*Spaying Mares

That is a fair point, Nut. Though from my point of view, all of those potentially spayed mares are currently just being held to die anyway, so it wouldn't really be much different than how things are currently. The only difference would be is that those mares would make it to the RC instead where they could be used by other players for leveling/money making. 

Yes.
If people would use the potential spaying feature responsibly, I have no real problem for it. If they just go like, Huh I have this great mare and one of her foals, I think I'll spay her and then sell her just so I'll be the only one with her bloodline >:D That's just mean to the other people and the potential buyer. 

^
I can't really see that one happening if spaying is implemented into the game. Most people just keep their lines private if they do not want people to have any access to them. I don't think people would spay out of spite.


Just a note, I'm neutral for this-though I probably would not use it.

It seems absurd to argue that we shouldn't have spaying of mares because some people will spay lots of their own mares, or spay a mare who's had few or no foals. That just seems like telling people how they can or cannot play the game with their own horses, which is selfish, rude and elitist. If we had spaying as an option then it would be exactly that: an option. If you wanted to use it you could; if you didn't want to, you'd be unaffected by this feature. In this respect it's no different to gelding.

The realism argument seems silly as well. It's not as if mares can't be spayed, it's just that it's uncommon. Also, we're talking about a choice between the existing system where mares are starved to death so as to prevent them breeding, and the proposed system where they're simply desexed instead. Which of these is the most unrealistic?

If this system is implemented it's not going to mean you'll have less breedable mares available to you, because those mares are currently being killed or hoarded instead of desexed. This feature will simply offer a more convenient alternative, and will have the added benefit of increasing the amount of high quality sterile horses available in the market, which will benefit those who use them as a cheap means to gain income and experience in riding schools and showing.

I really think we should be able to spay mares.  So many of the obvious points have already been made.  It's more realistic than many things we already have in the game. We can already geld stallions, so why not mares? Mares that would be spayed are already being starved and hidden away on spare accounts, so it's not removing breedable horses from the game, it's just freeing up space for people to buy more horses, thus stimulating the economy.  Spayed mares would then be available to those who do seek out geldings to use to earn money and experience.  If you don't want to spay a mare, you don't have to, so it does no harm to you.  If you see a spayed mare you wish you could breed, it doesn't matter, because if there was no spaying, you still wouldn't be able to breed that mare, because the owner would have culled it or locked it away.

There seems to be a lot of people who are awfully concerned with what other people are going to be doing with their own horses.  This goes both ways, people.  If you don't want other people trying to control how many times you breed your own horse, or how you raise it, then don't complain when other people want to do something with their own horses (such as spay or geld them) just because you would rather they made it available to you.  No one else has to live by your goals.  If someone wants to breed their horse twenty times, they can.  If someone wants to keep their lines completely private, they can.  It's none of anyone's business how you play, and it's none of your business how anyone else plays.

The only thing that bothers me at all about gelding/spaying is when people buy a lot of foundations, in order to find good conformations or colors or whatever, and then geld the horses they put in the rescue center.  It bugs me because there's no reason to do it except to keep people from getting cheap, breedable horses.  It doesn't make any difference one way or another towards keeping someone's lines clean, because those horses have never been a part of the original owner's lines.  People are literally paying money to gain no benefit for themselves, just to avoid letting anyone else benefit.  It seems so petty to me.  But, you know what?  That is their choice.  Those were their horses, however briefly, and it is their right to use the geld feature if they want.  No one owes you a cheap horse, even if they don't need the horse themselves.

I was gonna try to put together a response for this but ulyssesblue hit the nail right on the head. don't want to use the spaying feature? nobody's forcing you to. if gelding's already a thing on the game then there's no reason spaying shouldn't be as well.

nobody's entitled to other people's horses/foals (or lack thereof), whether they're brand new players or seasoned veterans.

@ Rem,

"If you want to protect your lines, kill the mares you do not want. It is honestly that simple."

I have to disagree. It is not that simple. That is the main reason why I absolutely hate to breed publicly. I used to love breed publicly by buying horses from other players, use studs/broodmares, and more. However, I am quite responsible when it comes to breed publicly and had criteria for everything, including having less than 4 surviving and breed-able foals.

However, with starvation method, it is quite hassle for me. Once, I brought a beautiful mare with 10+ foals for riding school and only realized that she actually only had 1 surviving foal. I managed to bred that mare once and it was lucky I did that because that surviving foal died by old age without any foals. A perfectly good line could've gone waste if I didn't check her foals out of curiosity. Once you kill off a horse, the records doesn't show that they are dead. It still show them as what they was, 5 years old mare or whatever. 

It is quite hassle for me to check every single foal (under 20 years old) in the records to see who is actually alive or not. I rather geld and spay horses and let them die by old age so other breeders know that they are dead or unbreed-able for real by a quick glance.

I really would love to have this feature!

I don't get what the big fuss is about. It's digital pixels on a screen. I get you form attachments but come on, like really? lolz  I would love to buy high stated geldings and spayed mares. Just throw them into shows and gain money for just owning them. I try to work with clydes and there isn't really a big market for them. Some random show horses I can spam into shows is something I'd want too get into. I'm guessing a good chunk of people who would geld stallions and spay mares would throw them into the open market. There willing to let other people make money off of them instead of just killing them or storing them away in the deep freezer. I think that's a win win for both sides really. They protect their lines and you get a money maker. If you want to breed a horse I highly doubt that gelded mare is your only option of breeding. Don't want a unbreedable horse? then don't buy it? I hardly doubt this is going to effect the market in a bad way. Random players earning more money? *gasp* they'll have more money to spend on more horses, breedings, or etc. *double gasp* lol More money to go around. I know players who don't dwell in the art part of the site struggle with paying for their projects and horses. I've always had art sales as a back up. I've never had to grind and rely on my horses alone for an income. Idk how well a person gets along with just show money. XD A little extra ain't ganna hurt no body. 

I  would not use it as I don't even geld stallions here But cycle surpresant would be nice.

SweetLil'Sassafras - What would be the purpose/effect of a cycle suppressant?

Sounds kinda nice.. It might become useful later on, but as of my current horses, they are pretty bad. And I swear, at the start of the game, it feels like you can't do anything get money or get to higher level.. and it would atleast give new players a chance to know what it would feel like if the horse would be regional level or something.

Besides, if gelding is a feature in the game, why won't spaying be a thing then? I don't see anything wrong with it. And I don't think that just "killing" off the mares would be a good idea. What if they are a high level, the horse can be useful for some people.

I really like this idea, and support, because say if you had a mare with a bad showing career and confo and stats, but wanted to keep her, then you could just spay her, and it would be fine, I think.

I'm not sure about this.....
It might be useful but I never geld stallions so I would never use this. But others would so... no vote yet. 

I know this is an old thread and I don’t really know where Abbey stands on adding this, but I found I voted long ago without throwing my 2 cents in...

I believe players have the right to conveniently protect THEIR personal lines. I really don’t see how adding this feature would affect someone who isn’t going to use it for all of the reason UB mentioned.