My Horse Ranch/Breeding Program

[Leto85]

Yeah, exactly. That's what I discovered with my horse article for the guide. The only thing that seems to affect sale price is how many skill levels a horse has in jumping and racing. I guess EA is just trying to keep things as simple as possible. Yes, it would make sense to program in how many wins a horse has into sale price, but they're probably thinking that a horse with a lot of skills is going to win anyway, or at least have a very good chance.

But if your horse is maxed out in International Wins, I mean the skill challenge that comes with it when the horse had win 25 wins that will possitively influence the value of the foals. I don't know if it influences the value of the horse itself as well.

[Leto85]

I have been so smart to forget that unicorns can't be sold 
So I have to set them free into the wild to continue breeding...

Does that also count for halfbreed unicorns, mixed with horses?

[MaryMarsh]

When a stallion or mare has achieved 'Champion Racer' or 'Jumping Star' the value of their foals goes up about 33%. The value of the stallion or mare also goes up appreciably, though I do not know how much because after all the effort achieving those levels no amount would be worth the time and trouble.

Champion Racer = 15 advanced/international racing wins.

Jumping Star = 15 advanced/international show jumping wins.

Please let's not make this a thread for questions about unicorns. I've tried my best to make this a thread for people who are taking the horseman's profession seriously.

____________________
EDIT: MaryMarsh, I appreciate you keeping your topic on topic, but please don't use colored text in posts. Please check the Forum Rules.
Anushka

[VampirePlasma]

Yes it is. I can't sell neither of my born in game unicorns. It says 'Unicorns won't allow themselfs to be sold like that!' or something similar.

[MaryMarsh]

In addition to being a Racing Champion, Scenic is now a Jumping Star (15 advanced/international show jumping wins). Previous to becoming a Jumping Star his foals were selling for just over 18K. Havivi is pregnant with his next foal and we shall soon find out if being a double champion has an affect on the price of his foals.

[Banksia]

Thanks for this serious research into foal profits.  Any horse ranch needs foal sales to reach maximum to increase profitability.  I will be glad to hear about the results for the sale of this outstandingly pedigreed foal.

[MoMoll]

Thanks for all the insight into breeding ranches. I'll bee getting Pets nxt week and hat ofinfo now on how to handle the horses.

[MaryMarsh]

BIG NEWS


Saracen Arabian Farm has nearly doubled in size. The photo, below, shows our original spread, with the new barn and pasture to the left.


By marylcmarsh at 2011-10-25

Our new barn has six stalls and a bunkhouse, which raises our total number of stalls to nine. The following photo shows the new barn.


By marylcmarsh at 2011-10-25

This expansion will make Saracen Arabian Farm the largest horse operation in Appaloosa County.

-----

Technically, this is what I did:

1. Went into Edit Town and bulldozed, then built on the adjacent lot.
2. Converted the lot type from Residential to Horse Ranch (which is a Community Lot).
3. A ranch hand named Charlie Filch moved in.
4. I went back into the game and purchased the property for 52K.
5. I'm in the process of upgrading the lot now to maximize weekly income.

[samoht04]

I was wondering, if you send your Male Horse to offer his services, will any offspring be added to the family tree? Or is this not a good place to ask?

@ MaryMarsh, on another Thread they were wondering if there was supposed to be chimes when Horses woohoo in the stables? I didn't know but I thought you might, since you are breeding a whole lotta cool horses. 

[MaryMarsh]

I was wondering, if you send your Male Horse to offer his services, will any offspring be added to the family tree? Or is this not a good place to ask?

@ MaryMarsh, on another Thread they were wondering if there was supposed to be chimes when Horses woohoo in the stables? I didn't know but I thought you might, since you are breeding a whole lotta cool horses. 

1. About family tree ... I presume it will work like human sims, which is to say yes.

2. Early on I had a mare that did not become pregnant when there were no chimes. Since then I Try for Foal until I hear the chimes.

[Leto85]

Please let's not make this a thread for questions about unicorns. I've tried my best to make this a thread for people who are taking the horseman's profession seriously.

I'm sorry, you're right.
This thread is interesting on it's own already.

[simfulicious]

I have heard the chimes when trying for foal, but I also got a foal without hearing them.  I was just getting ready to try for a foal again when the message popped up saying that she was expecting.

[Blackluck]

Like many others, I'm finding myself quite enamored with Sims horse ranching Very impressived with what folks have done.

I have a horse breeding question, if you don't mind: Right now I have just one breeding pair (my Sim is juggling writing wtih ranching, but once I'm done with her writing ltw I'm swapping her over to full time ranching, including mid life crises to change traits. Oddly enough her career is horsewoman, not writer;when I first started I didnt' have any idea what I'd be doing with Pets) I've just had my second foal, and she's a beauty; I'd like to make her my 'standard.' Only thing is, I don't know how this is done. Pretty sure the sire can't breed with his daughter, so does that mean two breeding pairs, i.e. 2 stallions/2 mares?

Two stallions would be a major problem in the real world, but I'm guessing Sim stallions get along better. And wouldn't I have to make the stallion in CAS with similar markings? I'm confuzzled as I'm moving far away from what would be done in real life.

***
As for racing, I've won the advanced races by just using Steady Pace. However I've not found any combination that works yet for Int'l racing: Starting with Take Risks or Go For Broke and/or any combination with Steady pace gets me no better than 2nd (my stallion Sampson is 10/10 racing/jumping with 15+ advanced racing wins and has the lucky mount trait, and my Sim has the 20 advanced races skill achievement.) I'm now waiting to see what happens when I swap in the lucky/equestrian traits to see if that has any impact. (My game is a little odd; my sim hasn't broken a single thing, but it was weeks before I saw any wild horses even with two horses with the friend of the herd LTR.)

[MaryMarsh]

Welcome to the addiction, Blackluck! 

My herd started with one stallion, which I'd created at startup in CAS. My three mares were all adopted and subsequently modified in CAS; so, none of them is related to the other. You cannot breed father to daughter or vice versa. This is the one troubling aspect of Pets; because of the household limit of six pets, it's not really feasible to develop extensive bloodlines without killing off each foregoing generation immediately, and this isn't a viable economic alternative because you would never benefit from the increased value of foals when a sire or dam is a Racing Champion or Jumping Star. I so want this game to be multi-cliented so I can pass my sire's get on to other ranches where they can carry on the bloodline.

As for International wins, I've won many, but I've also lost many; though, for racing, I did find my strategy of Take Risks, followed by Go For Broke was successful well over 50% of races. This strategy did not hold true for Show Jumping and I'm thinking we've all missed a minor, but very important part of training -- the flaming hoop. At some point during jump training we are told that our horse may jump through a flaming hoop (it's actually called something else). I'm going to erect an advanced jump training course on another lot and see if this does not make a significant difference.

[Wevee]

As for International wins, I've won many, but I've also lost many; though, for racing, I did find my strategy of Take Risks, followed by Go For Broke was successful well over 50% of races. This strategy did not hold true for Show Jumping and I'm thinking we've all missed a minor, but very important part of training -- the flaming hoop. At some point during jump training we are told that our horse may jump through a flaming hoop (it's actually called something else). I'm going to erect an advanced jump training course on another lot and see if this does not make a significant difference.

Be careful with the flaming hoop and the pyrotechnics jumps as they can set your sim on fire.  If you do add them, be sure to have a shower or something on the lot to put yourself out.