Intelligence and COI

[Chortle]

Does the horses intelligence actually have an effect on how quickly they train? Or is the "One smart horse, knows what they're doing after only one lesson" BR description just a hypothetical piece of text?
I do feel silly for asking, as nobody else has thought this to be important.

I have counted that in a perfect world you need 45 ancient breed horses to create a thoroughbred, 49 ac horses to create a horse of the breed I now have my mind on. How many horses are needed to sustain a low enough COI population of the breed? What is low enough COI? I suppose the number would be at least a 100 individuals of different lines? So, for a single person, a lot of Horse management courses and freezing mares and studs on an alternate account until a sufficient population is achieved?
If I breed full siblings, what coi would the offspring have?
I understand currently it has no effect, but I will probably be the only person breeding LHH (it's both a harder, non-popular and dead end breed), and I will probably end up either inbreeding or having to create new lines from scratch constantly, I wanted to know what is likely in store for me.

[Argent II]

"Training" is not yet a feature, so no, intelligence does not affect how quickly a horse is trained. We do have "conditioning," and in that feature, intelligence works the same way as every other attribute.

A "low enough COI" is a completely arbitrary value, so there's no way anyone could possibly give a universal answer to that question.

[Skraythrax]

I understand currently it has no effect, but I will probably be the only person breeding LHH (it's both a harder, non-popular and dead end breed), and I will probably end up either inbreeding or having to create new lines from scratch constantly, I wanted to know what is likely in store for me.

There is a possibility that you will be able to adopt additional breeds from the adoption center at some point in the game's development. Two options that I remember being thrown on the table were as follows: 1) After a breed reaches a certain population (say, 1000 horses) it becomes adoptable and 2) once an individual player produces a breed, they will be able to adopt that breed from the adoption center.

None of these are definite, but are ideas about it. I'd find the thread if I were not busy. If something like this were implemented, it would be a lot easier to keep COI down without starting from scratch every time.

[Chortle]

There is a possibility that you will be able to adopt additional breeds from the adoption center at some point in the game's development. Two options that I remember being thrown on the table were as follows: 1) After a breed reaches a certain population (say, 1000 horses) it becomes adoptable and 2) once an individual player produces a breed, they will be able to adopt that breed from the adoption center.

I've read the thread. There was talk of it being a premium perk or being hugely expensive, so I don't think of it as an option, because I am stingy.

[Scythian]

We all like to think that an intelligent animal trains faster -- while it does IRL, this game is another matter altogether, as Argent II is telling us (2nd msg).

What *really* makes for faster training is high levels of stamina for the horse and high levels of expertise for the trainer.

COI: There are some highly successful competitors out there with 0% COI and others with COI %s in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. In Rankings, a scan of the top 20 competitors in all-breeds/disciplines/genders shows a lot of variety in ancestry; intelligence medium to green; and uniformly high levels of training and appropriate BCS (usually 5). While I still think it is generally commendable to strive for low COIs, the issue seems to be hugely complex and not likely to get much clearer sooner.

Adopting a member of a complex breed: I'm not holding my breath. (Just checked the Breeds WIKI: only one non-foundation breed has reached over 1,000, the Thoroughbred.)

Just how would the computer create a complexly-bred individual?

Pull up a "rehomed" one? I don't want one of my rejected foals back, nor would I wish them on anyone else! If possible, I would have labeled them "pet" quality and spayed/neutered them.

A non-foundation horse with fake ancestors seems even more creepy that the non-pedigreed take-a-chance-for-25-PT Adoption Center animals, all with their alleged 0% COIs.

No zombies either, please! Going to "greener pastures" should be a one-way trip.

[Argent II]

Horses with a higher intelligence will train faster. As I said, training is not a yet a feature, but conditioning is. Intelligence does not increase how quickly a horse gains conditioning.

COI has zero influence on anything at this point. There's no reason to go around looking at competitive horses to find a guide to what might be ideal.

Obviously that's not how complex breeds would be created in the AC. They'd be rendered like any of the ancient breeds.

[Scythian]

Please clarify the distinction between "training" and "conditioning."

The point I was trying to make about varying levels of COI is that, indeed, there is not any "ideal" now.

So complex breeds from the AC would be the same partly mysterious entities that foundations are now -- ancestry unknown, but Breeding Reports consistent with a set of breed characteristics (e.g. Caspians are smart, Turkmenes are fast ...)

[Weaving]

I could be wrong Sycthian, but I think Argent is speaking about the 'conditioning' which we do under the training tab (which admittedly does make things a little confusing!) So working on each individual stat to boost it up. I guess in the future we may be able to do discipline or skill specific training which actually prepares a horse for competitions?

So for example, galloping a horse, pulling a cart across the hills for 30 minutes, 'conditions' strength and speed currently, making it a useful exercise for show jumping. However in the real world doing this with a horse day in day out would not prepare it for show jumping. Taking a guess but I imagine as well as physical conditioning, we will also be able to do 'learning' with our horses? Am I right.....

[Argent II]

Close, but not exactly. You aren't "boosting" stats when you condition your horses, you're increasing their ability to perform at their genetic + conformational potential. The Breeders' Report shows the horse's approximate maximum ability for each attribute; the closer you get conditioning to 100%, the closer you are to achieving that maximum. Actual training will involve teaching horses skills specific to their disciplines. Some disciplines require more skills, so greater intelligence is important. Dressage will have many skills to teach, for example, whereas racing would likely have rather few.

[Weaving]

Thanks for the clarification Sounds exciting!