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Competition Worthy Horses?

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 6:48 pm
by ItchyWaterBuffalo
Hello, I'm an old player returning and getting used to things again.

At what point is it worthwhile to send your horse to Competitions rather than local shows. In the sense of, what should a horse's stats look like to even stand a chance. I am low on money, as I honestly didn't play for a very long time before my hiatus, so I decided to toss one of my horses into a competition. At least, until I saw the other horses already signed up at the same level as my horses... XD
Most of my horses sit around the 30,000 sometime GP mark, with the exception of one around 60,000 who I believe is just too old to compete. Several of the horses I saw were around the high 60,000s, and were titled (Master Grand Champion, Champion, etc.)
So I of course turned around and decided they didn't stand a chance, and I'd only loose money in entrance fees.

Is that the correct assumption? Should I just worry about saving up for buying/breeding a comp-ready horse for now and not try until I have one? Or am I putting to much value into titles and GP? What should be the minimum for a horse that can at least win some money?

Re: Competition Worthy Horses?

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 10:21 pm
by BlackOak2
ItchyWaterBuffalo wrote:Hello, I'm an old player returning and getting used to things again.

At what point is it worthwhile to send your horse to Competitions rather than local shows. In the sense of, what should a horse's stats look like to even stand a chance. I am low on money, as I honestly didn't play for a very long time before my hiatus, so I decided to toss one of my horses into a competition. At least, until I saw the other horses already signed up at the same level as my horses... XD
Most of my horses sit around the 30,000 sometime GP mark, with the exception of one around 60,000 who I believe is just too old to compete. Several of the horses I saw were around the high 60,000s, and were titled (Master Grand Champion, Champion, etc.)
So I of course turned around and decided they didn't stand a chance, and I'd only loose money in entrance fees.

Is that the correct assumption? Should I just worry about saving up for buying/breeding a comp-ready horse for now and not try until I have one? Or am I putting to much value into titles and GP? What should be the minimum for a horse that can at least win some money?
Personally, I think you made the correct call. Though even what could be considered 'poorly stat-ed' horses regularly compete and win against those that could be considered 'greatly stat-ed' horses, by trying to take on horses in player-made competitions with a horse that has somewhere under 45k HGP, you are rather wasting your money.
You're basic start in player-mades would be at least 45k and upward. You don't need a 60k to win, because it's more than just HGP that wins competitions, but your horse will need some stuff within it to do so.

Horses age out of competitions during their 20th year. So as long as your horse is still within 20 years, he or she can still enter, but I'd also recommend he or she to be fully trained as well. If it is not, then it'd be best to use it or one of the others in the locals and start saving.

I don't have one available right now, but you can see if another player might have an available grinder for you to take for cheap as a returnee.
Do you remember or can you figure out what a grinder is?

By the way, with a little bit of effort, titles are fairly easily obtainable. What you should be paying attention to is the WPS of the horse in that competition. That will offer much more insight into that horses capabilities than a title (usually).

Re: Competition Worthy Horses?

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:08 am
by ItchyWaterBuffalo
Yeah, I pretty much remember/context clues. I've actually gone through and tossed all my horses in a spreadsheet and I have several of higher GP than I thought. I think I'll be able to manage off them well enough, going off the numbers you mentioned. ^.^

What is WPS? Win percentage or something else?

Re: Competition Worthy Horses?

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:03 am
by Baranduin Brewster
ItchyWaterBuffalo wrote:Yeah, I pretty much remember/context clues. I've actually gone through and tossed all my horses in a spreadsheet and I have several of higher GP than I thought. I think I'll be able to manage off them well enough, going off the numbers you mentioned. ^.^

What is WPS? Win percentage or something else?
Win/Place/Show percentage

Re: Competition Worthy Horses?

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 6:43 pm
by Soaring Hooves
I agree with BlackOak2 that you made the right call. I have a few Thoroughbreds that I am almost done training and I would be happy to sell you one for cheap, and they are good quality, I believe that they could help you out a bit :D
ItchyWaterBuffalo wrote:Hello, I'm an old player returning and getting used to things again.

At what point is it worthwhile to send your horse to Competitions rather than local shows. In the sense of, what should a horse's stats look like to even stand a chance. I am low on money, as I honestly didn't play for a very long time before my hiatus, so I decided to toss one of my horses into a competition. At least, until I saw the other horses already signed up at the same level as my horses... XD
Most of my horses sit around the 30,000 sometime GP mark, with the exception of one around 60,000 who I believe is just too old to compete. Several of the horses I saw were around the high 60,000s, and were titled (Master Grand Champion, Champion, etc.)
So I of course turned around and decided they didn't stand a chance, and I'd only loose money in entrance fees.

Is that the correct assumption? Should I just worry about saving up for buying/breeding a comp-ready horse for now and not try until I have one? Or am I putting to much value into titles and GP? What should be the minimum for a horse that can at least win some money?

Re: Competition Worthy Horses?

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:09 am
by Tjigra
ItchyWaterBuffalo wrote:.
To add my two cents, I'd say in lower level competitions you can win with almost anything as long as it's decently trained (you might want to stay off the very popular disciplines). Choose shows that already have 4 entries, check those entries and there is a good chance most of the horses entered haven't been trained at all. You also don't need to win to earn, just choose the shows with low entry fee and decent purse. This tactic won't make you a millionaire, but it can help make ends meet until you get something better to go for higher titles.

If you're interested, I can offer a deal - an almost trained young show quality part Arabian, about ready to hit the shows. You train her up a bit more and show her as much as you can, and everything you earn is yours. I get a bit more trained and possibly champed horse back after a week.
https://www.horseworldonline.net/horse/profile/2199328 <-- this is the horse I offer. I usually try them out when they hit 85% in everything and 90% in speed, so she only needs a couple more turns. Aimed for endurance, but might as well do something else (western pleasure? I usually figure that out by trying level 9 Local shows).
(yes, I have too many trained horses to show them all :D) Let me know if you're interested.