Being successful with horse shows

I've always struggled getting horses to win horse shows, is there a special trick to it? I make sure they all have fully upgraded tack and I use auto showing on cheapest. Is there something specific people do to get better results? I rarely have a horse that consistently places day-to-day.

Successful show horses will have low non-specialty stats, typically <60. Horses with higher training level (older horses) will usually place better than a younger horse with equivalent stats.

I only show my horses when they have stats in the top 10% of the level (N-R) or 20% of the level (Na) and most of my horses place 10/10 shows.

In my experience, it depends on the horse's showing experience. In other words, the more you show them, the higher chance they have at winning. And then taking good care of them and giving them good tack is a plus, but I think it is mostly based of their own experience. ;)

Good tack also helps, in addition to what Almare said!

Ditto to what Almare said!!!

Auto showing can be dangerous, because you never know what show your horse will end up in.  For best showing results, you should hand pick your horses' shows.  You want there to be at least five horses in each show, or your horse will not earn any stats even if it wins.  You don't want more than three of your own horses in any given show, because only the top three horses will earn anything.  And, unless you have really perfect show horses, you don't want to enter your horses in shows with too many entries, because that lowers the chance that your horse will win (though you will win more money if it does.)

There are four basic factors that affect your horse's show potential - tack, training level, non-specialty stats, and position with its grade.

1. Tack - You want to make sure you have fully upgraded tack - 5/5.  It needs to be the right tack for your horse's specialty, and you need to have the full set.  Tack adds bonus stats to a horse, but those stats don't count towards which grade your horse competes at.  A full set of 5/5 tack will give your horse 202 extra stats to compete with.

2. Training Level - There are five training levels, and you increase those levels by training your horse every day.  This affects your horse's luck.  There is always a certain amount of uncertainty about how your horse will do in a show.  One show, your horse might have good luck and win against a better horse.  Another show, it might have bad luck and lose against a worse horse.  The higher your training level, the more likely it is that luck will be in your favor.

3. Non-Specialty Stats - These are the stats that do not correspond with the two traits that are associated with your horse's specialty.  (For example: strength and endurance for Driving or agility and intelligence for Dressage.)  Non-specialty stats do not help your horse win a show, but they do determine what grade your horse is.  High non-specialty stats will bump your horse up to a higher grade, but will not help it win in that grade.  For example, think of two horses, both with 200 stats, so they are both competing in Novice 2.  One horse has 100 stats each in its two specialty traits, and none in its non-specialty traits, but the other has 40 stats in each of the five traits.  The first horse has 200 stats to help it win, but the second horse has only 80.  The second horse has very little chance of beating the first.

You can keep your non-specialty stats low by only giving your horse the treats associated with its specialty traits, such as red apples and turnips for a Driving horse, or yellow and green apples for a Dressage horse.  Only breed horses together if they have the same specialty, to keep the foals non-specialty stats as low as possible.  If your horse has high non-specialty stats, but the base stats (located down next to Private Notes) are low, you can Convert Training (the first time costs $10,000, and all times after that cost two credits) to move all stats gained during the horse's lifetime to the specialty traits.  You'll want to end up on the specialty that will give the least non-specialty stats possible.

Foundation horses can make very respectable show horses.  They tend to have non-specialty stats in the 50-60 range.  If your horse is higher than that, you will probably struggle in shows.  Some horses have extremely low non-specialty stats, but they almost always have pre-recode ancestry.  You used to be able to breed those stats down, but since the recode, you can't.  But these horses are fairly rare, so you will still do fine with foundation-level non-specialties.

4. Position in Grade - The more specialty stats your horse has compared to its competitors, the more likely you are to win.  Your horse will have its greatest winning power when it is about to graduate to a new grade.  Because of this, many people choose to show only when their horse is in the top 50% or 20% or even 10% of their grade, and put their horses in riding schools other times.  This causes a horse to win a greater percent of shows entered.  But some people enter their horses in shows all the time, because even a horse at the bottom of its grade can win against a horse that has no/low grade tack or high specialty stats.  However, it will be more expensive because your horse will not win as often.  It is up to you which strategy to take.  There is no wrong answer, because there are good reasons for both approaches, and it all depends on your personal goals.  It is a good thing to keep in mind, however.

Good luck!

When I autoshow, as I don't have to time hand show really, I look at all the classes available on the enter shows tab before I hop on over to auto showing, and then try to pick the best option possible. This usually works out well for me.

I've also had pretty good lucky showing horses with about 80 non specialty stats, but they've had good tack and been at the top of their grade.

How do I tell if they're in the top 10% of their level?

These are the levels and the stats you horses have to have in order to be in that level. The top 50% of those stats in each level is the area that I compete my horses in.

N1 0-149
N2 150-199
N3 200-249
N4 250-299
N5 300-349
L1 350-399
L2 400-449
L3 450-499
L4 500-549
L5 550-599
R1 600-699
R2 700-799
R3 800-899
R4 900-999
R5 1000-1099
Na1 1,100-1,299
Na2 1,300-1,499
Na3 1500-1699
Na4 1700-1899
Na5 1900-2099
I1 - 2,100-2,499
I2 - 2,500-2,999
I3 - 3,000-3,999
I4 - 4,000-4,999
I5 - 5,000+

Thanks so much everybody! I had more success yesterday with shows than I ever have before!