I have a few questions.

Good morning everyone, I have a few questions regarding the game and best way to go about some stuff.

1. When is the right time to start/stop riding school?

2. When is the right time to start/stop showing?

3. When is the best time to breed?

4. How many times should you breed a mare where she is not "overbred"?

5. What do most people look for, color or stats?

6. What are some quicker ways to get money/best ways to accumulate money over time?

I appreciate any and all help. I've been on and off for a few years, never seemed to stay and just bred horses just because I felt like it I guess? Not sure how else to explain me not grasping how you're "supposed" to play the game. I am always down to chat too, I like discord but I am not one to use it often and prefer in game messaging.

Thank you guys,

1. When is the right time to start/stop riding school?
2. When is the right time to start/stop showing?

Honestly... for #1 and #2, I am still not sure myself. It depends on several different factors. If you are starting with foundation herd, you can show them right away if they have 5/5 tacks. They usually have good luck at winning Novice shows for me. I rarely sent my Novice foundations to the riding school unless I felt that there were not enough show entries.

For Local-Regional, I usually ride school my horses when they are at bottom of their grades. When they are closer to the grade cut-off, I will show them. 
Example: Local 1 = 350 - 399 overall stats. 
I usually subtract 20 from the max to decide when to start showing them. For L1, I usually will start showing my horses when they reached 379+ stats.

For National-International, my foundations haven't reached that level so I am not sure. In the past, I tried to show my rescue horses and I usually had bad luck. Because of that, I usually stopped showing altogether when my horses reached National-International levels and ride school them completely. When my herd reaches that level, I will try to experiment again and see if I can figure out a way to win shows at the National and International levels.


3. When is the best time to breed?
17 (age tmw), 18 (age tmw), 19 (age tmw), and 20 (age tmw)
The later, the better. If you breed your horses twice only, then do 19 and 20 yrs old. 18, 19, 20 if thrice. 


4. How many times should you breed a mare where she is not "overbred"?
The common max I've seen is 4 foals per horse. Personally, 3 is the max for me. 


5. What do most people look for, color or stats?
It depends on which breed are you planning to focus on. I recommend you choose a focus that you are interested in the most. The market isn't active so I wouldn't suggest you waste your time on something that you're not interested in. Personally, the Conformation is my primary focus and color is secondary. NSS is not something I am focusing on. All of my foundations have 60 NSS or less and that's it. I do not pair my horses based on the best NSS outcome but I pair them based on the best Conformation outcome. NSS is an afterthought for me if I need to do a tiebreaker in pairings after conformation and colors.


6. What are some quicker ways to get money/best ways to accumulate money over time?
My tip - I've shared my tip on how to earn money fast in another post. You can find it right below the main post.

Last edited on 2022-09-09 at 06:45:29 by 𝕷𝖚𝖈𝖎𝖆

1&2. There is a great game guide here: CLICK which answers all you questions and gives great tips about riding school and competitions.
But all that Lucia said is correct, I think most players follow this scheme.
 
3&4. Most players prefer from age 18 upwards (I think), because then they have more opportunity to breed their horses and choose the best foal from the batch. We think that somehow better foals are produced if you breed later (because of the work you put into the parents), but we still don't know the details, it is only a hypothesis. What is thought to be overbred is always a personal preference, I personally don't want my horses to have more than 5 living foals.

5. I think it's hugely depends on the breed itself (and again, personal preference). Personally, I prefer stats (I mean, low NSS and better conformation) over color (I'm working with thoroughbreds, lippis, arabians), but I know a lot of players are after colors. 

6. Regarding money, there is a great guide here: CLICK
Also, Lucia linked the post about riding schooling rescue horses, I also think that's the quickest way to collect money.

Last edited on 2022-09-09 at 06:52:13 by Olivia

1. Riding Schools can be used any time for guaranteed income and stats, however you will always earn more money/stats over a horse lifetime through showing (provided it is suitable for showing) vs schooling. It is intended to be a alternative for non-showable horses. 

2. Personally I just show all my show horses all the time, they make enough all round to break even + make a profit on it. If you are low on income or have very few then I would recommend schooling to start off with. Some players only show their horses towards the top of the grade to ensure a better chance of winnings. It depends how much energy you would prefer to put into it. 

3. Depending on your goals, RNG based goals like colour and confo people will breed several times until they get their goal. Stat wise you should be breeding at the end of a horses lifetime the day before they age to the next year. 20 years and aging tomorrow is the last day you can breed. 

4. Again depending on your goals, I don't see horses being "overbred" mattering as much as it used to be frowned on. Most players breed 3-4 times. I do two foals usually, one to keep and one to sell, I may breed a third time if I didn't get any nice conformation or colour rolls. 

5. Selling your horses quickly? Probably new generations, nss/showable horses or if you're lucky, precode level nss. Some breeds are really saturated with a particular standard or pedigree and won't sell as well. Niche breed/discipline combinations you really need to make sure you have another breeder if you plan on selling. 

Stats/colour are negligible arguments in selling really. Stats are easy to pile onto a horse and colours can be tweaked/easily bred in. Some people avoid grey/white and plain base colours when buying is really the only factor in colour. Low statted horses won't sell well, i.e horses bred from foundations that weren't shown/trained. 

6. Sabriel has a guide here on making money. 

Thank you guys so much for the input.