Are Special Treats Worth It?

Talking about hay and sugar cubes and peppermints... they boost stats pretty quickly but if specialty stats are really what's important, is it really worth it or should I stick with stat-specific treats?

I use haycubes and peppermints on all foundations ages 0-3 and most 2nd gen foals 0-3. I have them trained in a random discipline and spend the 10k to retrain them to the discipline I want them in for showing and breeding purposes. It's helped me get the majority of my Andalusian and Gypsy Vanner foundations to 900-1200 stats. It really comes down to if you think the extra 10k is worth it. :)

Hmm, I never thought about it like that. That's a pretty good idea c: Thanks for the tip!

I do the same thing Ducky does, and it's been working great thus far!

I think I'll try that when I finally do unlock all my babies. ;)

I've been using the hay cubes for my stallions and the specialty-geared treats for my mares. That way, the mares will build specialty-oriented stats, but my stallions will build stats faster and be more rounded. When I breed them, I will get a balance.

Some of why I don't worry about the specialty stats too much is because I use riding schools, and those help to build my boys in that area. Other than that, I just want their stats to go up, because when I offer stud services, they breed mares outside of my herd as well as inside, so they need to meet the highest standard possible.

That being said, I will add that I do not use peppermints or sugar cubes. Sugar cubes seldom give any better boost than regular treats on the one hand, and peppermints are rare and EXPENSIVE on the other, so I just use hay cubes, which I get in abundance from riding schools. In fact, I rarely have to buy treats when I'm using riding schools, so that's a win-win both for my EV bank account and for my stat building, LOL!

Although I must say...I never thought of doing it Ducky's way before! That's an interesting idea. :)

I've also started doing what Ducky said and the bonus is definitely worth the 10k to me.

If the horse is competing then the special treats aren't worth it. However if you plan to only put the horse into riding school you could choose a random specialty, then do riding school and special treats, right before breeding you could change the specialty to whichever you prefer so that the foals will have stats for competing (which should make them easier to sell).

Silverfoxmar: I know you said you do riding school rather than shows, so feeding haycubes to your stallions helps them gain stats faster. That's obviously true, but since you plan on studding them out, keep in mind that other players might be looking for studs with as few non-specialty stats as possible. Stallions that have been feed haycubes will have higher stats than those that haven't, but being "well-rounded" is actually a bad thing when showing.

I try to avoid breeding to outside studs with more than 25 in any non-specialty stat, and I know that other players do as well.

Insomniaglet made a good point: if you set the stallions' specialties as something other than the mares, you can still feed haycubes and do the riding school and just convert them to the mare's specialty right before breeding.