Help needed!

[BlackOak2]

3rd is up!

I have all three now. Enjoy your grinding mare!

[HorseGalLovi]

ok and i will so one more thing.. do i do the shows that are on the horses page? or the compitiions first?

[BlackOak2]

ok and i will so one more thing.. do i do the shows that are on the horses page? or the compitiions first?

She's a grinding mare. She's there to help you earn basic money. Use her to earn the bread-and-butter monies you need to survive. That's the local shows in the local shows tab on her page. That's her job for you.

You can also find cheap, level 3 and under player-made competitions for her. Be very selective and picky, because at any time, a poor entering can easily deplete your monies to nothing. At level 3 and under, she'll easily tell you where her talents are. Once you have an 'acceptable' sampling of player-made competitions (I usually like ten in each competition available), you will be able to see what talents she has. You're looking for a WPS (that stands for win, place and show) percentage of at least 70 percent. With her HGP, she should offer you that in multiple, upwards of half of the competitions available. It will be your job to figure out which ones are best. Enter her in the best competitions at level 5 and under and crawl up in levels from there. Once you have that sampling set, you can take larger chances on higher pots/higher entry fees. This is what being an intelligence show-horse owner is about, learning and knowing which shows she'll be able to earn you money in. Remember, she doesn't have to win, but she does have to earn her entry fee back.

With all that said, it's up to you to decide whether you want to keep her as a bread-and-butter grinder in local shows only, or also enter her in player-made competitions. That's your choice.

[HorseGalLovi]

ok thanks so much... i might use her as the bread and butter in local shows... but when i get her to age 10 i breed her correct? with one of my one good ones or a stud.. also does the competitions thing matter when i am using her as the local shows only? like do i have to have him the same things? or what is the thing i need to do for that? is it different? also when i breed and get that foal would it be a good idea to use that foal as the next grinder maybe for competitions ? i am starting to get the hang of this game! thanks for your help i am making it!

[BlackOak2]

ok thanks so much... i might use her as the bread and butter in local shows... but when i get her to age 10 i breed her correct? with one of my one good ones or a stud.. also does the competitions thing matter when i am using her as the local shows only? like do i have to have him the same things? or what is the thing i need to do for that? is it different? also when i breed and get that foal would it be a good idea to use that foal as the next grinder maybe for competitions ? i am starting to get the hang of this game! thanks for your help i am making it!

Breeding her at age 10 allows you the chance to train up the next grinder while still using your current grinder as your money-maker (also earning you days, as a fully-trained horse seems to offer you more random days then an untrained one). It also allows you to send it away for training while still keeping your current grinder. So breeding at ten is more of a suggestion then a certainty.
If you choose to not use her in player-made competitions, then her talents may not express themselves fully enough for you to choose the perfect mate. However, a grinder is more about having raw talent, then it is about producing a good competition bloodline, so if you only use her in local shows, then just choose the highest HGP stud you have or can find that also matches her breeder's report (such as, green speed, then find green or better speed), so that you produce a grinder prospect that doesn't average between both parents (such as, really bad strength to really good strength to give you average strength). Although this may seem like a good thing, and for breeding, generally it is, in a grinder prospect case, you don't want to develop an average horse, you want to develop a horse for grinding purposes; keep the strong areas strong and ignore the weaker areas.

Every grinder you have (and a lot of us have a grinder we use to earn pony tokens and bread-and-butter monies), you make the choice to keep them as local only or enter in player-made. Since I am strictly a breeding farm at the moment, my grinders are only used for local showing. When I start to develop the showing ability of my breeders, I will switch from using grinder-type horses to using my actual breeding stock in both local and player-made competitions to see where the competitive genes lay. Therefore, I will know which horse carries the genes I need to breed toward.
You will find that once you have a couple hundred thousand built up in your money account, you'll stop worrying about grinders and may drop them completely. Often times my breeder's do double duty as grinders. Grinders serve a purpose, so these off-breeds and off-crosses and failed new breed foals do have jobs that they can do. I've begun to think of them as geldings and sterile mares; not really for breeding purposes but still potentially great money earners.

It's also good to hear you're getting the hang of it.

[HorseGalLovi]

wow ok that is all good to know ... so what would you recommend i use this female for? just so i have an idea of what you think... and i think i will be willing to work on Grinder Horses for awhile until i get used to the other stuff... so if i can have any more to do i will take more! i am also willing to do the Grinder Horse training work part... i think i am ready to do it? what are your thoughts on that idea? do you think i could start help you or do some of my own? let me know - as i will be defiantly interested in doing this too

[BlackOak2]

wow ok that is all good to know ... so what would you recommend i use this female for? just so i have an idea of what you think... and i think i will be willing to work on Grinder Horses for awhile until i get used to the other stuff... so if i can have any more to do i will take more! i am also willing to do the Grinder Horse training work part... i think i am ready to do it? what are your thoughts on that idea? do you think i could start help you or do some of my own? let me know - as i will be defiantly interested in doing this too

There is pole bending, harness and endurance in her history. However, these don't really seem to be strengths. What I did happen to see while glancing through her competing pedigree bloodlines is a nominal lack in western competitions. I think she may prove much more handy in western pleasure, trail and working ranch. I did not try her in locals under these. I would suggest a stud that offers strengths in those three or two of those three disciplines.

Grinder horse training will also allow you to hone your training skills (not so much studying but more how horses actually train up). The training guide is very helpful for basic training, but once you understand the basic training, the best trainers here have their own slightly tweaked versions of that basic training guide. And even if you screw up a grinder horse's training, it's no big deal.
You can stark practicing training on grinder horses whenever, just expect with little or no studying done in the player skills, it will take you about 7 years to fully train a horse.

Personally, I don't work with partners or even hire trainers. I do all my own training and when I train for others I generally purchase the horse then sell it back (just in case something happens to my pc and I can't get back on). Plus I don't much care for being held to another person's schedule.

What I suggest is for you to learn the ropes (just like you're doing now). Learn to train, at least basically so you don't have to depend on other trainers for this. Then really think about what goal you want. The goals you set for yourself in this game will determine where you go. Otherwise, you'll have so many breeds in your farm you'll go cross-eyed with all the different styles. I did... Ha!
At max, you can probably successfully breed about three or four separate breeds. Especially if you want to keep COI (Coefficient of Inbreeding) down.
You'll probably want to work on having one major focus (in my case that would be leopard tarpans) and a number of minor or mini-projects (on my farm those would be the low GP project and heavy-arabians). Plus I'm running through the quest breedings when I get the chance or some excess room.

Working with a partner is fine, I work better alone. That is also something you will need to decide for yourself.

I can certainly continue to offer you suggestions or answer your questions. That is usually the extent of my in-game aid. It seems to really help the community, so I'm happy to do so.

[HorseGalLovi]

ok i have learnt alot tonight... i just want to say that first! hahaha and i am glad to have all this help... and i totally understand about you wanting to work on your own... and i have been thinking on and off about setting some goals... but not sure what goals would be good to set? would you by any chance have any tips on what good goals to have would be? and again thanks so much... now i wont be able to answer till tomorrow ... i have to go to bed now... but i wouldnt mind you writing something and i will read it in the morning.. and i am thankful for all your help and i hope you have a wonderful night

[BlackOak2]

ok i have learnt alot tonight... i just want to say that first! hahaha and i am glad to have all this help... and i totally understand about you wanting to work on your own... and i have been thinking on and off about setting some goals... but not sure what goals would be good to set? would you by any chance have any tips on what good goals to have would be? and again thanks so much... now i wont be able to answer till tomorrow ... i have to go to bed now... but i wouldnt mind you writing something and i will read it in the morning.. and i am thankful for all your help and i hope you have a wonderful night

One thank you for me is more than enough!

It depends on what you enjoy doing more. I'll see if I can offer you some further insight into your own thoughts.

I'll start with these questions first.
Do you enjoy helping people more?
Do you enjoy seeing the fruition of your own thoughts into reality?
Do you think that learning about things is a drive greater in you than these other two questions?

Rate those questions on a scale of... let's say 1 to 5. 1 being least or not important, 5 being most important. If there is a least or not important (1 or 2), then scratch it off the list below. If you scored 3, 4 or 5, follow the thoughts given in the corresponding colors below.

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Make sure you scale yourself and don't cheat. After you're much more involved in the game, you can change your goals later to suite your desires.
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Helping people can include having partners to aid them in developing a specific breed. There are a lot of people right now attempting to develop breeds for quests or for their own personal areas of expertise. You can aid these people directly or indirectly. How do you do this? Well, you can choose an AC breed and increase the HGP will maintaining a low or no COI. This will be indirect help. You can also do this by picking a created breed that has a lot of breed's it also creates and encourage the HGP upward while keeping COI down, such as the Ardennais. Both of these are indirect aid. Direct aid would be to take on a specific project somebody else needs done. For instance, somebody asks for the development of a black clydesdale. Then you say, 'Okay, I'll do this' and you begin work on it either using their stock or stock you purchase yourself. Another direct aid suggestion may be to train up and sell grinders to either the community at large or offer them for a reduced or free price to newbies. You can also offer direct aid as a trainer for others, however you'll need to prove yourself trustworthy, reliable and adept before you take on this suggestion.
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Such things like making a min-sized belgian, a giant-sized fallabella or evening a racing clydesdale line fall under this area. This is really free for whatever thought you want. Do you want to make a fast horse? A strong horse? Do you want to beat the title-holders on the game and in which area? This is really a sand-box goal area. And these can be as simple or as involved as you want. This may also mean sitting down for a few days and just scrolling through other people's farm logs and the for-sale market just to see what's already out there. Take a look online at what horse-people are doing as well. Maybe you want to produce a line eventers? In this case, you'll first need to consider if you want to focus on a specific breed now, later or not at all. Eventers would not be an easy task to achieve. That would include becoming titled in all three of: cross country, show jumping and dressage.
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The drive to learn can be very powerful for some people. I don't mean school learning either. I mean the point of understanding why something is the way it is. The leopard complex is a great example of this. When this release came out, we were given a number of basics that made up the leopard complex gene structure: http://www.horseworldonline.net/forum/v ... f=2&t=4135 But what did what? Where did such things come from? What happens when you cross this with that? This is the driving need to learn I'm explaining. If this is the greatest desire you have right now, then figure out what makes you think the most about the game. Are the new tobiano paints driving you nuts? Does what you don't know about leopard complex (especially now that I've mentioned it) make your brain itch from the inside out? (If that's the case, here is what's been figured out about them now: http://www.horseworldonline.net/forum/v ... =17&t=9416 ) There are a lot of areas you can focus on, if you have questions yet. For instance, what happens when you cross a wild bay with a bay? To answer this question, you must then ask if the wild bay and bay are homozygous or hetrozygous for their genes. Don't know what those two words mean? It's all about genetics. This suggestion could lead to a lot of mini-projects that are started and done very quickly, but could get especially involved and take quite a long time.
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That should at least give you some deeper insight into where you should consider focusing on for now. Once you have a better idea, but still need help pinpointing something, feel free to bounce off some ideas. This would be great to do if you're unsure of how involved something could be and want to avoid something really difficult.
Hope you slept well!
Cheers!

[HorseGalLovi]

hey ok ... i am on a job right now... just stopped for lunch... but i will read this fully later... when i am relaxed again... this is all great info ... i am really excited to be playing this game