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Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

larissar
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Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by larissar »

Welcome to Horse World Online!
We’re so glad to have you! Here we have assembled a Newbie Guide and FAQ to help you get started.


General Help & Knowledge
How do I make money?
The simplest way to make money to begin with is by entering your horse into Local Shows directly from their profile page. Local Shows don’t pay out as well as regular Competitions but they are run instantly and give you a good idea of what level your horse should be competing at. Make sure to enter your horse into regular Competitions for a chance to earn larger purses. Regular Competitions don’t use up time during your day, but Local Shows will cost you 3 hours game time.

Does it cost money to keep a horse?
Currently there are no costs to owning a horse other than perhaps purchasing another pasture or barn. Eventually there will be costs for feed for horses kept in a stable, as well as regular vet and farrier fees.

How do I evaluate my horse? What does it do?
If you buy a book, you can evaluate your horse against the requirements of that breed. Evaluations are useful when you’re trying to create a cross breed. Say for example you are trying to create an Akhal Teke. According to the Breed Wiki an Akhal Teke is created by crossing an Arabian with a Turkmene. So if you have an Arabian and a Turkmene you can evaluate them both as Akhal-Tekes and if they both get good ratings in all categories then you know you have a good chance of creating an Akhal Teke from this mating.

Why does this book cost so much?!
The cost of a book is determined based on how many generations of breeding are needed to create the breed. Easy to create breeds have cheaper books.

How do days work in the game?
Each basic player gets 4 banked days when you start the game (10 for upgraded accounts). Each game day begins at 6am and ends at 10pm. Many actions you to with your horse's (training, breeding, local shows) cost time. You can check your current game time in the top bar, or you can pay attention to the background on the page which will change depending on the time of day it is. To advance to the next day press the Arrow icon on the top right corner (which also indicates how many days you have remaining). Once you use up all your days you’ll have to either wait 30 minutes to regenerate a day, or enter a Local Show and hope for the chance to win another day.

How do I get more Pony Tokens?
You can win Pony Tokens in Local Shows, or you can purchase them from the Store.

Should I keep my horse in the barn or the pasture?
Right now it doesn’t matter if they are in a pasture or a barn, however very soon there will be pros and cons to both barns and pastures. For example horses are more likely to get injured in a pasture, but horses in a barn will have an increased cost as you’ll have to provide them with hay and grain.

I adopted a horse and I can’t have any more, how do I get more horses?
By completing player courses you will be able to own more horses. You can find more information about this in the Player Courses section of the starting guide.

I adopted a horse but I can’t find it in my pasture!
Pastures scroll from side to side. If you don’t see your horse right away he’s probably at the other end of your pasture. You can click and drag on the pasture to find your horse, or you can press the Scatter Horses button to have your horses run around to a new spot in your pasture.

Where do I start:
Obtaining a Horse
You can adopt a horse in the adoption or you can purchase a horse from the general Market. Ancient breeds cost 25 PT, while breeds produced by crossbreeding cost more. Multigenerational breeds appear in the center when there are enough active, living horses in the game. Other players may sell their horses to you from the Horses for Sale page.

Player Courses
Every player can study various courses in order to expand their abilities. These abilities control how many horses the player can own, how many stallions they can post for the public, how many shows they can create, and give various bonuses to training. Each course has 5 levels and completing the 5th level will usually unlock a new course. Each player also has attributes which help determine how quickly you can learn a course. These attributes are listed with the course details, with the first attribute being weighted more heavily than the second. You earn one attribute point every time you level up, and you can apply this to whichever attribute best suits you.

Leveling Up
Nearly every action in the game will earn you experience points. Earn enough experience points and your player will level up. Leveling up gives you rewards (money, PT), fills up your banked days, and gives you 1 attribute point you can assign to any attribute.


Training:
My horse ran out of energy, how do I get it back?
Energy is returned every time you advance to the next day. The amount of energy returned depends on many factors including how much training the horse had during the day, and how old the horse is. Young horses need a lot of energy for growth and if you train them hard you may find they don’t regain as much energy the next morning. Eventually you will be able to feed your young horses grains which will help them gain energy better.

How can I prevent my horse from becoming too fatigued?
Don’t train your horse to exhaustion every turn, and give it a turn off every once in a while. Fatigue will reach zero after a few turns with no training. Eventually, there will be different activities - like massage and stretches - which will reduce your horses’ fatigue.

Breeding:
How old do horses have to be to breed?
Mares have to be 4 years old, but stallions can breed at 3 years old. You can continue to breed them until they retire/die. Currently, bred mares will not retire/die, but eventually there will be the chance that you may lose an old mare while she is pregnant. Also, decreased fertility with age is a planned feature.

How do I create a new breed?
Check out the Breeds Wiki page (under the Help section on the navigation pane). All breeds are listed here along with how they are created. Some breeds are a simple cross such as the Akhal-Teke which is created by crossing an Arabian with a Turkmene. Other breeds are more complicated and can require up to 4 source breeds. For example the Clydesdale is a 4 cross consisting of [Friesian x Shire] x [Galloway x Belgian]. So to create this breed you would need one horse which is a Friesian x Shire, and another horse which is a Galloway x Belgian. Breed these two together and you’ll have a chance to create a Clydesdale. Keep in mind that if the pedigree calls for [Breed A x Breed B], the horse must be a crossbred; for example, a Baladi is produced by crossing an Arabian and a North African Barb, but you cannot use it to create a West African Barb, which requires an [Arab x NAB].

Does training of the mare and stallion affect the outcome of the foals?
The only thing that affects the quality of your foals is the quality of their parents. You can determine this by reading the Breeder’s Report. Training and showing do not improve a horse’s quality, however the results from a competition may help you to determine if a mare or stallion is of good quality, especially if you are breeding for a particular discipline.

Do genetic ailments like HYPP exist in the game?
Not as of yet however there will be genetic ailments added in fairly soon. In addition there will be genes added which effect a horse’s overall condition. For example some horses may be more prone to injury than others.

Is there a cost to breed horses?
You can breed your own horses for free, though it will take up 20 minutes of your day. You can breed to other players’ stallions for a fee; you can find available studs on the Stallions at Stud page (Side Bar -> Market -> Stallions at Stud).

Does the age of my mare/stallion affect fertility rate?
Not right now. This is something we are considering adding in however it’s not a high priority right now, so enjoy instant/successful breedings for now.

How does COI affect my horse’s performance/physical well-being/fertility?
COI is prediction of genetic homozygosity. Essentially, it estimates how related a horse’s parents are. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what the gene is. Inbreeding can increase the likelihood that a poor gene is enhanced, but it can also enhance a good gene too. There are over 110 genes in the game as of writing this. Some have positive effects, some have negative effects, and some are neutral (for example colours). Always remember that COI is an estimate; a horse could have much more or much homozygosity than its COI would suggest.

I have more than 6 mares, but less than the max of 12, in a pasture and I can’t breed them all because it says my pasture is full. Why?
Large Pastures can only hold 12 horses, and unborn foals count to this total. Different pastures can hold different quantities of horses. You can check the capacity of your pasture or barn by viewing the areas details on the overall farm page.

Will a foal’s health be affected if moved away from their mother before a certain age?
No, there are no effects currently for keeping a foal away from it’s mother after birth. The only draw back to this is your won’t get to see the foal running around in the pasture with it’s mother, which can be quite neat.

Showing:
What affects my horse’s score?
Each discipline is judged on 4 main stats. These stats are also influenced by your horse's Build, Height, Temperament and Body Condition Score (BCS, describes how over/under weight your horse is). You can view the stats needed for your chosen sport at Help -> Help Guides -> Discipline Guide.

Is there somewhere where I can see what types (build/temperament) of horses are suited to what kinds of events?
Currently no, this is actually quite a complicated thing to determine. Due to the way that stats and physical characteristics are very intertwined the only true way to determine this is through trial and error. The horses have the ideal build/temperament will be the ones who continually come out on top in higher level competitions. Once Discipline Books are added you’ll be able to evaluate your horse's potential for a particular discipline, but only competition will give the real answer to this.

HALP! My horse is morbidly obese and I can’t fit it in the trailer to take it to shows! WHAT DO I DO?
Do not worry, your horse is just grazing on lush pastures. If you exercise the beast you may find he fits in the trailer, and may actually do better at the show too. Unless you are training for Log Pulling in which case just have the horse pull the trailer and you’ll be fine. Exercise and transportation all in one.

Do fatigue and energy levels affect show scoring?
Currently no, fatigue and energy do not affect a horses showing score. This may or may not change in the future but if it does it will be posted on the news page.

Does participating in shows affect a horse’s training level?
No, participating is hows does not affect a horses training. Training does however affect how well a horse will do in competitions.

Do certain temperaments have a direct effect on consistency while showing? IE high-strung horses being spookier and making errors that an even-tempered horse would not.
Yes temperament does have an effect in competitions. Certain disciplines benefit from being high-strung, while in others it would be a detriment. Same goes for overly quiet horses who may just be too lazy to compete in some disciplines.

How many entries does a show need to run?
The minimum number of entries for a show to run is 5. However, shows with 20 entries will run in a few minutes after filling. This is a temporary feature while the game is still in Beta. There is no limit to how many horses you can enter in a show, and again this is a temporary feature while still in Beta.

Does my horse need to be a pure breed to compete in player run shows?
Unless a show is restricted to a single breed, than any horse, even Mixed breed horses, can compete.
My Farm:

I’m out of space! How do I get more room?
From the Market section on the left, you can find Farm Building. You can buy pastures, barns, decorations and more! You can then add to your farm from the My Farm page. Additionally, you can expand the width and depth of your farm from the Edit My Farm tab. Clicking Toggle Edit Farm will allow you to arrange your farm as you wish!

HALP! I accidentally dropped 15 water buckets in my pasture and I can’t pick them up! What do I do?
Just calm down a bit for now. There is no way to remove an item from a pasture or farm view at the moment but this is high on the to do list and will be coming very soon. Watch the news page for details once this is added.

Colours:
How can I tell what color my horse is?
There is a color guide posted in the forums, though the images are slightly outdated. As a general guide, freckles around the muzzle indicates champagne; pale horses with blue eyes indicates double cream, while pale horses with dark eyes indicates double pearl. The best way to figure out what color you horse is or what genes it may be carrying is to breed it and see what the foals look like. You can also create a topic in the “What Colour Is My Horse?” forum and many other members can help you to figure it out.

Is there a way to test for colour genes in the game?
Not currently, but that is planned.

Where are all the white patterns?
While the game is still in Beta only solid colours are available, plus Roan. Soon we’ll begin adding in the white patterns.

I swear my horse was born chestnut, but now he’s a different colour!
Foal coats are wonderfully fun, but deceptive. Especially when it comes to bays and chestnuts, which look about the same at birth. Your horse will blow its coat at a year old and that will be its adult coloration. However some genes do continue to affect your horses’ coats sometimes until 20 years of age. Sooty in particular can add dark hairs over time. Silver and Flaxen can both lose their intensity as the horse ages, and Grey will gradually turn your horse white over time.

Is LWO a threat to horses in this game? How will it be handled?
There are currently no white patterns in the game, but when they are added, LWO will be a potential issue.

Are existing breeds limited to certain colors? If a horse fits all other criteria for being a certain breed, will their color prevent them from being classified as said breed?
Ancient breeds have limited color genetics, but breeds derived from them do not. A horse that fits all other criteria for a breed will still be listed as that breed. However, they may not be accepted into the breed’s registry (when those are added).

Registries: Are not a thing yet. Sorry <3

Still need help?
Visit us in the Forums, we’ll be happy to assist!
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Argent
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Re: Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by Argent »

Breeding
Does it matter which breed is the sire and which is the dam when crossbreeding?
No, it does not. If, for example, you were trying to breed an Akhal Teke, you could breed and Arab stallion to a Turkmene mare, or an Arab mare to a Turkmene stallion.

Can I use a Baladi as an [Arab x North African Barb] when crossbreeding?
Even though a Baladi is created by crossing an Arab to a NAB, it is a new breed and therefore cannot be used in this situation. This applies to all similar crosses. In the future, you will be able to "downgrade" a horse from a new breed to a crossbreed.

Do parents have to be 50/50 or purebred when crossbreeding?
No. If, for example, a recipe calls for [Breed A x Breed B] x Breed C, the first parent can be 75% Breed A and 25% Breed B and still work, and as long as the second parent only has one breed listed, it doesn't have to be purebred (must read "Part/Half Breed C").

How long are mares pregnant?
Mares are pregnant for 20 to 24 turns, which comes out to 10 or 12 months.

I bred two horses together and didn't get a new breed. What's wrong?
The parents must be of the correct cross or breed to make the breed you're trying to create. You can find the "recipes" for new breeds here. Also, the resulting foal must fall within the parameters of the new breed, which you can test for by buying a breed book. If you evaluate you mares and stallions against a breed standard, you can get a good idea of whether they can produce the new breed you want before you start breeding.

How do I put a stallion up for stud?
Go to his profile and click the "Breed Horse" button. In the pop up, there will be a "Stud Ad" button; click it and fill out the form.

Colors
What color is my horse?
There's a forum for that. Be sure to read the guides (one and two) first, as they'll probably answer your question fairly quickly.

Training
Is there any specialized training for foals and young horses?
Currently we do not have any ground training, but it will be added eventually.

Horses in General
My horse is thin. Is there any way to increase his weight?
Some horses have a hard time keeping weight on, tall and growing horses in particular. This is especially true if they are in training. You can skip a couple turns of training to bring their weight up, but being thin currently does not have any negative effects, so you shouldn't worry about it. Being thin lowers competition scores. In the future, we will have more way of feeding horses (grain, etc.) to help them keep weight on.

My horse has demon eyes! My horse is wearing a hat/halter/pipe and I want to remove it.
Larissa is currently testing putting items on horses. There's no need to worry. The wearables are randomized, so if you refresh the page, they will change or disappear.

How do I take a picture of my horse? How do I delete pictures from my horse's gallery?
Go to your horse's page and click the last tab in the profile section. Then click "Load Image" and drag the sizing bar until you get the picture as big as you want it. Then drag the image around until the horse is in frame. Hit save.
Images cannot be deleted from galleries, currently, but you can always take a new one.

Why are my foals so downhill?
HWO has an uphill/downhill build feature that is still being worked out. Foals may come out really butt-high, but they should even out with age. Eventually, they will go through awkward growth spurts, just like real life.
Last edited by Argent on September 24th, 2015, 3:19 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by Argent »

Breeding
Will players be able to create their own breeds in the future?
Yes, potentially for a real-life currency fee.

Can I breed a crossbred back to a purebred?
Yes. If you breed a crossbred foal back to one of it's breed ancestors, you will eventually get a purebred horse. Starting from a 50/50 cross, this will take four or five generations. A horse must be 95% or more of one breed in order to be considered "purebred" (technically fullblood).

What does 4* (4 stars) mean?
Contrary to rampant belief, 4* does not denote a quality horse. It just means that the horse in question is a good candidate for use in crossbreeding to produce whatever breed it rates 4* for. It is effectively meaningless for a horse to be 4* in its own breed. To figure out how many stars your horse has, buy a breed book to evaluate it for a desired cross.

Does the mare's BCS or training during pregnancy affect the foal?
No.

Colors
What can I change the color of my horse?
You cannot. What you can change is the title of the horse's color. Just like in real life, you have to guess what color your horse is and fill in the blank in its description. If you realize later that the color you guessed was wrong, just change it.

How do I get markings on my horse?
White patterns (tobiano, overo, sabino, etc.) and markings (star, blaze, socks) have no been added yet.

Training
What factors influence stat gains when training?
Location, gait, activity, and current level of training. When you select a location, gait, or activity, you can see what stats will be affected and the intensity of that exercise by hovering over the option. High intensity exercises tire your horse out more quickly, but can produce greater gains in less time. Horses with more stamina can train harder and longer. Player skills can increase gains and decrease fatigue. The more trained a horse is, the slower it gains.

Why are my horses getting injured?
You are overtraining a fatigued horse. When training, you need to pay attention to the changing colors of the selection buttons (image credit Paradiss). Any button that is just white is okay to use. If it has a red border or is tinted red, you will injured your horse doing this exercise. Injuries are currently turned off.

Horses in General
Is there a quick way to get rid of horses?
You can rehome a horse if you like. You do not get any money in return.

Why can't I rehome my horse?
Horses with descendants cannot be rehomed.

How do I age my horse?
In the top right, there is an arrow with a red number by it. If you click it, you will progress forward one turn, which is two weeks in game time.

What is the difference between red and green stats in the Breeder's Report?
Red stats are bad. Green stats are good. If you breed horses with neutral to positive comments, you may eventually get green ones.

Housing
How many horses can I keep in a pasture? In a barn?
Large pastures hold 12 horses; medium pastures hold 8 horses; small pastures hold 4 horses. Small barns hold 4 horses as well. Barns must be fully furnished with stall doors, etc. before you can add horses.

How do I add a pasture or barn to my farm?
Go to you farm page, click "Toggle Build Mode," the click "Add From Inventory" and select the pasture/barn to add.

How do I expand my farm?
Go to your farm page, click the "Edit Farm Layout" tab, scroll down to the "expand farm" section and expand either the width or depth, or both, for a fee.

What is the maximum number of horses I can own?
211.

How do I move my horse to another pasture/barn?
Go to the horse's profile. Under its image, you will see a drop down from where you can select which pasture or barn you want to move it into.

Accounts
How many accounts are we allowed?
Two.

How do I find my account number?
Click your player name to view your profile; in the url for the page, your account ID will be the number at the end.

Can I change my player avatar?
Eventually we will be able to customize the avatar and won't be stuck with the blonde woman.

Breeding
Why can't I enter more than one horse in a show?
Certain shows only allow one entry per "rider." These are shows which are judged all at once in real life, such as racing. In the future, players will be able to hire other players to "ride" their horses in competitions, allowing you to enter more of your horses in a show.

Is a short mane and tail dominant or recessive?
Mane and tail lengths work as incomplete dominant genes. Short mane and tail is a dominant trait (L/L); long mane and tail is recessive (l/l). Medium length is a heterozygous situation (L/l).

General
What are Pony Tokens for?
PT can be used to adopt horses from the Adoption Center, or upgrade your account to premium, or buy some items in the Farm Marketplace.

How do I send a Private Message?
You must be a upgraded player, first of all. From there, you can go to a player's profile page and click "Send private message."
Last edited by Argent on October 10th, 2015, 4:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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larissar
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Re: Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by larissar »

Argent wrote: Being thin lowers competition scores.
Just to expand on this a bit.
Being overly thin (BCS 3 or less) or overly fat (BCS 7 or higher) negatively affects a competition score, but also, depending on the discipline, being slightly thin or slightly fat can have a negative effect as well. Conversely some competitions are improved by a lighter or heavier condition. The most obvious example being racing events where the ideal BCS is around 4 to 5, while something like dressage would have an idea BCS of around 5 to 6. Each competitions ideal values will be published in an future update.

The feeding update is about 80% complete and should be published this week if all goes well. Then you'll be able to control your horses condition easier.
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Re: Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by horseyhuman123 »

how can you pass time when you cant do anymore training or shows?
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Re: Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by smartkid37 »

Why do some shows allow for multiple entries from the same owner - but other shows do not?

I've managed to host one that allowed multiple entries - but cannot figure out why none of the others I've hosted have allowed it.
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Re: Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by Ashara Storm »

smartkid37 wrote:Why do some shows allow for multiple entries from the same owner - but other shows do not?

I've managed to host one that allowed multiple entries - but cannot figure out why none of the others I've hosted have allowed it.

The competitions are based on real life constraints. If all of the entries in a competition run simultaneously, then only one entrant per rider (player) is allowed. In Racing events, for example, a rider cannot be the jokey on 2 horses running simultaneously.
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Re: Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by smartkid37 »

Ashara Storm wrote:
smartkid37 wrote:Why do some shows allow for multiple entries from the same owner - but other shows do not?

I've managed to host one that allowed multiple entries - but cannot figure out why none of the others I've hosted have allowed it.

The competitions are based on real life constraints. If all of the entries in a competition run simultaneously, then only one entrant per rider (player) is allowed. In Racing events, for example, a rider cannot be the jokey on 2 horses running simultaneously.
Thank you!!
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Re: Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by smulenappad »

Is it possible to turn red comments to neutral and later green by breeding?
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Re: Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started

Post by BlackOak2 »

smulenappad wrote:Is it possible to turn red comments to neutral and later green by breeding?
Try to remember to post a new topic (or in your own topic), in the questions forum when you have a game question; the Frequently Asked Questions & Getting Started is a guide and not a questions forum.

You can not change the breeders report on a horse, what it has at birth, is what it will have at death, but by breeding, you can increase or decrease the breeders report on their foals.
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