Alternative for Tail Guard?

First, I'm excited about the new visible tack feature! :)

What're y'all's thoughts on replacing the Tail Guard with something else since art hasn't been done for it yet? I don't know about y'all, but the only time I wrap a tail or use a tail guard is when a mare is about to foal or when trailering a horse that has a habit of rubbing out the tail in the trailer. In fact, wrapping a tail for a prolonged period of time can be dangerous to the tail. I've definitely never used a tail guard while riding or driving - I've only braided hair to keep it tidy.

Maybe instead of tail guard and boots for all four legs, replace "Splint Boots" with "Front Boots," and replace "Tail Guard" with "Back Boots"? Or something else?

ETA - An added benefit of having front and back boots would be that the art is already done. :)

Last edited on 2017-01-26 at 09:15:46 by Aesthetic

If tack is completely welcomed (I live in fear of rejection ;D) then I would like to separate tails and manes from the base art anyway to allow for additional decoration purposes - plaited tail, tail bows, plaited mane, etc etc.

We didn't do the art for tail guards because we weren't sure how well received visual tack would be, that's the only reason :)

Oh I love the visual tack, and I assume it will definitely be a welcomed and appreciated addition. :) Also it's exciting that additional decorations (plaits, etc) may happen someday!

My reason for this suggestion was just based on the fact that you typically don't ride around with a tail guard on, it's more of a stable supply item rather than a piece of working tack.

I can't wait for more decorations, Abbey! It's always fun to spice up my favorite horses ♥
This is a good suggestion, but I have this odd nostalgic connection to the tack art (not the kind on the horses; the images that show in your inventory/market/ect). If we slowly get rid of types of tack, small bits of pre-recode things are going away. I dunno; I just like the old artwork for memories I guess.
However, as I said, this is a good suggestion... I'm loving the tack on the horses (it looks AWESOME), and I'd love to add more to them!

Last edited on 2017-01-26 at 14:57:01 by Raptorfang Ω

Hmmm I get the nostalgic thing.. maybe Tail Guards could be a collectible item, strictly for nostalgia's sake? :P

Also, wouldn't it be cool if saddle pads were a tack item, and maybe we could choose from a variety of colors? :D

GGFNB YES YES YES to the saddle pads!
mmmm spicy purple horses ♥

Last edited on 2017-01-26 at 16:25:39 by Raptorfang Ω

The problem with saddle pads is they've already been added to the saddles.. it would be double the work to separate them as I'd need to get the saddles redone for each breed (not just the changing art itself, but exporting and renaming all of the files).

I'm happy to do something alternative to tail guards if we can think up something else, but saddle pads should be a last resort if possible.

Gotcha. I work professionally full-time as a designer, so I totally understand the hours of production work it'd take to get that done.

Hmmm.. would the workload be terrible to do Front Boots / Back Boots instead of Splint Boots / Tail Guard? I'm a front-end designer and I know very little about back-end development, so I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to workload estimates there.

When I tack up, I have bridle/bit/reins on the head, then saddle pad, saddle/stirrups, and girth. All of those are already included in the saddle and bridle art, so I'm assuming breaking them apart would be a no-go if a better solution could be found. I usually don't ride with boots these days but I've worked for people that insisted on having boots on all fours for every ride, so to me it makes perfect sense to continue with boots.

Other common pieces of tack that could be added -
- Breast collar / breast plate
- Tie down / martingale
- Bell boots
- Hoof boots (like Easyboots)
- Crupper (I've used this for Endurance/Trail tack setups and it's standard on a driving harness, but this would be a less commonly used item)

Anyone else have any ideas?

The actual work for the coding is easy peasy, it would just be changing the item name of the tail guard and splint boots. So it's really just the art/exporting/renaming files time that I need to worry about for this entire update. Obviously the less change the better.

Another option: I could always remove the tail guard as an actual stat item, give a small boost to the other items of tack to make up for the loss of an item, and just turn the tail guard into a decoration (when decorations get implemented anyway)?

Ohhh I love that idea - that'd be perfect! :D

I honestly don't have a problem with tail-guards being added. I don't really care whether tail guards are used often in RL or not but I think it's a nice addition.

Personally I'd have gone with bridle, saddlepad, saddle and boots to start with. Otherwise if there's a lot of rejection to the tail guard then I think a martingale/breastplate would be a suitable replacement.

I think something like a headcollar to be used in foal training would be sweet as well but obviously have no bonus like a bridle would once the horse turns three. I'm also partial to decorative brass on that are usually displayed on shire horse harnesses so they could potentially replace the tail/be for decoration purposes?

Otherwise I love all the new tack (apart from the fact the colours don't match for driving/endurance Dx) and it's a lovely additions. And it'll be exciting to see what else is brought out. I'm sure a lot of players (even with a lot of horses) would appreciate some more variety with the horse art.

I'd support the removal of tail guards as an essential item if we're possibly getting additional decorations such as plaited tails, as tail guard art would cover up the art for the latter, which I'd really like to be visible.

To expand upon this, perhaps remove split boots as an essential item as well, since they can't show up on the fluffy footed breeds, i.e. clydes and gypsies.

There are two possible ways we could go about this:
Either still have these as equipable decoration items, but they would no longer give stats.
Or alternatively, we could have a variety of non-specialty tack items that give the same stats as the splint boots and tail guard, and so you could choose any two to add to your horse for decoration purposes. Breastplates and horseshoes are two possible ideas that come to mind. Horseshoes probably wouldn't need any art, since they would be hidden under the hoof on all the breed art.

(Just to let you know, by the time we introduce decorations, tack will have the option to be hidden - in case you'd prefer to show different decorations. If we were to keep tail guards, you could optionally turn them off and they would not cover up any tail plaiting, for instance.)

I love the idea of mane and tail plaiting! And support the replacement or removal of the tail guards (I rarely use one myself).

Long term, I would love to be able to equip different colored boots, saddle pads, and leather tack one day. Also would love to be able to equip a halter, polos, blanket or cooler as decoration. It would be neat if the different levels of tack looked visually different (this sounds like a lot of work though so not likely :P )

Choosing the tack colours would be fantastic too. I hope that's something that happens some day.