Questions of a greenhorn

I thought I could figure everything out on my own. Nope. XD I have a few questions I'm hoping some of you more experienced players can help me with:

When I go to train a horse, why do some arenas result in the horse being trained more than at others (even those at the same level and price range)?

Is it best to focus on increasing the stats for a specific horse's discipline or try to keep them well-rounded?

How do I know which colors are rare for a given breed?

Thank you for your time ♥

Well-rounded means can't win competitions on EV, you want high speciality stats and low non-speciality stats. (i.e. high INT SPD for a western horse, but as low as possible END, AGI, STR).

All arenas train the horse the same (1 stat boost point) the amount of experience you as a player receive has a randomizing factor, so you could get a range of experience from training.

Rare colors are hard to determine, you as a player will have to run a bunch of horse searches recording the number of horses for a given breed with a given color, make sure to include locked horses to get a full picture of the breed.

Last edited on 2016-12-26 at 10:21:13 by agrinchlet

1. no idea
2. NO NO NO, don't try to keep them well-rounded! They will fail miserably at showing.
3. Try and list all the colors of a breed (custom horse maker is good for learning this, even if you don't buy) and then look up those colors in the horse search. More results=not rare. Less results=rarer. No results=either the breed doesn't have that color (if you made a list, you wouldn't have searched that option), or it's super rare.
Hope this helps!

Okay, so well-rounded stats isn't a good idea. Thank you both for the reminder!

@agrinchlet: Thanks for pointing that out! The player experience is what I must have seen changing.

@Raptorfang: Using the equine center is a great idea, even if I don't end up buying the horse from there. Thanks for the suggestion!

One last question for now (I'll probably have more later, but they can wait). Is it recommended to join the clubs of the breeds I intend to focus on?

Some of the clubs are a great place to get to know members, particularly if you focus on a less popular breed (like Shetlands or Chincos). However some clubs are so large that, while they provide a place to meet members who focus on similar breeds, the forums can be just as effective.

I said custom horse maker, not equine center. The equine center doesn't allow you to see all the colors :)

@agrinchlet: So they're mainly a way to get to know other players focusing on the same breed, right?

@Raptorfang: Oops, I said the wrong one. Sorry!

I feel I should also point this out to you, rare and desired are not always the same thing. For example, (I breed QHs, so I'll be using them in the example as I know them the most) in QHs, white is quite rare. however, it is not a desired trait by most QH breeders (though a couple of us do like it). An advantage to joining clubs is that if you do join them, you can ask the members what coat colors they like best.

Right, and they allow you to register your horses in the club (if your horse meets all the requirements). Many members feel they are just a fun but unnecessary part of the game.

If you want to get to know other breeders you can post something in game discussion like "Calling All Shetland Breeders" and people are normally very quick to respond and talk about their programs, as well as answer any Questions you might have about the breed.

@SilverWolves: Thank you for your input! I'll keep that in mind moving forward. (:

@agrinclet: Okay, that makes sense. I'll have to look into them more. Thanks!