HGG Community Forums

What makes a good show horse?
Do show results actually go off different factors or random?
Every horse has a hidden number that indicates how quickly it will train up and approximately when it will level off. This is expressed in the programming by a percentage, I believe, and as a decimal number as a result of the Performance Test, or PT.

A perfect foundation has a training ability of 100%, and will PT at 9.9.

Horses with higher PT scores will have an ability percentage of greater than 100%--105%, 120% and so forth. The highest PT score in this game is currently 13.1, and this is a 6th generation horse whose breeder probably has a very strict culling practice for breeding stock.

Generally speaking, then, the higher a horse's PT score, the more quickly it will train and the higher it has a chance of progressing through the various Level/Grades. The best horses reach 8 World.

However, all horses starting with those that have a PT score around 9 have a good chance of gathering a significant number of the points which are awarded for where it places in shows and so will add to your weekly Showing Bonus.

Every week when a horse is trained, it adds a certain amount to its show score. Most good foundation horses will gain 3 points most weeks. A perfect foundation gains 3 points every week. The consistency rating of a horse will determine whether it receives the same score each time it is shown in a given week. Perfect foudations are perfectly consistent and receive the same score twice. Horses that test Consistent can have consistency scores that vary up to +/-2. That means that if their base score is, for instance, 24, what they actually are awarded may range anywhere from 22 through 26. Their consistency may be better than that--perfectly consistent or +/-1. Inconsistent horses will have wider ranges of consistency.

How well a given horse does in a show depends on what it's current show score is, whether it is consistent or inconsistent which may help it place higher or cause it to place lower, depending on how its score swings that time, and the abilities and scores of the other horses in the class. Just as in real life, there's an element of luck involved in every show. I have had a horse with a score in the middle of the range of its Level/Grade place 1st because it was the best horse in the show that hour.

How do all the levels work?
There are 8 showing levels and 4 grades in each level. The grades are: Local, Regional, National, and World. The showing levels are:
1 or Inhand
2 or Green Under Saddle
3 or Green Over Fences
4 or Training
5 or C Level
6 or B Level
7 or A Level
8 or Grand Prix.
A horse trains its way up through a Level working up 4 grades from Local through National and then qualifies for the next higher level.

Horses start out somewhere in Level 1. The grades have very small point spreads, so that horse will level up to 2 Local when their show score reaches 10 or sometimes 11. After that, every level/grade has a spread of 10 points, until you reach level 6. Then the grades begin to have more points in them.

How do the show earnings work?
There is an entry fee for every class. You can see this information by going to "My Show Entries" where there is a nice chart of entry fees and number of horses per class. Horse are awarded a cash prize for their placing. These prizes get smaller as the placing is lower in the class. Horses that place in the top half of the class will earn more than the entry fee. Horses in the lower half of the class lose money. This is where your profit (or loss) comes from.

However, every horse except the one that places last is also awarded a certain number of points which go into their permanent record. Once again, the exact number of points depends on where a horse places in the class. Higher level classes have more horses in them and award more points, generally speaking. Local classes tend to award fewer points than higher grade classes. These points are the source of your weekly Showing Bonus. Every week at rollover, you will receive, in addition to your weekly salary, a showing bonus that is currently equal to about 75% of all the points that all your horses have gained to that point. Horses keep these points when they are bought and sold, and never lose them, even when they have leveled off. So, the more horses you have showing, the more points you will collect, and the higher your Showing Bonus will be.

If you search for horses with the tattoo Available to Adopt, you will find a lot of horses that have already gained a fair number of points. Their owners will sell them for a very low price, on the understanding that you will keep and continue training and showing them. This way you can get a good start on collecting points for your showing bonus.

How do you go about buying the ones with available to adopt tattoos?

Contact the owner of the horse