed. Make sure to take good care of both of them.
Aging
Once your horse has been bedded down, you can make it age. To age your horse without waiting until the next day, you need to have aging points. Sometimes you'll win some for free when your horse wakes up in the morning (in which case you'll see it in your History). Or, if you prefer, you can buy aging points with diamonds or passes.
When the horse wakes up, a new day starts. On Howrse, horses age two months at a time.
There are two items available on the black market that allow you to override these rules:
Water of Youth allows you to age your horse one month at a time after its second birthday
Morpheus's Arms lets you age your horse at will up to 30 years old.
Unlike aging points, these items must be assigned to a specific horse.
If you have no more aging points, your horse will age automatically every day. You must remember to put it to bed before leaving the game.
If you have not had your horse carry out actions, it will not age automatically during the night. This means that your horse does not age when you do not play with it.
After its 25th birthday, your horse gets old: its health and skills decline. If you take good care of it, it can live up to a maximum of 35 years. If you get the Philosopher's Stone, your horse becomes immortal and its skills never decline.
The horse's day
The horse has its own day, which is not our real day. The history of the day is on the left of the horse's page. A horse's day starts at 8 a.m. when the horse wakes up. Then each action that you have the horse carry out takes a set amount of time. For example, meals take 30 minutes.
Your horse must be put to bed before midnight (horse time), after which time horses can no longer carry out actions. The only exception is foaling, which can happen at any time. To keep a horse in top shape, you should put it to bed no later than 10 pm.
Once a horse has finished its day, you must put it to bed.You have two options for this: put it out to pasture or leave it in the box. Up to you to decide depending on the weather in Howrse: don't leave it out to pasture if the temperature is below 10°C (50°F) for example.
You do not need to put foals that are with their Dam to bed. They go to sleep when you put their Dam to bed. Make sure to take good care of both of them.
Aging
Once your horse has been bedded down, you can make it age. To age your horse without waiting until the next day, you need to have aging points. Sometimes you'll win some for free when your horse wakes up in the morning (in which case you'll see it in your History). Or, if you prefer, you can buy aging points with diamonds or passes.
When the horse wakes up, a new day starts. On Howrse, horses age two months at a time.
There are two items available on the black market that allow you to override these rules:
Water of Youth allows you to age your horse one month at a time after its second birthday
Morpheus's Arms lets you age your horse at will up to 30 years old.
Unlike aging points, these items must be assigned to a specific horse.
If you have no more aging points, your horse will age automatically every day. You must remember to put it to bed before leaving the game.
If you have not had your horse carry out actions, it will not age automatically during the night. This means that your horse does not age when you do not play with it.
After its 25th birthday, your horse gets old: its health and skills decline. If you take good care of it, it can live up to a maximum of 35 years. If you get the Philosopher's Stone, your horse becomes immortal and its skills never decline.
THE BREEDERS MANUAL
Item Trading
Items from the Black Market
From the shop, you can gift items from the Black Market or trade items with other players.
Every week, you can offer or accept:
From 10 to 30 days' seniority 2 trades per week
More than 30 days' seniority 3 trades per week
With the Pegasus Account 6 trades per week
In order to trade, you also must follow these rules:
Your karma has to be greater than 6
Your email address must be verified
Your account must be validated by your parents if you are under 13 years old
You cannot trade with a player who has the same email address as you
Only one trade with the same player per week
Items from the shop
You can give your friends 3 items from the shop (apples, saddles...) a week. To use this feature, you and your friends must have more than 10 days' seniority.
You may only give away one item per friend and per week.
Visit your friends' pages to gift items from the shop!
Items from the Black Market
From the shop, you can gift items from the Black Market or trade items with other players.
Every week, you can offer or accept:
From 10 to 30 days' seniority 2 trades per week
More than 30 days' seniority 3 trades per week
With the Pegasus Account 6 trades per week
In order to trade, you also must follow these rules:
Your karma has to be greater than 6
Your email address must be verified
Your account must be validated by your parents if you are under 13 years old
You cannot trade with a player who has the same email address as you
Only one trade with the same player per week
Items from the shop
You can give your friends 3 items from the shop (apples, saddles...) a week. To use this feature, you and your friends must have more than 10 days' seniority.
You may only give away one item per friend and per week.
Visit your friends' pages to gift items from the shop!
Safety
You must follow some basic rules to play in the best of conditions:
Never give out your password,
do not register on sites that pretext to offer you passes so as to steal your account,
choose a password that is difficult to guess
You must follow some basic rules to play in the best of conditions:
Never give out your password,
do not register on sites that pretext to offer you passes so as to steal your account,
choose a password that is difficult to guess
Account sharing
You can allow your family or friends to log onto your account and take care of your horses. Very handy for renewing your boarders or contracts and changing the bedding at your equestrian center when you go on vacation. Simply contact a trustworthy friend or family member you have authorized to co-manage your account, so that they can log on with your identifier and their own password! This way, they have limited access to your game. They can take care of your horses, but they can never delete your game, equestrian centers, or breeding farms, nor can they sell your horses.
Warning, co-management of your account should not be entrusted to someone you do not know. Any undesired activity on your account by a co-manager remains your responsibility.
Passes and diamonds
Passes and diamonds are currency in the game. They give you access to better services and products than you can get with Equus.
Passes
Passes are used to:
buy bonus items for your horse at the black market or for your equestrian center at the secret market,
buy aging points,
subscribe to Pegasus account to benefit from exclusive advantages,
credit your breeder or equestrian center reserve with additional Equus,
do horse trading.
To get passes:
there are several different payment methods. Learn more about them on the passes page.
starting on your 50th day on Howrse, you can buy a pass for 20% of your reserve every 30 days of seniority
you can win passes if you put your horses up for sale in exchange for passes and players buy them
you can win passes by sending horses that are older than 30 to Heaven, according to the following rules:
you win 1 pass for each horse you send to Heaven that is older than 30 if you have won fewer than 10 passes in the last 30 days using this method
you have a 1 in 3 chance of winning a pass and a bonus product the rest of the time if you have won between 10 and 29 passes in the last 30 days using this method
you can't win anything else if you have already won 30 passes in the last 30 days using this method
Diamonds
Diamonds are worth one tenth of a pass. One pass can be converted into 10 diamonds, and they can be won in lots of different places in the game.
You can use your diamonds:
instead of passes for all your purchases (except for the Black Pearl, Pegasus Account subscriptions and horse purchases),
to buy bonus items at the store,
to enhance the skills of Gemstone Horses.
Take care of your horse
> 2.1 - Boarding your horse
After your horse is weaned, quickly board it at an equestrian center to be able to put it in a box, put it out into the meadow or put it to bed.
To do this, use the link at the top-right of the page to choose an equestrian center. You can choose an equestrian center according to its price or its prestige. You may also search for the equestrian center of a specific player by providing the player's identifier.
Once you have selected an equestrian center, you must choose the duration of the stay, and then simply confirm. Of course, your horses do not all have to be boarded at the same equestrian center. Furthermore, you can change centers as often as you like.
You may extend the stay using the button at the top-right of your horse's profile. The director of the center may choose to accept or decline your request. It is also possible to ask the director of the center to reserve a box in his or her establishment.
Choosing a center
The equestrian center that you choose will have an influence namely on:
The cleanliness and size of the boxes: Your horse will lose less morale when you put it in a box that is large and clean.
The money you earn for lessons given with your horse. The price of the lesson being automatically calculated according to the ratio between the number of instructors working at the center and the number of horses boarded, the salary of the instructors and, of course, the health and level of dressage of the horses boarded. (The price indicated in the center's details is the amount paid to the owner of the horse that carries out the lesson.)
The carrots that you can give to your horse are grown by the equestrian center. The better the crops, the more carrots you can give to your horse. Carrots are important treats because they give your horse energy.
The presence of a farrier allows boarders to benefit from MF horseshoes.
The presence of a saddler allows boarders to benefit from a SB bridle and saddle.
Cancellation and refund
Remember to view the details of the center where you want to board your horse to avoid nasty surprises, because the stay cannot be canceled. The horse will remain there for the number of days paid. There is only one exception: when a player buys a horse for which a stay has already been reserved, the player may cancel this stay within 15 days after the purchase.
The amount paid in advance for the stay of a horse is not refundable, except if the horse's box is destroyed by the director of the center. In such a case, the owner of the horse will be refunded for the number of days that the horse was not able to occupy the box. If you sell your horse, the buyer will benefit from the board already paid for the horse. In the event that your horse were to die, you would not recover the board already paid, as the director is not liable for the death of the horse.
Feeding your horse
Colts and fillies
Newborn foals stay with their Dams until they are 6 months old. During this period, they feed exclusively on their Dam's milk. If the center where the mare is boarded has carrots, the foal may eat some for as long as it is with its Dam.
Weaned foals only eat fodder. When they start to train, you will start to give them grain. You must see to it that they have a balanced nutrition: they should not eat too much or too little.
The adult horse
A working adult horse needs fodder and grain. The ration depends on the work that the horse does. If the ration is not appropriate, the horse will gain or lose weight. Weight problems increase the risk of illnesses. For fodder, also consider putting the horse out in the meadow. The grass that the horse eats allows you to save on the purchase of feed. The amount of grass consumed depends on the quality of the meadows of the equestrian center where your horse is boarded, but also on the season. There is less grass in the meadows in winter than in spring.
Weight problems
Various messages alert you when your horse is too fat or too thin. In such cases, you may take the necessary steps. If your horse is too thin, double the amount of fodder it has to eat. If it is too fat, cut the regular ration of fodder given to the horse by half. For example, if your horse is too thin and the daily ration is usually 4 pounds, give the horse 8 pounds and it will gain weight.
Treats
You can give your horse treats to make it happy. There are two types of treats:
Apples and turnips increase your horse's morale and energy. You will find some at the breeder's store.
Carrots increase your horse's morale and energy. They are only available in the equestrian centers that grow them and that offer them to their boarders free of charge. Just choose the right center!
Other players can give apples to your horse to boost his morale.
Mashes
To help you keep your horse fit, there is a wide range of mashes available to you:
The energy mash gives your horse 5% energy
The caloric mash boosts your horse's morale by up to 10%
The health mash increases its health by 10%
They should be used wisely: you can only give your horse a mash every 6 months. Furthermore, mashes may only be given to horses after they have reached their second birthday, and health mashes can only be given to horses that are under 25 years old.
Keeping your horse fit
There are three gauges that give you an indication of the physical condition of your horse: energy, health and morale.
Every time your horse carries out an action, one or more of these properties varies. You must especially watch your horse's energy level. If you exhaust your horse, it could die. The ideal situation is to put your horse to bed at 10 p.m. (time displayed above the horse's history bottom left side of it's page) at the latest and with at least 20% energy. Below 20%, your horse will not recuperate enough during the night, and under 5%, it could die.
How to restore your horse's energy?
By feeding it
By stroking it
By giving it a turnip
By letting it rest in the box or meadow
By putting it to bed. Horses recuperate about five times the energy they had when they were put to bed. If the temperature in the meadow is satisfactory, they will recuperate more energy than in the box. If you put your horse to bec in the box, morale goes down.
By giving it to drink
By giving it the sugar cubes that you will find as you carry out actions
How to restore your horse's morale?
By grooming it
By putting it in the meadow
By giving it something to drink
If another player gives it an apple
Finally, health increases naturally as time goes by.
Morale problems
When a horse is aged with less than 20% morale, his health drops. The weaker his morale, the faster the health drops. To avoid that, don't forget to groom your horses everyday and to put them in an Equestrian Center.
Health problems
The health of a horse under 25 declines when:
The horse its too fat or too thin
You do not take good enough care of the horse
The horse's energy drops below 20%
You have not groomed the horse the previous day
After 25, the health of horses and ponies that do not have the Philosopher's Stone will decline gradually according to the age of the horse.
Breeder store
You will find, there, everything that you need to take care of your horse. In the various departments, you may purchase:
Equipment such as horseshoes and harnesses (which you must have if you want to participate in competitions)
Treats that you can give to your horse or pony
At the bottom-right of this page, you can view the items in your inventory and replenish your stock. If you need to, you can resell these items to the store. However, it will give you less than the retail price for them. You can also sell the manure from your horses. To sell something at the store, click « Sell Items » on the breeders' store page.
Note that you can only sell what you have in your inventory.
Black market
The Black Market is a very strange and peculiar place. Stay on your guard when venturing out there, the powers of items found there may be so strong they can be frightening.
The items on the black market may be purchased with passes.
These items may not be handed down from parent to offspring. They cannot be transferred from one horse to another, and they cannot be recovered when the horse dies.
Prepare your horse for the competitions
> 3.1 - Harnessing your horse and choosing its specialty
Specialty
In order for your horse to be able to compete at the age of 3 years, you have to choose which riding style will be its specialty. The types of competitions your horse will be eligible for will depend on its specialty.
Horses that specialize in Classical Riding can enter speed races and cross-country, showjumping and dressage competitions.
Horses that specialize in Western Riding can enter barrel racing, cutting, reining, western pleasure and trail class competitions.
To choose your horse's specialty, select their riding type in the Competitions box.
You can change your horse's specialty until it reaches the age of 5 years.
Tack
Once you've chosen your horse's specialty, you need to buy it horseshoes and a bridle and saddle made for its specialty. You can find these items in different models and difficulty levels at the breeders' store.
If your horse is boarding at an equestrian center with the same specialty and a saddler is employed there, you can give it the SB saddle and SB bridle if its specialty is Classical Riding, and the WS saddle and WB bridle if its specialty is Western Riding. The bonus from these items will vary depending on how much prestige the center has.
If your horse is boarding in an equestrian center in which a farrier is employed, you can also give it MF horseshoes, for which the bonus varies depending on the center's prestige.
You can give your horse a saddle, bridle and horseshoes directly on its profile page.
All this equipment is hard-wearing. You cannot remove a horse's saddle, bridle or horseshoes. All you can do is replace them.
Playing with your horse
Before your future champion starts training for good, you can play with it. Playing is important for a foal's well-being, the time you spend with it will be beneficial to its future career.
Every time you play with a foal between the ages of 8 to 16 months, you increase its skills a little.
Skills and training
The skills
On Howrse, there are six skill categories:
Stamina
Speed
Dressage
Gallop
Trot
Jumping
The maximum skills that a horse may reach during its lifetime through the activities that you will have it carry out is determined at birth according to its breed and ancestors. They vary, therefore, from one individual to the next, even within the same breed. However, as logic dictates, a trotter will never become a champion flat racer! As the potential of a horse cannot be extended infinitely, there will come a time when your horse will no longer progress. It is up to you to develop your horse's skills to their fullest!
There are 3 main ways to improve a horse's skills:
rides
training
competitions
Pay attention to your horse's health. If you train him or have him go on rides or enter competitions and he is not at 100% health, he won't win the maximum number of skills points. If your horse doesn't gain the maximum skills, he won't be able to retrieve them later.
There are also two other ways of improving skills:
Games with foals between 8 and 16 months of age. It's possible to earn up to 60 skill points by playing with foals.
Lessons starting 2 years of age. They'll make you lose 30% energy. Skill gains will depend on the quality of lessons at the center where your horse is boarded. Lessons award skill gains in a horse's or pony's 2 best potentials. Please note that skill gains with lessons stop at age 25!
When you have completed the development of a horse's skill, said skill is displayed in bold in the horse's genetic potential. Completing the development means finish training and rides, and have the horse earn all the skills possible in competitions.
Training
Training starts at 18 months with rides. There are 3 types of rides: trot, gallop and steep terrain. Each of these develops specific skills (trot, gallop and jumping). You can choose to either go on a short ride to develop speed or a lengthy ride to develop your horse's stamina. You will see the "Skills" box (at the center of your horse's page) fill in progressively with stars. Please note that skill gains are limited, and at one point, your horse will no longer earn skills when going on rides.
At 2, your horse can start actual training. Each skill has an associated training activity; you choose the duration of the training session using the drop-down menu that appears when you click the discipline. You can combine several types of training in your horse's day, but keep a eye on your horse's energy level and on the time in the history, to ensure that your horse gets enough rest. Remember that you should put your horse to bed at 10 p.m. at the latest!
When your horse reaches the age of 5, you can do rides on the beach. They are special rides, in which your horse loses in his lowest skill to win in his best skill. The longer the ride, the bigger the skill exchange. Beware, the exchange is limited and depends on the genetic potential of the horse.
Remember, if your horse's morale isn't at 100 when it goes for rides on the beach, the transferring of skills will be less than optimal and lost for good.
Bonuses
They appear in a frame in the horse's page. These are points added to the skills, but they are not to be confused with the skills. They may make a difference in the results of the competitions, but do not count for the minimum required for the competitions.
They may be associated with:
The center where the horse is boarded according to its prestige
Various items purchased from the store or on the black market, or found in the box
They are also displayed with a + sign in front of them when you hover your mouse over the "Skills" frame.
Competing
Your horse is now 3 years old, its sports career may begin! If you want your horse to compete, it must first be trained to specialize in a specific riding style, you must shoe it and give it a saddle and bridle adapted to its specialty.
The competitions will enable you to earn money according to your success but also to improve the skills of your horses. As their potential is not unlimited, there will come a time when your horse's skills will no longer be improved by competitions.
Regardless of the discipline, each competition has a difficulty level set within a percentage range for a skill, each center setting its competitions at the level of its choice.
For certain types of competition, you can use filters to choose the distance.
You cannot enter more than 2 horses from your stables in a competition.
On every horse's profile page, among other information, you'll find a summary of the horse's victories and results in competitions.
Classical Riding Competitions
Classical Riding competitions are for horses specializing in Classical Riding that have a Classical bridle and saddle. There are 4 kinds of competitions:
gallop and trot speed races access to which depends on the galloping level for gallop races and trotting level for trot races. In order to become a champion, the horse must also perform well in speed and dressage.
Cross-country, is a physically demanding discipline that requires great stamina, but also good jumping skills and docility. Access to registration depends on the level of stamina.
Show-jumping, requires exceptional jumping skills, but also lots of flexibility. Because these events are timed, a show-jumping horse will obviously need to be able to jump obstacles quickly .Access to registration depends on the level of jumping.
The dressage contest, features the horse's gaits: gallop and trot, but most of all its dressage skills. Access to registration depends on the level of dressage.
Western Riding Competitions
Western Riding competitions are for horses specializing in Western Riding that have a Western bridle and saddle. There are 5 kinds of competitions:
Barrel racing, a timed race that requires speed, stamina and galloping skills. The goal is to slalom around 3 barrels as fast as possible without knocking any over. Access to these events is determined by your horse's speed.
Cutting, which requires great stamina and speed in order to control calves. It also requires a good level in dressage. Access to these events is determined by your horse's stamina.
Reining, a dressage event that's performed at a gallop. Good stamina is also essential. Access to these events is determined by your horse's level in galloping.
Western pleasure, a discipline that requires excellent trotting skills, as well as docility and stamina. Access to these events is determined by your horse's level in trotting.
Trail class, the western equivalent of dressage in Classical Riding. Trail class horses must excel in dressage, as well as trotting and jumping. Access to these events is determined by your horse's dressage level.
Morale
NOTE: After 30 days of seniority on the game, if your horse has not finished first in a competition, he will lose some morale points. Don't worry though, as this drop in morale can easily be remedied with a bit of rest and a few treats!
Competitions for rookie horses
Certain competitions are only open to rookie horses. Rookie horses are horses that have won less than 20 victories and who have no skills above 240. This number is recalculated every night.
Rosettes
Rosettes are rewards you earn by winning certain competitions with 75% or higher prestige. When one of your horses wins a rosette, you earn twice as many Equus for that competition. However, you cannot win the same rosette more than once with the same horse.
The Grand Prix
The Grand Prix is a week-long championship. It consists of 5 heats total, one heat per day. There are 2 different Grand Prix: Classical Riding and Western Riding.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Classical Riding Grand Prix Cross-country Trot Showjumping Dressage Gallop
Western Riding Grand Prix Cutting Western pleasure Reining Trail class Barrel racing
Each event lasts 10 hours and requires 99% energy. Players may enter two of their horses in each event.
A ranking is done each day and extraordinary gifts are handed out:
For the winner: 40 diamonds
For 2nd place: 20 diamonds
For 3rd place: 10 diamonds
For 4th place: 5 diamonds
For 5th place: 2 diamonds
For the top 100: 2000 equus
For all participants: 1000 equus
AT the end of the 5 events, on Saturday, a Grand Prix weekly ranking is displayed: Only the best performance on each event are counted. To be ranked you must have participated in the 5 event of the week.
Sunday there are no events, it's rest day for your horses.
Following the weekly Grand Prix ranking:
The top 10 receive an award on their profile page.
The top 100 place finishers gain a 7-day access to the fountain. The fountain replaces the trough and triples energy and morale gains.
To enter the Grand Prix, you need to gain access by opening Horns of Plenty. You only need to gain access once to be able to participate every week.
There are special bonuses for the Grand Prix, which for example allow you to reduce the energy your horses spend when registering, to give skill bonuses to your competing horses, and to register four horses in each event instead of two. You'll find these bonuses in the Horns of Plenty.
Develop the genetic potential of your horse
> 4.1 - Reproduction
Coverings
Horses reach their sexual maturity at 2 and a half, and are fertile until the end of their lifetime.
It's up to the owners of stallions to offer coverings or to suggest one to a specific mare. They also have to specify a covering cost (between 200 and 7500 Equus). The owners of mares can look for the best stallions by browsing through offers or replying to specific offers.
It is possible to cross-breed. Each foal is thus unique: it will inherit characteristics from its parents and their ascendants. It is up to you to make the right crosses to produce champions or to create a breeding farm that is focused on this or that discipline.
As certain stallions are very in demand, you can make a deal with their owner so that they reserve a covering for you. Often, breeders will indicate their price and conditions on their page.
To have one of your mares covered by one of your stallions, make yourself a reserved offer.
Gestation
Gestation lasts 12 months. After the 8th month and for 50 equus, you can ask for an ultrasound to find out the gender, breed and coat of the foal. At this stage of the gestation, the mare can only do lessons. At month 12 of the gestation, you must send for the vet (the link is in the Reproduction box, bottom-right) and make sure, if possible, that your mare is boarded at an equestrian center that provides quality care.
Such a venture is nothing trivial, and you must make sure that you carefully assess the financial investment involved in the production of a foal. The vet costs 200 . Once you have sent for the vet, you can choose the name of your foal and start to take care of it. When it is weaned from its dam at 6 months, you must board it at an equestrian center.
Foaling is the only action that can occur after midnight in the horse's history.
Keep in mind that it is not necessarily advantageous, for example, to breed a mare that excels in dressage with a horse whose strong point is speed. In fact, the offspring will not necessarily be better in each of these characteristics. It is therefore better to favor breeding between close breeds.
Foaling is a tyring experience for a mare. There must be an interval of at least 10 months between the birth of the last foal and the next covering.
Geldings
You can castrate your males who are between the ages of 2 and a half years old and 6 years old. Your horse will become a gelding. It will no longer be able to reproduce, but it will win a bonus (stamina: +8, speed: +8, dressage: +4). Gelding a horse takes at least two hours.
Note that it is not possible to give Zeus's Lightning Bolt to a gelding, and that castration is irreversible.
The foal
The foaling went smoothly, a foal is born. Its breed is determined by the majority breed in its ascendants if they are not "pure bred". Its coat is selected at random among the coats authorized by the foal's breed.
Your foal's capacities depend on genetic characteristics of his parents but also on their training level and competition achievements.
The foals that you produce remain with their Dam, in the same box, until there are 6 months old. They do not need to be boarded during this period, and they feed exclusively on their dam's milk.
Unicorns
Unicorns are very rare and reproduce almost like ordinary horses.
Baby unicorns are born only if a unicorn mare is covered by a male unicorn at 00:23 or 12:23 Game Time. But careful, the only time that counts is the one shown in the upper right of your screen, not the time shown in your horse's history. Both parents must be of the same breed. All the same, don't forget that when you meet these criteria, you still have only one out of 5 chances of giving birth to a baby unicorn.
You can change your unicorns' reproduction time once every 30 days. To change a unicorn's reproduction time, go to its page and click on 'Information' in its reproduction box, then click on 'Select.' Planned maintenance work is sometimes done on the game. If this occurs at the time you've chosen, you will not be compensated.
Remember, you may only cover a unicorn at least 10 real hours after its conception or after its previous covering.
Donkeys
Donkeys can only reproduce three times in their lifetime, and only with another donkey. This is the only species whose genetic potential decreases with every generation.
When a male donkey is put up for sale, any coverings he has offered that haven't yet been accepted by a female are canceled.
Genetics
Genetic potential
The genetic potential of a horse is calculated according to the genetic potential and the BLUP of its parents.
Once a foal is born, its genetic potential can no longer evolve
Innate skills and skill gains during games and lessons are not included in the genetic potential. This means that a horse's skills may be higher than the values shown in its genetic potential.
Stars awarded for excellence
The award for excellence is a green star that you will find under a horse's genetic potential. It indicates that the horse excels in that particular skill. It is rare, as it is the culmination of a breeder's extensive work in terms of training and careful selection of breeding stock. It is awarded to exceptional horses!
To earn a star of excellence, the horse must have reached 100% of the genetic potential in the skill in question. It is possible to obtain additional stars in a skill for every 10% of additional genetic potential reached in the skill.
Excellence stars are awarded at a foal's birth only, because a horse's genetic potential cannot change once it is born.
Inborn skills
These are skills that the horse has right from birth. All foals do not necessarily have inborn skills. They are dependent on the foal's parents, their genetic potential and their BLUP. Thus a foal may be born with 10% stamina, for example.
A foal cannot be born with negative skills. If the average BLUP of the parents is below 0, then the foal will have no inborn skills.
These inborn skills are set at birth. They are added to the genetic potential.
Note that inborn skills are integrated to the skills, therefore it is possible to exceed the value indicated in the genetic potential. This effective value is what will count for the minimum skill requirement for competitions.
The BLUP
The BLUP is a genetic indicator. It plays a role in reproduction because the BLUP of the parents has an impact on the potential of the foal at birth.
It is calculated according to:
the level of training reached by the horse in its 3 best skills
the number of competitions the horse has won, the ideal being 20 victories
its age, as its BLUP can't reach 100 until it's 10 years old
It is therefore advantageous to choose your breeding stock among trained horses that have proven their worth in competitions. According to these parameters, the BLUP will always range between -100 and 100, -100 being the minimum BLUP and 100 the maximum BLUP that a horse can achieve.
If the average BLUP of the parents is 0 (then termed neutral), it will not have an impact on the calculation of the foal's genetic potential. If it is below 0, the foal will have a greater chance of having a potential that is lower than that of its parents, and the other way around if the average BLUP is above 0.
To have the best breeding stock and put all the chances on your side to produce the best foals possible, it is suggested that you choose horses with a high or at least positive BLUP, that is to say, individuals that are well trained.
5 / Building a career on Howrse
> 5.1 - Earning money
What are the various ways of earning money?
Lessons: Your horse earns a certain amount depending on your equestrian center
Having a job: You get paid a salary every day as soon as you log in and as long as you took care of at least one horse the day before
The competitions in which your horses run
Covering offers if you own stallions
Selling a horse from your stables
Selling the manure produced by your horses
Selling back items from your inventory to the store
Trading items from the Black Market
Using a pass to credit your reserve
5 / Building a career on Howrse
> 5.2 - Your Job
On Howrse, every player can have a paid job. You can combine this job with the job of manager of the equestrian center. Equestrian centers hire employees.
Access to jobs is now unlocked by seniority.
To change job you have to wait for your current contract to end. Once your contract is over, you'll be able to change jobs as long as you have the required number of seniority days.
The director of an equestrian center may make you a reserved job offer. The director may also offer to extend your contract. It is then up to you to decide to accept or refuse this extension.
5 / Building a career on Howrse
> 5.3 - Your breeding farm
Directory and breeding farms
You can save breeding farms by groups of 60 days' seniority, with maximum 5 breeding farms.
A breeding farm that is officially registered in the directory groups horses belonging to the same player regardless of who produced them.
The directory makes it possible to track and showcase the work of the breeders. It also enables players to find the horse they want to purchase or hire as a stud even if the horse in question is not currently for sale or offering coverings.
Affixes
Any breeding farm can make a name for itself and build its reputation based on the horses it produces. You can register an affix and add it to the name of the horses that you have produced. This affix may not be removed by future owners of horses produced in your breeding farm. You cannot add it to the name of horses that were not born in your breeding farm.
To reserve an affix, you need at least 30 days of seniority. After that, you can create another one every 30 days of seniority. You an also unlock affixes by signing up for the Pegasus Account. Clicking an affix will show you a list of all the horses and ponies who use it.
A breeder may have several affixes and attribute them according to the breeds he or she raises, for example, or to distinguish various lineages within a breeding farm of a given breed.
Breeders and their production
In the details of the horse or pony, you will find the name of its original breeder. To see all of a player's products in the player's details, click the link "View production".
The breeds and the blue star
On Howrse, there are several breeds amongst both horses and ponies. You may differentiate pure bred horses or ponies from horses produced by cross-breeding thanks to the blue origin stars, which indicate the proportion of each breed present in the ascendants of the horse or pony. Pure bred horses are assigned 1 star on the details of their owner.
5 / Building a career on Howrse
> 5.4 - Horse trading
Regardless of the method used, the minimum sale price for a horse or pony is 500 equus. You cannot buy back a horse that you sold for 10 days after the sale. There is another type of sale, but this is not done between players: the Safe Haven.
The moment you put your horse up for sale, you can no longer take care of it. It is automatically paused and stops aging. It will start aging as usual again once it has been bought. Note that the horse will stop aging once it's been put up for sale, even if the seller just took care of it that same day.
The auctions
You can sell one of your horses in an auction if you have at least 10 days' seniority and more than 4 karma points.
When you want to auction a horse, you can choose the start price. Buyers will bid on your price, and the horse will be transferred to the player who has made the best bid at the end of the scheduled sale (3 days).
During an auction, the money is directly debited from the highest bidder. All players who made earlier bids are then repaid their money. If after 3 days no one has bid on a sale, then the seller keeps their horse.
Auctions can be canceled if no one has bid on them yet.
Players with the Pegasus Account can start auctions for passes.
Direct sales
Only players with at least 30 days' seniority, 2 living horses and a karma of over 4 can use direct sales.
Direct sales are a way to sell your horses faster than auctioning. You choose your horse's sale price. If a breeder is interested, they can buy it and the money from the sale is instantly transferred to you.
You may cancel a direct sale before it has ended if no one has bought your horse. The horse in question will automatically return to your breeding farm 30 days after the start of the sale.
Players with the Pegasus Account can start auctions for passes.
The Reserved Sales
It is also possible to reserve a sale to a certain breeder. If you select this option, only the player that you will have chosen will be able to buy your horse.
Safe Haven
It's a refuge for horses. Horses and ponies staying there get to live it up far from the hubbub of the competitive world.
There you can sell:
your horses for 400 Equus
your unicorns and non-unicorn horses born to unicorn parents for 1 000 Equus
Selling a horse to this sanctuary is not like selling a horse to a player. Once the sale is completed, you cannot buy your horse back, and the sale price is fixed.
6 / Use the Creation Space
> 6.1 The basic idea
The Creation Space is a place where you can propose illustrations to be used on Howrse and win passes if they beat the vote.
These illustrations may be horse coats for the Golden Apple or landscapes for the Helios' Ray.
The Creation Space is for all languages (English, German, French...). That means if you propose an illustration and it wins the vote, it will be available in all languages.
How it works
The selection process takes place every month, and follows a specific procedure. This month:
Proposing illustrations
1st August 00:00 » 5th August 23:59
Everyone can propose illustrations using the Black Pearl
Validation
Our team removes any illustrations that don't comply with the rules
Voting
10th August 00:00 » 16th August 23:59
Players of all languages vote on the illustrations once they have been validated
Selection
The most popular illustrations are selected and sorted by category
Publishing
26th August 10:00
The selected illustrations are published online in each of the site's languages
Rewards
Proposing illustrations can be quite lucrative! The day an illustration is published, each illustration earns its author:
10 000
Different numbers of passes for different types of illustration:
40 passes For a Coat for the Golden Apple with no limitation on the number of uses 20 passes for a coat with a limited number of uses
30 pass(es) for a Helios' Ray landscape
6 / Use the Creation Space
> 6.2 Selection
Before an illustration is published, it has to pass both steps of the selection process:
Validation by our team to makes sure it follows the rules
Player voting
Validation by our team
Before an illustration is submitted for player voting, our team first checks it to make sure it complies with the rules. The rejection criteria are explained on the Black Pearl page.
At this step, the Staff makes no editorial choices. It only verifies that no rules have been broken. If your illustration is rejected for failure to comply with the rules, you will be refunded your passes already spent with the Black Pearl.
Player voting
After preliminary validation by our team, all players get to vote on the illustration in the Creation Space. The vote is anonymous, which gives all creators equal chances.
After voting, if your illustration is not selected, you will be refunded the passes you spent proposing it.
Final selection
Once the voting has ended, the most popular illustrations will be selected, as well as a few of our team's personal favorites. That means that at the end of every month, there will be at least...
120 new coats for the Golden Apple
50 new landscapes for Helios's Ray
6 / Use the Creation Space
> 6.3 Publishing
Winning illustrations will be published online at the Black Market every month at the same time (this month: 26th August 10:00). Also, every month, a few Golden Apple coats will be published online for a limited time only. Once they run out, they will be removed from sale.
Remember, the Creation Space is for all languages, so illustrations that win can be from any country!
The team reserves the right to delete a creation from the game, whether it has been deactivated or not. The players who have used this creation will be reimbursed with the initial value of the item.
7 / Behavior and rules of conduct
> 7.1 The rules
All players are expected to:
behave courteously and respectfully when dealing with all members of the Howrse community - this includes players, moderators (whose names are in green) and administrators (whose names are in blue bold)
follow the rules of conduct everywhere on the site. You can find these rules on your My Karma page
follow the specific rules for the various community areas (forum, private messaging, etc.)
7 / Behavior and rules of conduct
> 7.2 Karma and warnings
Karma is what shows what your reputation in the game is. Upon registering, you receive 10 karma points. You lose karma points if you break the rules. Losing karma points can mean you lose access to certain game features, such as the forum or sales.
We invite you to read what actions can make you lose karma on your My Karma page
If you break a minor rule, you receive a warning. If the situation repeats itself, you lose karma.
7 / Behavior and rules of conduct
> 7.3 The staff
Only administrators (whose names are in blue bold) and moderators (whose names are in green) can create rules and apply sanctions in the game. We request that you listen to their advice and follow their instructions.
Administrators are Owlient employees who take care of the overall running of the site. Moderators are chosen from among the players. They're here to help you when you need it and make sure the rules are being followed.
You can allow your family or friends to log onto your account and take care of your horses. Very handy for renewing your boarders or contracts and changing the bedding at your equestrian center when you go on vacation. Simply contact a trustworthy friend or family member you have authorized to co-manage your account, so that they can log on with your identifier and their own password! This way, they have limited access to your game. They can take care of your horses, but they can never delete your game, equestrian centers, or breeding farms, nor can they sell your horses.
Warning, co-management of your account should not be entrusted to someone you do not know. Any undesired activity on your account by a co-manager remains your responsibility.
Passes and diamonds
Passes and diamonds are currency in the game. They give you access to better services and products than you can get with Equus.
Passes
Passes are used to:
buy bonus items for your horse at the black market or for your equestrian center at the secret market,
buy aging points,
subscribe to Pegasus account to benefit from exclusive advantages,
credit your breeder or equestrian center reserve with additional Equus,
do horse trading.
To get passes:
there are several different payment methods. Learn more about them on the passes page.
starting on your 50th day on Howrse, you can buy a pass for 20% of your reserve every 30 days of seniority
you can win passes if you put your horses up for sale in exchange for passes and players buy them
you can win passes by sending horses that are older than 30 to Heaven, according to the following rules:
you win 1 pass for each horse you send to Heaven that is older than 30 if you have won fewer than 10 passes in the last 30 days using this method
you have a 1 in 3 chance of winning a pass and a bonus product the rest of the time if you have won between 10 and 29 passes in the last 30 days using this method
you can't win anything else if you have already won 30 passes in the last 30 days using this method
Diamonds
Diamonds are worth one tenth of a pass. One pass can be converted into 10 diamonds, and they can be won in lots of different places in the game.
You can use your diamonds:
instead of passes for all your purchases (except for the Black Pearl, Pegasus Account subscriptions and horse purchases),
to buy bonus items at the store,
to enhance the skills of Gemstone Horses.
Take care of your horse
> 2.1 - Boarding your horse
After your horse is weaned, quickly board it at an equestrian center to be able to put it in a box, put it out into the meadow or put it to bed.
To do this, use the link at the top-right of the page to choose an equestrian center. You can choose an equestrian center according to its price or its prestige. You may also search for the equestrian center of a specific player by providing the player's identifier.
Once you have selected an equestrian center, you must choose the duration of the stay, and then simply confirm. Of course, your horses do not all have to be boarded at the same equestrian center. Furthermore, you can change centers as often as you like.
You may extend the stay using the button at the top-right of your horse's profile. The director of the center may choose to accept or decline your request. It is also possible to ask the director of the center to reserve a box in his or her establishment.
Choosing a center
The equestrian center that you choose will have an influence namely on:
The cleanliness and size of the boxes: Your horse will lose less morale when you put it in a box that is large and clean.
The money you earn for lessons given with your horse. The price of the lesson being automatically calculated according to the ratio between the number of instructors working at the center and the number of horses boarded, the salary of the instructors and, of course, the health and level of dressage of the horses boarded. (The price indicated in the center's details is the amount paid to the owner of the horse that carries out the lesson.)
The carrots that you can give to your horse are grown by the equestrian center. The better the crops, the more carrots you can give to your horse. Carrots are important treats because they give your horse energy.
The presence of a farrier allows boarders to benefit from MF horseshoes.
The presence of a saddler allows boarders to benefit from a SB bridle and saddle.
Cancellation and refund
Remember to view the details of the center where you want to board your horse to avoid nasty surprises, because the stay cannot be canceled. The horse will remain there for the number of days paid. There is only one exception: when a player buys a horse for which a stay has already been reserved, the player may cancel this stay within 15 days after the purchase.
The amount paid in advance for the stay of a horse is not refundable, except if the horse's box is destroyed by the director of the center. In such a case, the owner of the horse will be refunded for the number of days that the horse was not able to occupy the box. If you sell your horse, the buyer will benefit from the board already paid for the horse. In the event that your horse were to die, you would not recover the board already paid, as the director is not liable for the death of the horse.
Feeding your horse
Colts and fillies
Newborn foals stay with their Dams until they are 6 months old. During this period, they feed exclusively on their Dam's milk. If the center where the mare is boarded has carrots, the foal may eat some for as long as it is with its Dam.
Weaned foals only eat fodder. When they start to train, you will start to give them grain. You must see to it that they have a balanced nutrition: they should not eat too much or too little.
The adult horse
A working adult horse needs fodder and grain. The ration depends on the work that the horse does. If the ration is not appropriate, the horse will gain or lose weight. Weight problems increase the risk of illnesses. For fodder, also consider putting the horse out in the meadow. The grass that the horse eats allows you to save on the purchase of feed. The amount of grass consumed depends on the quality of the meadows of the equestrian center where your horse is boarded, but also on the season. There is less grass in the meadows in winter than in spring.
Weight problems
Various messages alert you when your horse is too fat or too thin. In such cases, you may take the necessary steps. If your horse is too thin, double the amount of fodder it has to eat. If it is too fat, cut the regular ration of fodder given to the horse by half. For example, if your horse is too thin and the daily ration is usually 4 pounds, give the horse 8 pounds and it will gain weight.
Treats
You can give your horse treats to make it happy. There are two types of treats:
Apples and turnips increase your horse's morale and energy. You will find some at the breeder's store.
Carrots increase your horse's morale and energy. They are only available in the equestrian centers that grow them and that offer them to their boarders free of charge. Just choose the right center!
Other players can give apples to your horse to boost his morale.
Mashes
To help you keep your horse fit, there is a wide range of mashes available to you:
The energy mash gives your horse 5% energy
The caloric mash boosts your horse's morale by up to 10%
The health mash increases its health by 10%
They should be used wisely: you can only give your horse a mash every 6 months. Furthermore, mashes may only be given to horses after they have reached their second birthday, and health mashes can only be given to horses that are under 25 years old.
Keeping your horse fit
There are three gauges that give you an indication of the physical condition of your horse: energy, health and morale.
Every time your horse carries out an action, one or more of these properties varies. You must especially watch your horse's energy level. If you exhaust your horse, it could die. The ideal situation is to put your horse to bed at 10 p.m. (time displayed above the horse's history bottom left side of it's page) at the latest and with at least 20% energy. Below 20%, your horse will not recuperate enough during the night, and under 5%, it could die.
How to restore your horse's energy?
By feeding it
By stroking it
By giving it a turnip
By letting it rest in the box or meadow
By putting it to bed. Horses recuperate about five times the energy they had when they were put to bed. If the temperature in the meadow is satisfactory, they will recuperate more energy than in the box. If you put your horse to bec in the box, morale goes down.
By giving it to drink
By giving it the sugar cubes that you will find as you carry out actions
How to restore your horse's morale?
By grooming it
By putting it in the meadow
By giving it something to drink
If another player gives it an apple
Finally, health increases naturally as time goes by.
Morale problems
When a horse is aged with less than 20% morale, his health drops. The weaker his morale, the faster the health drops. To avoid that, don't forget to groom your horses everyday and to put them in an Equestrian Center.
Health problems
The health of a horse under 25 declines when:
The horse its too fat or too thin
You do not take good enough care of the horse
The horse's energy drops below 20%
You have not groomed the horse the previous day
After 25, the health of horses and ponies that do not have the Philosopher's Stone will decline gradually according to the age of the horse.
Breeder store
You will find, there, everything that you need to take care of your horse. In the various departments, you may purchase:
Equipment such as horseshoes and harnesses (which you must have if you want to participate in competitions)
Treats that you can give to your horse or pony
At the bottom-right of this page, you can view the items in your inventory and replenish your stock. If you need to, you can resell these items to the store. However, it will give you less than the retail price for them. You can also sell the manure from your horses. To sell something at the store, click « Sell Items » on the breeders' store page.
Note that you can only sell what you have in your inventory.
Black market
The Black Market is a very strange and peculiar place. Stay on your guard when venturing out there, the powers of items found there may be so strong they can be frightening.
The items on the black market may be purchased with passes.
These items may not be handed down from parent to offspring. They cannot be transferred from one horse to another, and they cannot be recovered when the horse dies.
Prepare your horse for the competitions
> 3.1 - Harnessing your horse and choosing its specialty
Specialty
In order for your horse to be able to compete at the age of 3 years, you have to choose which riding style will be its specialty. The types of competitions your horse will be eligible for will depend on its specialty.
Horses that specialize in Classical Riding can enter speed races and cross-country, showjumping and dressage competitions.
Horses that specialize in Western Riding can enter barrel racing, cutting, reining, western pleasure and trail class competitions.
To choose your horse's specialty, select their riding type in the Competitions box.
You can change your horse's specialty until it reaches the age of 5 years.
Tack
Once you've chosen your horse's specialty, you need to buy it horseshoes and a bridle and saddle made for its specialty. You can find these items in different models and difficulty levels at the breeders' store.
If your horse is boarding at an equestrian center with the same specialty and a saddler is employed there, you can give it the SB saddle and SB bridle if its specialty is Classical Riding, and the WS saddle and WB bridle if its specialty is Western Riding. The bonus from these items will vary depending on how much prestige the center has.
If your horse is boarding in an equestrian center in which a farrier is employed, you can also give it MF horseshoes, for which the bonus varies depending on the center's prestige.
You can give your horse a saddle, bridle and horseshoes directly on its profile page.
All this equipment is hard-wearing. You cannot remove a horse's saddle, bridle or horseshoes. All you can do is replace them.
Playing with your horse
Before your future champion starts training for good, you can play with it. Playing is important for a foal's well-being, the time you spend with it will be beneficial to its future career.
Every time you play with a foal between the ages of 8 to 16 months, you increase its skills a little.
Skills and training
The skills
On Howrse, there are six skill categories:
Stamina
Speed
Dressage
Gallop
Trot
Jumping
The maximum skills that a horse may reach during its lifetime through the activities that you will have it carry out is determined at birth according to its breed and ancestors. They vary, therefore, from one individual to the next, even within the same breed. However, as logic dictates, a trotter will never become a champion flat racer! As the potential of a horse cannot be extended infinitely, there will come a time when your horse will no longer progress. It is up to you to develop your horse's skills to their fullest!
There are 3 main ways to improve a horse's skills:
rides
training
competitions
Pay attention to your horse's health. If you train him or have him go on rides or enter competitions and he is not at 100% health, he won't win the maximum number of skills points. If your horse doesn't gain the maximum skills, he won't be able to retrieve them later.
There are also two other ways of improving skills:
Games with foals between 8 and 16 months of age. It's possible to earn up to 60 skill points by playing with foals.
Lessons starting 2 years of age. They'll make you lose 30% energy. Skill gains will depend on the quality of lessons at the center where your horse is boarded. Lessons award skill gains in a horse's or pony's 2 best potentials. Please note that skill gains with lessons stop at age 25!
When you have completed the development of a horse's skill, said skill is displayed in bold in the horse's genetic potential. Completing the development means finish training and rides, and have the horse earn all the skills possible in competitions.
Training
Training starts at 18 months with rides. There are 3 types of rides: trot, gallop and steep terrain. Each of these develops specific skills (trot, gallop and jumping). You can choose to either go on a short ride to develop speed or a lengthy ride to develop your horse's stamina. You will see the "Skills" box (at the center of your horse's page) fill in progressively with stars. Please note that skill gains are limited, and at one point, your horse will no longer earn skills when going on rides.
At 2, your horse can start actual training. Each skill has an associated training activity; you choose the duration of the training session using the drop-down menu that appears when you click the discipline. You can combine several types of training in your horse's day, but keep a eye on your horse's energy level and on the time in the history, to ensure that your horse gets enough rest. Remember that you should put your horse to bed at 10 p.m. at the latest!
When your horse reaches the age of 5, you can do rides on the beach. They are special rides, in which your horse loses in his lowest skill to win in his best skill. The longer the ride, the bigger the skill exchange. Beware, the exchange is limited and depends on the genetic potential of the horse.
Remember, if your horse's morale isn't at 100 when it goes for rides on the beach, the transferring of skills will be less than optimal and lost for good.
Bonuses
They appear in a frame in the horse's page. These are points added to the skills, but they are not to be confused with the skills. They may make a difference in the results of the competitions, but do not count for the minimum required for the competitions.
They may be associated with:
The center where the horse is boarded according to its prestige
Various items purchased from the store or on the black market, or found in the box
They are also displayed with a + sign in front of them when you hover your mouse over the "Skills" frame.
Competing
Your horse is now 3 years old, its sports career may begin! If you want your horse to compete, it must first be trained to specialize in a specific riding style, you must shoe it and give it a saddle and bridle adapted to its specialty.
The competitions will enable you to earn money according to your success but also to improve the skills of your horses. As their potential is not unlimited, there will come a time when your horse's skills will no longer be improved by competitions.
Regardless of the discipline, each competition has a difficulty level set within a percentage range for a skill, each center setting its competitions at the level of its choice.
For certain types of competition, you can use filters to choose the distance.
You cannot enter more than 2 horses from your stables in a competition.
On every horse's profile page, among other information, you'll find a summary of the horse's victories and results in competitions.
Classical Riding Competitions
Classical Riding competitions are for horses specializing in Classical Riding that have a Classical bridle and saddle. There are 4 kinds of competitions:
gallop and trot speed races access to which depends on the galloping level for gallop races and trotting level for trot races. In order to become a champion, the horse must also perform well in speed and dressage.
Cross-country, is a physically demanding discipline that requires great stamina, but also good jumping skills and docility. Access to registration depends on the level of stamina.
Show-jumping, requires exceptional jumping skills, but also lots of flexibility. Because these events are timed, a show-jumping horse will obviously need to be able to jump obstacles quickly .Access to registration depends on the level of jumping.
The dressage contest, features the horse's gaits: gallop and trot, but most of all its dressage skills. Access to registration depends on the level of dressage.
Western Riding Competitions
Western Riding competitions are for horses specializing in Western Riding that have a Western bridle and saddle. There are 5 kinds of competitions:
Barrel racing, a timed race that requires speed, stamina and galloping skills. The goal is to slalom around 3 barrels as fast as possible without knocking any over. Access to these events is determined by your horse's speed.
Cutting, which requires great stamina and speed in order to control calves. It also requires a good level in dressage. Access to these events is determined by your horse's stamina.
Reining, a dressage event that's performed at a gallop. Good stamina is also essential. Access to these events is determined by your horse's level in galloping.
Western pleasure, a discipline that requires excellent trotting skills, as well as docility and stamina. Access to these events is determined by your horse's level in trotting.
Trail class, the western equivalent of dressage in Classical Riding. Trail class horses must excel in dressage, as well as trotting and jumping. Access to these events is determined by your horse's dressage level.
Morale
NOTE: After 30 days of seniority on the game, if your horse has not finished first in a competition, he will lose some morale points. Don't worry though, as this drop in morale can easily be remedied with a bit of rest and a few treats!
Competitions for rookie horses
Certain competitions are only open to rookie horses. Rookie horses are horses that have won less than 20 victories and who have no skills above 240. This number is recalculated every night.
Rosettes
Rosettes are rewards you earn by winning certain competitions with 75% or higher prestige. When one of your horses wins a rosette, you earn twice as many Equus for that competition. However, you cannot win the same rosette more than once with the same horse.
The Grand Prix
The Grand Prix is a week-long championship. It consists of 5 heats total, one heat per day. There are 2 different Grand Prix: Classical Riding and Western Riding.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Classical Riding Grand Prix Cross-country Trot Showjumping Dressage Gallop
Western Riding Grand Prix Cutting Western pleasure Reining Trail class Barrel racing
Each event lasts 10 hours and requires 99% energy. Players may enter two of their horses in each event.
A ranking is done each day and extraordinary gifts are handed out:
For the winner: 40 diamonds
For 2nd place: 20 diamonds
For 3rd place: 10 diamonds
For 4th place: 5 diamonds
For 5th place: 2 diamonds
For the top 100: 2000 equus
For all participants: 1000 equus
AT the end of the 5 events, on Saturday, a Grand Prix weekly ranking is displayed: Only the best performance on each event are counted. To be ranked you must have participated in the 5 event of the week.
Sunday there are no events, it's rest day for your horses.
Following the weekly Grand Prix ranking:
The top 10 receive an award on their profile page.
The top 100 place finishers gain a 7-day access to the fountain. The fountain replaces the trough and triples energy and morale gains.
To enter the Grand Prix, you need to gain access by opening Horns of Plenty. You only need to gain access once to be able to participate every week.
There are special bonuses for the Grand Prix, which for example allow you to reduce the energy your horses spend when registering, to give skill bonuses to your competing horses, and to register four horses in each event instead of two. You'll find these bonuses in the Horns of Plenty.
Develop the genetic potential of your horse
> 4.1 - Reproduction
Coverings
Horses reach their sexual maturity at 2 and a half, and are fertile until the end of their lifetime.
It's up to the owners of stallions to offer coverings or to suggest one to a specific mare. They also have to specify a covering cost (between 200 and 7500 Equus). The owners of mares can look for the best stallions by browsing through offers or replying to specific offers.
It is possible to cross-breed. Each foal is thus unique: it will inherit characteristics from its parents and their ascendants. It is up to you to make the right crosses to produce champions or to create a breeding farm that is focused on this or that discipline.
As certain stallions are very in demand, you can make a deal with their owner so that they reserve a covering for you. Often, breeders will indicate their price and conditions on their page.
To have one of your mares covered by one of your stallions, make yourself a reserved offer.
Gestation
Gestation lasts 12 months. After the 8th month and for 50 equus, you can ask for an ultrasound to find out the gender, breed and coat of the foal. At this stage of the gestation, the mare can only do lessons. At month 12 of the gestation, you must send for the vet (the link is in the Reproduction box, bottom-right) and make sure, if possible, that your mare is boarded at an equestrian center that provides quality care.
Such a venture is nothing trivial, and you must make sure that you carefully assess the financial investment involved in the production of a foal. The vet costs 200 . Once you have sent for the vet, you can choose the name of your foal and start to take care of it. When it is weaned from its dam at 6 months, you must board it at an equestrian center.
Foaling is the only action that can occur after midnight in the horse's history.
Keep in mind that it is not necessarily advantageous, for example, to breed a mare that excels in dressage with a horse whose strong point is speed. In fact, the offspring will not necessarily be better in each of these characteristics. It is therefore better to favor breeding between close breeds.
Foaling is a tyring experience for a mare. There must be an interval of at least 10 months between the birth of the last foal and the next covering.
Geldings
You can castrate your males who are between the ages of 2 and a half years old and 6 years old. Your horse will become a gelding. It will no longer be able to reproduce, but it will win a bonus (stamina: +8, speed: +8, dressage: +4). Gelding a horse takes at least two hours.
Note that it is not possible to give Zeus's Lightning Bolt to a gelding, and that castration is irreversible.
The foal
The foaling went smoothly, a foal is born. Its breed is determined by the majority breed in its ascendants if they are not "pure bred". Its coat is selected at random among the coats authorized by the foal's breed.
Your foal's capacities depend on genetic characteristics of his parents but also on their training level and competition achievements.
The foals that you produce remain with their Dam, in the same box, until there are 6 months old. They do not need to be boarded during this period, and they feed exclusively on their dam's milk.
Unicorns
Unicorns are very rare and reproduce almost like ordinary horses.
Baby unicorns are born only if a unicorn mare is covered by a male unicorn at 00:23 or 12:23 Game Time. But careful, the only time that counts is the one shown in the upper right of your screen, not the time shown in your horse's history. Both parents must be of the same breed. All the same, don't forget that when you meet these criteria, you still have only one out of 5 chances of giving birth to a baby unicorn.
You can change your unicorns' reproduction time once every 30 days. To change a unicorn's reproduction time, go to its page and click on 'Information' in its reproduction box, then click on 'Select.' Planned maintenance work is sometimes done on the game. If this occurs at the time you've chosen, you will not be compensated.
Remember, you may only cover a unicorn at least 10 real hours after its conception or after its previous covering.
Donkeys
Donkeys can only reproduce three times in their lifetime, and only with another donkey. This is the only species whose genetic potential decreases with every generation.
When a male donkey is put up for sale, any coverings he has offered that haven't yet been accepted by a female are canceled.
Genetics
Genetic potential
The genetic potential of a horse is calculated according to the genetic potential and the BLUP of its parents.
Once a foal is born, its genetic potential can no longer evolve
Innate skills and skill gains during games and lessons are not included in the genetic potential. This means that a horse's skills may be higher than the values shown in its genetic potential.
Stars awarded for excellence
The award for excellence is a green star that you will find under a horse's genetic potential. It indicates that the horse excels in that particular skill. It is rare, as it is the culmination of a breeder's extensive work in terms of training and careful selection of breeding stock. It is awarded to exceptional horses!
To earn a star of excellence, the horse must have reached 100% of the genetic potential in the skill in question. It is possible to obtain additional stars in a skill for every 10% of additional genetic potential reached in the skill.
Excellence stars are awarded at a foal's birth only, because a horse's genetic potential cannot change once it is born.
Inborn skills
These are skills that the horse has right from birth. All foals do not necessarily have inborn skills. They are dependent on the foal's parents, their genetic potential and their BLUP. Thus a foal may be born with 10% stamina, for example.
A foal cannot be born with negative skills. If the average BLUP of the parents is below 0, then the foal will have no inborn skills.
These inborn skills are set at birth. They are added to the genetic potential.
Note that inborn skills are integrated to the skills, therefore it is possible to exceed the value indicated in the genetic potential. This effective value is what will count for the minimum skill requirement for competitions.
The BLUP
The BLUP is a genetic indicator. It plays a role in reproduction because the BLUP of the parents has an impact on the potential of the foal at birth.
It is calculated according to:
the level of training reached by the horse in its 3 best skills
the number of competitions the horse has won, the ideal being 20 victories
its age, as its BLUP can't reach 100 until it's 10 years old
It is therefore advantageous to choose your breeding stock among trained horses that have proven their worth in competitions. According to these parameters, the BLUP will always range between -100 and 100, -100 being the minimum BLUP and 100 the maximum BLUP that a horse can achieve.
If the average BLUP of the parents is 0 (then termed neutral), it will not have an impact on the calculation of the foal's genetic potential. If it is below 0, the foal will have a greater chance of having a potential that is lower than that of its parents, and the other way around if the average BLUP is above 0.
To have the best breeding stock and put all the chances on your side to produce the best foals possible, it is suggested that you choose horses with a high or at least positive BLUP, that is to say, individuals that are well trained.
5 / Building a career on Howrse
> 5.1 - Earning money
What are the various ways of earning money?
Lessons: Your horse earns a certain amount depending on your equestrian center
Having a job: You get paid a salary every day as soon as you log in and as long as you took care of at least one horse the day before
The competitions in which your horses run
Covering offers if you own stallions
Selling a horse from your stables
Selling the manure produced by your horses
Selling back items from your inventory to the store
Trading items from the Black Market
Using a pass to credit your reserve
5 / Building a career on Howrse
> 5.2 - Your Job
On Howrse, every player can have a paid job. You can combine this job with the job of manager of the equestrian center. Equestrian centers hire employees.
Access to jobs is now unlocked by seniority.
To change job you have to wait for your current contract to end. Once your contract is over, you'll be able to change jobs as long as you have the required number of seniority days.
The director of an equestrian center may make you a reserved job offer. The director may also offer to extend your contract. It is then up to you to decide to accept or refuse this extension.
5 / Building a career on Howrse
> 5.3 - Your breeding farm
Directory and breeding farms
You can save breeding farms by groups of 60 days' seniority, with maximum 5 breeding farms.
A breeding farm that is officially registered in the directory groups horses belonging to the same player regardless of who produced them.
The directory makes it possible to track and showcase the work of the breeders. It also enables players to find the horse they want to purchase or hire as a stud even if the horse in question is not currently for sale or offering coverings.
Affixes
Any breeding farm can make a name for itself and build its reputation based on the horses it produces. You can register an affix and add it to the name of the horses that you have produced. This affix may not be removed by future owners of horses produced in your breeding farm. You cannot add it to the name of horses that were not born in your breeding farm.
To reserve an affix, you need at least 30 days of seniority. After that, you can create another one every 30 days of seniority. You an also unlock affixes by signing up for the Pegasus Account. Clicking an affix will show you a list of all the horses and ponies who use it.
A breeder may have several affixes and attribute them according to the breeds he or she raises, for example, or to distinguish various lineages within a breeding farm of a given breed.
Breeders and their production
In the details of the horse or pony, you will find the name of its original breeder. To see all of a player's products in the player's details, click the link "View production".
The breeds and the blue star
On Howrse, there are several breeds amongst both horses and ponies. You may differentiate pure bred horses or ponies from horses produced by cross-breeding thanks to the blue origin stars, which indicate the proportion of each breed present in the ascendants of the horse or pony. Pure bred horses are assigned 1 star on the details of their owner.
5 / Building a career on Howrse
> 5.4 - Horse trading
Regardless of the method used, the minimum sale price for a horse or pony is 500 equus. You cannot buy back a horse that you sold for 10 days after the sale. There is another type of sale, but this is not done between players: the Safe Haven.
The moment you put your horse up for sale, you can no longer take care of it. It is automatically paused and stops aging. It will start aging as usual again once it has been bought. Note that the horse will stop aging once it's been put up for sale, even if the seller just took care of it that same day.
The auctions
You can sell one of your horses in an auction if you have at least 10 days' seniority and more than 4 karma points.
When you want to auction a horse, you can choose the start price. Buyers will bid on your price, and the horse will be transferred to the player who has made the best bid at the end of the scheduled sale (3 days).
During an auction, the money is directly debited from the highest bidder. All players who made earlier bids are then repaid their money. If after 3 days no one has bid on a sale, then the seller keeps their horse.
Auctions can be canceled if no one has bid on them yet.
Players with the Pegasus Account can start auctions for passes.
Direct sales
Only players with at least 30 days' seniority, 2 living horses and a karma of over 4 can use direct sales.
Direct sales are a way to sell your horses faster than auctioning. You choose your horse's sale price. If a breeder is interested, they can buy it and the money from the sale is instantly transferred to you.
You may cancel a direct sale before it has ended if no one has bought your horse. The horse in question will automatically return to your breeding farm 30 days after the start of the sale.
Players with the Pegasus Account can start auctions for passes.
The Reserved Sales
It is also possible to reserve a sale to a certain breeder. If you select this option, only the player that you will have chosen will be able to buy your horse.
Safe Haven
It's a refuge for horses. Horses and ponies staying there get to live it up far from the hubbub of the competitive world.
There you can sell:
your horses for 400 Equus
your unicorns and non-unicorn horses born to unicorn parents for 1 000 Equus
Selling a horse to this sanctuary is not like selling a horse to a player. Once the sale is completed, you cannot buy your horse back, and the sale price is fixed.
6 / Use the Creation Space
> 6.1 The basic idea
The Creation Space is a place where you can propose illustrations to be used on Howrse and win passes if they beat the vote.
These illustrations may be horse coats for the Golden Apple or landscapes for the Helios' Ray.
The Creation Space is for all languages (English, German, French...). That means if you propose an illustration and it wins the vote, it will be available in all languages.
How it works
The selection process takes place every month, and follows a specific procedure. This month:
Proposing illustrations
1st August 00:00 » 5th August 23:59
Everyone can propose illustrations using the Black Pearl
Validation
Our team removes any illustrations that don't comply with the rules
Voting
10th August 00:00 » 16th August 23:59
Players of all languages vote on the illustrations once they have been validated
Selection
The most popular illustrations are selected and sorted by category
Publishing
26th August 10:00
The selected illustrations are published online in each of the site's languages
Rewards
Proposing illustrations can be quite lucrative! The day an illustration is published, each illustration earns its author:
10 000
Different numbers of passes for different types of illustration:
40 passes For a Coat for the Golden Apple with no limitation on the number of uses 20 passes for a coat with a limited number of uses
30 pass(es) for a Helios' Ray landscape
6 / Use the Creation Space
> 6.2 Selection
Before an illustration is published, it has to pass both steps of the selection process:
Validation by our team to makes sure it follows the rules
Player voting
Validation by our team
Before an illustration is submitted for player voting, our team first checks it to make sure it complies with the rules. The rejection criteria are explained on the Black Pearl page.
At this step, the Staff makes no editorial choices. It only verifies that no rules have been broken. If your illustration is rejected for failure to comply with the rules, you will be refunded your passes already spent with the Black Pearl.
Player voting
After preliminary validation by our team, all players get to vote on the illustration in the Creation Space. The vote is anonymous, which gives all creators equal chances.
After voting, if your illustration is not selected, you will be refunded the passes you spent proposing it.
Final selection
Once the voting has ended, the most popular illustrations will be selected, as well as a few of our team's personal favorites. That means that at the end of every month, there will be at least...
120 new coats for the Golden Apple
50 new landscapes for Helios's Ray
6 / Use the Creation Space
> 6.3 Publishing
Winning illustrations will be published online at the Black Market every month at the same time (this month: 26th August 10:00). Also, every month, a few Golden Apple coats will be published online for a limited time only. Once they run out, they will be removed from sale.
Remember, the Creation Space is for all languages, so illustrations that win can be from any country!
The team reserves the right to delete a creation from the game, whether it has been deactivated or not. The players who have used this creation will be reimbursed with the initial value of the item.
7 / Behavior and rules of conduct
> 7.1 The rules
All players are expected to:
behave courteously and respectfully when dealing with all members of the Howrse community - this includes players, moderators (whose names are in green) and administrators (whose names are in blue bold)
follow the rules of conduct everywhere on the site. You can find these rules on your My Karma page
follow the specific rules for the various community areas (forum, private messaging, etc.)
7 / Behavior and rules of conduct
> 7.2 Karma and warnings
Karma is what shows what your reputation in the game is. Upon registering, you receive 10 karma points. You lose karma points if you break the rules. Losing karma points can mean you lose access to certain game features, such as the forum or sales.
We invite you to read what actions can make you lose karma on your My Karma page
If you break a minor rule, you receive a warning. If the situation repeats itself, you lose karma.
7 / Behavior and rules of conduct
> 7.3 The staff
Only administrators (whose names are in blue bold) and moderators (whose names are in green) can create rules and apply sanctions in the game. We request that you listen to their advice and follow their instructions.
Administrators are Owlient employees who take care of the overall running of the site. Moderators are chosen from among the players. They're here to help you when you need it and make sure the rules are being followed.
Moderators
The moderators are dedicated to helping other players and keeping the game a fun, safe site. You can always tell who a mod (moderator) is by whether or not their name is in green. it's great to be friends with a few of them so that they're easy to get a hold of any time you have questions I can't answer.
The moderators are:
-Ayjay
-Clematis
-Dr Zig
-Jaguar
-Katte
-Loon Watcher
-Misabel
-ashgreen
-cindyntx
-funnyone
-horselover1981
-pixiesbite
-zepharo
The moderators are dedicated to helping other players and keeping the game a fun, safe site. You can always tell who a mod (moderator) is by whether or not their name is in green. it's great to be friends with a few of them so that they're easy to get a hold of any time you have questions I can't answer.
The moderators are:
-Ayjay
-Clematis
-Dr Zig
-Jaguar
-Katte
-Loon Watcher
-Misabel
-ashgreen
-cindyntx
-funnyone
-horselover1981
-pixiesbite
-zepharo
IDEA FORUM
So, you may or may not know what the Ideas are. It's a special forum where you can post ideas, and maybe even change all of Howrse! That's why it's so important that you read "What Not to Post." Since you can only post something once a month, make sure you put a lot of thought into it. One thing that might be a good idea is to post the topic in your EC forum, with the title "What do you think of this idea" or something like that. It's also very good to vote on other ideas, and give valuble feedback.
Following the rulesof this forum is also very important, so that you don't do something that causes a loss of Karma, or other punishments. And it's no fun to work on an idea and have it locked because it's in what not to post.
Following the rulesof this forum is also very important, so that you don't do something that causes a loss of Karma, or other punishments. And it's no fun to work on an idea and have it locked because it's in what not to post.