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Ritsika · Nov 23, 2015 7:16 PM

I am very excited to explore this community. I have adored horses for as long as I can remember. From the start, I have been particularly interested in all of their beautiful coat colors and patterns. They are all so unique and marvelous that I had to learn as much as I could about them. So, as you can guess, I am thrilled to find a place to experiment with genetics along with other enthusiasts.

I joined yesterday and spent quite a bit of time navigating the site before I happened to make a horse. Now I have five! I have figured out that gathering a herd is rather addictive. I want to say thank you to Stoney Ridge for already answering a question; I really appreciate it.

On the other side of the screen, I am a college student with a cat and two geldings. Kona is my bay Arabian (born 1995) and he is very business-like personality wise. Oku, aka Junebug, is my bay Friesian-cross (born 2011) and he is very much my pocket pony and love-muffin. Igor is my black and gray tabby cat that I was given (born 2011 in a barn and feral as ever, haha!). Together we make a motley crew but a happy family.

Please feel free to call me Rits. I hope to chat with a lot of you, so if you would like to introduce yourself I would love it! Have a great day.

SandycreekFarm · Nov 23, 2015 7:46 PM

Hi, Rits, and welcome to the wonderful world of Hunt and Jump. It is a great game for learning how horse color genetics work. Ammit, the game's creator keeps up with the latest research and updates the game as time permits. I spent 8 months watching over my daughter's shoulder before I got up enough courage to start playing on my own. That was back in 2011, on Hunt and Jump 1. Now I have accounts in both HaJ1 and HaJ2.

In real life, my main contact with horses is as a volunteer instructor with a therapeutic riding program. I consider myself a novice rider, though, never having had much chance to do a lot of riding in person.

The game is complex, so don't hesitate to ask questions as they arise. We are a friendly community and are always glad to give new players a helping hand.

Ritsika · Nov 23, 2015 10:17 PM

Thank you, SandyCreek Farm, for offering to answer questions. As they arise I will keep you in mind. And the up-to-date genetics information available on the site is awesome!

I've been blessed with a large extended family that allowed me to interact with their horses until I was old enough to afford my own. Volunteering as an instructor at a therapeutic riding program sounds wonderful.

See you around. :)

PaintsStables · Nov 24, 2015 6:00 AM

Welcome to HJ2, have fun!

Ritsika · Nov 24, 2015 8:32 AM

Thank you, PaintsStables! I am having a blast so far.

Abbey Road · Nov 24, 2015 9:06 AM

Hello Rits, welcome :) I've been playing about two years now, and YES it's addicting.

I've got an Arab myself, an Egyptian mare named Storm (she's my love muffin) and also a BLM mustang mare named Abbey (for whom my H&J farm is named, obviously). They're a matched pair, both 14.2 fleabitten greys. Since I have a pair it's on my wish list to teach them to drive as a team, I think it'd be fun. As it is, we mostly just horse around. I've got an assortment of other critters: 3 cats, 3 dogs, 1 Senegal parrot, and assorted African Cichlid fish.

If I can be of help, I'd be glad to.

Ritsika · Nov 24, 2015 9:40 AM

That sounds like an awesome furry-feathered-and-gilled family! Oh how I love Egyptian Arabians, all the ones I have met are beautiful and such sweethearts. My Friesian-cross has some mustang in him. Mustangs are so smart and hardy. I'm sure they will make a dashing couple as a team someday especially since grays aren't too common - at least around here for me.

And thank you! I have come up with a few questions after further browsing of the site. In the control panel of each horse, there are some options and I'm not sure what they mean. What is "Check LB Status"? And who is "FSYYC" and why would they buy my horse? My more general questions are: what tests should each horse get? Does a foundation mare need Mare Advice? Can a horse be spayed/gelded even after having/producing foals?

Abbey Road · Nov 24, 2015 10:44 AM

LB status is the Leaderboard... they run by the month and are finalized on the 28th, at which point, if you have a horse in the top 10 of any category that has 25 horses or more in it, you'll get a trophy.

FSYYC is Fujiyama Super Yum Yum Company. The knacker. I think that answers why they want your horse :P

Free testing is your friend and you should always use it, including Gelding Advice, Mare Advice and Showing Aptitude Test. If a horse won't pass those, they won't be a good breeder (I'm going to go out on a limb here and tell you that Sandy will probably be able to give you a much more definitive answer as to how they work, and I"ll let her ;) )

Yes, definitely can spay/geld after foals are produced. You should try to keep a showing herd that is at least as big as your breeding herd. Horses accumulate points as they show (regardless of altered or intact), and the more points you have cumulatively among all your horses, the bigger your payout bonus will be at the end of the week. Gelded and spayed horses have a training advantage over intact horses, so they will reach a higher level by the time they level off/max out. But when I cull a mare from my breeding herd, if she's been showing all her life (pasture horses don't show), I do keep them and continue to show them after they've been spayed.

If you don't have an upgrade, you'll need to train your horses manually, and enter them in shows. Upgraded accounts auto train and also have an auto show feature.

Hope that helps!

Ritsika · Nov 24, 2015 10:51 AM

Yes! Your explanations cleared up those questions. I feel much more informed and ready to meddle with my herd. Thank you! :)

SandycreekFarm · Nov 24, 2015 3:19 PM

I'll step in with the more technical description of the free tests that Abbey Road mentioned. :D

Showing Aptitude compares the showing ability of a horse with its breeding ability. Unless you have unchecked the automatic neutering option, Lucas will neuter any horse whose showing ability is much greater than its breeding ability. Generally speaking, it is much better to let the test neuter the horses that it feels will be much better at showing, even though you do have the ability to let every horse stay intact. If a horse is not going to be a good breeder, it is better to neuter it and let it have the advantage to its showing ability that neutering gives.

Gelding Advice compares the breeding ability of a colt to that of its sire. There is no "don't neuter" option here. If the colt's breeding ability is "significantly" lower that its sire's, it will be neutered. Once again, this is an advantage. Most players are hoping that both breeding ability and showing ability will increase with every generation, so sending the poor breeders directly to the show string is a benefit.

Mare Advice compares the breeding ability of a filly to that of her dam. It is a little looser in its parameters that Gelding Advice, but basically does the same thing--neuters the fillies that don't compare well with their dams. Having a Premium Upgrade opens up Strict Mare Advice, which has tighter controls and is as strict as Gelding Advice.

Many of the other tests require an upgrade to access, but they all can help players determine the abilities of their horses. If you are planning on selling horses or putting horses up for public use for breeding, using these three tests is very important. Personally, I first started getting upgrades to my account so that I could access the information given by the full range of testing. There are other advantages to the upgrades, but the testing ability weighed quite heavily in my decision, even more than extra barn space and other things.

Cheers · Nov 24, 2015 8:41 PM

I'm relatively new to the game but I second what Sandy said here. I also upgraded to access the better testing available. The free testing and upgraded testing is there to help you build the strongest herd possible...which means any horses you sell or put up for breeding are likely to be pretty strong too!

Ritsika · Nov 24, 2015 10:35 PM

Huh, I see. After a horse is gelded or spayed, how do they contribute to the stable? Essentially, how do they earn their keep? Or is it recommended that they be sold to Fujiyama Super Yum Yum Company? Since I do understand the concept of breeding for better stock and culling those less desirable from the herd.

Though, I'm curious, how could a foal from foundation parents be rated at less than its sire/dam? Considering that the foundation sire and dam were deemed acceptable. Is this because the foundation horses are a wash between acceptable breeders and acceptable show horses? That the chance of the foal being a better show horse than its sire is just as possible as it being better breeding stock? If so, this is a dynamic simulation that mimics reality very closely. Super awesome!

SandycreekFarm · Nov 25, 2015 4:03 AM

Neutered horses are the economic foundation of the stable. They get a slight training advantage over intact horses with the same training ability (although intact horses can also so very well in the show ring). In fact, showing all your horses twice a week is how your stable can earn good money. Every horse that is entered in a show, except the one that comes in last, earns a certain number of show points based on where it places and how many horses were in the class. Generally speaking, the higher the Level/Grade of a class, the larger it is, and the more points there are to be awarded. At the weekly roll-over you get a Showing Bonus based on the total number of points your horses have gathered. These points remain with them as long as they live and are transferred to the new owner when a horse is sold. At this time, the Showing Bonus is about 75% of your total points. It takes a while to build up enough horses showing at higher levels for the true economic effect of this to take over, but eventually the showing bonus far outweighs any profit losses from horses that don't place in the top half of their classes.

Ammit has recommended that the ratio of neutered horses to intact should be about 10/1. Some players strongly recommend a ration of 3/1 in favor of neutered horses, and many of us struggle to keep the ratio about even. Try to show all your horses at least twice a week.

In this game, breeding ability and showing ability are two entirely separate numbers. A horse that is poor at showing may turn out to be an excellent breeder and being a good show horse is no guarantee of how good the offspring of a horse might be. Foundation horses can have a very, very wide range in both breeding and showing ability. The best ability foundations can have at either is 100%. That percentage can be anything below that. So there is a lot of room for worse. The goal is for succeeding generations to have higher percentage abilities.

Showing ability is a bit easier to track, using the performance test, since its results are much more finely graduated than the papering levels for breeding ability. A player once did an experiment breeding perfect foundations (100% breeding and 100% showing abilities) together. Their PT scores were all 9.9. The range of foal PT scores stretched from 8.9 to 10.4. The possible results for breeding ability would be equally broad, I suspect.

And yes, Ammit has purposely designed the game to mimic real-life uncertainty in all its aspects, which is truly super awesome.

SandycreekFarm · Nov 25, 2015 4:05 AM

PS. The show points that give you your showing bonus are an entirely different number than the show score points which horses gain from training. It's important to keep the two separate in your thinking.

Ritsika · Nov 25, 2015 8:20 AM

Wow! Thank you so much for this wonderful explanation. I will definitely be referencing this.

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