Howdy farmers!
It’s been a few weeks since we introduced the new buildings to the Horse Ranch in Part 1, and we hope you’ve made yourselves acquainted with the changes! Now, the next big chapter on the Horse Ranch is coming: catching, breeding, and training your Horses. The update bringing these changes will launch next week, with the International server receiving it a few days ahead and the Global server following shortly after.
Please note: All Horses you owned before this update will be seamlessly integrated into the new Horse Ranch, so none of them will be lost. Your existing Horses will appear as Legendary Horses in your stable and offer two key benefits:
- A bonus to Training XP received, scaling with the Horse’s level (higher level = higher bonus).
- When breeding with a Legendary Horse, the foal will inherit the parent’s training level if you select the “Mentor” Trait. You can find more information on Training and Breeding below!
We’ve also seen many questions regarding the status of the Horse Season. It will be paused for now as we continue working on the Horse Ranch, but it will return later this year in a future Horse Ranch update. There will be at least one more update coming to the Horse Ranch – possibly more! We’ll keep you in the loop as our plans progress.
Now, onto the features:
Catching your Horses
A new area has appeared on your farm: the Wild Horse Catching Area. Clicking on it allows you to catch a horse and opens a menu with several options. First, you can customize the appearance of the Horse you want to catch. Second, you can select the specific Abilities you’d like your Horse to have. Both of these customizations cost gold. If you leave the appearance and Performance Traits random, you only need to pay with Horse Power.
The maximum efficient training level of the Horses you can catch depends on your Horse Mastery, which is displayed in the top right of the catching menu. The Horse Mastery is dependent on the highest Training Levels you’ve reached with your horses. As your Horse Mastery grows, the Horses you catch will have higher Generation levels and, consequently, higher efficient training levels.
Additionally, higher Horse Mastery increases the base Traits of your wild Horse’s abilities. When you select performance abilities prior to catching, they will be set to the maximum possible level for your current Mastery Level. If left random, their stats will roll within a range. For example, at Horse Mastery Level 1, a chosen Trait will be Level 5, while a random Trait ranges between Levels 1-5.
Breeding your Horses
You’ll find a new building on your farm: the Breeding Stable. You will no longer lose parent Horses when breeding! However, the number of times a Horse can breed is limited before requiring additional charges purchased with gold.
You can select any two Horses from your stable to breed. For best results, we recommend pairing two Horses that have reached the maximum training level for their Generation (e.g., two Generation 1 Horses at maximum training level 5 or higher will produce a Generation 2 foal). Similarly, breeding two max-level Generation 10 Horses yields a Generation 11 foal, and so on. If the parents haven’t reached their maximum training level, the foal will remain in the same Generation as its parents.
During breeding, you can choose to pass down one parent’s appearance to the foal. The foal will get traits based on its parents. By spending gold, you can guarantee specific traits of the parents you want the foal to have. Every new foal starts at training level 1, unless bred from a Legendary Horse carrying the “Mentor” Trait, in which case it inherits the parent’s training level.
Training your Horses
To train your Horses, head to the Riding Arena for Endurance, the Riding Circle for Agility, and the Show Jumping Course for Strength. Training now features two customizable sliders: one for intensity and one for duration (ranging from 1 to 72 hours).
Depending on a Horse’s Generation, there is an optimal training threshold where you can level your horse normally before leveling becomes significantly harder. For instance, a Generation 1 Horse levels up to Level 5 before slowing down, whereas a Generation 2 Horse levels up to Level 12, and so on. But do not fret, higher-generation foals reach higher training levels much faster than their parents. You can quickly get back to the level you previously reached with any new foal from a higher generation, before you reach that generation’s threshold. So breeding into newer generations is highly recommended if you’re aiming for the best stats.
Training your Horses increases your overall Horse Mastery. Horse Mastery determines the maximum Generation levels achievable through breeding and wild catching. Note that Horse Mastery Level is account-wide, while Generation level applies to individual Horses.
Paddock
In the Paddock, you can manage your horses and release any you no longer need to free up space. Releasing a Horse rewards you with Horse Power – the stronger the released Horse, the more Horse Power you receive.
You can also produce Horse Power inside the Paddock by using Donkeys bred in the Donkey Stable or by exchanging Horseshoes. Upgrading the Paddock reduces these production times.
Additionally, you can assign any of your Horses to the Paddock or Stable, and you’ll see them relaxing on your farm!
Last but not least: The Forest on the Horse Ranch has been relocated to make it much easier to access.
We hope this guide helps you navigate the new features! Keep an eye out for your new quests once the update goes live – the game will help walk you through the basics as well.
Please let us know your thoughts on Discord or Facebook!
Happy farming!
Your Big Farm Team
