Equestrian Festival Rules

Amateur vs Professional

The first decision you make in Eqfest, is to join as an amateur or a professional. You may pick either one, and can switch later on during the game. There are advantages and disadvantages to each.

As An Amateur...

If you choose to be an amateur, this means that you will only have to pay a flat boarding fee and a training fee to a boarding stable. You can choose from any of the boarding stables available, but you should compare the costs between each barn to see which is the best selection (Note: Paying a training fee will /not/ improve your horse(s) although it will be a mandatory fee). Choosing to be an amateur may be the wise choice for new members as you will be able to get your feet on the ground and earn some money. Amateurs and professionals may own the same amount of horses, but each must keep to their own circuits for showing. Amateurs also have a higher starting bank account than professionals do.

As a professional…

Choosing to be a professional rider will be an expensive choice. As a professional, you may open up your own barn (you will automatically get a barn, five stalls, and ten acres upon reaching professional status). Because facilities are costly, you may have to take out loans from banks or even go into debt while expanding your farm. Though it is pricey, it may pay off should you become a boarding stable and will have additional income coming into your account. Professionals can only show on the professional circuit and may not cross over into the amateur classes unless they step down from being a pro.

As a professional with a barn, you are required to have a webpage listing your horses, facilities, and boarding packages. Proboards websites are okay, but a custom HTML site is preferred for professionals. Amateurs are not required to have a website of any kind, but may have one to show off their show string if they wish.

Picture Rules

Starting Horses

When you join EqFest, you get 4 equines total. These can be any combination of horses and ponies. You can have all horses, all ponies, or a mixture of the two - but you may have no more than 4 total.

After your joining form has been approved, a staff member will e-mail you back with your horse/pony information. Our EqFest program randomly selects a pedigree, color, age, and skill set from the database. You will learn your horses age, breeding, and skills... but you'll learn those skills in the form of a sport horse inspection.

Sport Horse Inspectors leave comments about your horse's various skills. The trick is, some of the inspectors are full of themselves! Some of your horse's skill inspections will be lying to you. The best way to access their skills is to see their performance!

Showing Horses

Equestrian Festival is based off of hunter/jumper competiton. There is a plethera of classes to choose from in both hunters and jumpers, but the first decision you have to make with your show horse or pony is which they prefer- hunters or jumpers. Nothing in the stats will tell you this, but through trial and error you can figure out which discipline your horse likes. Some rare horses are so fantastic, they can win in both events!

Basic Gameplay

One week real time = one month game time. Therefore, every twelve weeks we change to a new year in the game. The game started in the year 2007.

Amateurs start with $100,000 and professionals start with $75,000. Both amateurs and professionals are responsible for keepig track of their own finances on the message board in the finances forum. Game finances will be checked randomly, and players who have not been deleting or adding funds correctly will lose half their income for a first offence, and 75% of it on the second offence. Plans to create an automated bank in the future are in place, so be patient!

Players also get a fixed salary per month. The value is to be determined by several factors including barn size, show wins, and length of game-time played.

To make money, you can become a professional and open up a boarding barn, sell horses, or win as many classes as possible. Winning classes both increases your salary and Show Season

Horse shows run on a weekly basis all year. The most prestigious shows are in the summer, but there is showing activity every month.

Breeding Horses

Breeding season is from April - June. You may breed mares aged 4 or older at this time, but the mare must be retired from the show ring to be bred. Mares are in gestation for 11 months (11 weeks real time).

To breed a mare, players have a choice between game created studs and player studs. Player studs have been shown in the game, and have game offspring. Game studs may have game offspring, but have not been shown in any Equestrian Festival competition. Prices for game studs are set in the game based on the quality of the stallion. Members choose prices for their studs. There is no disadvantage to chosing a member stud over a game stud, but the aim is to find the highest quality stallion in your price range.

Mare/stud pairings are to be sent to a staff member during the breeding season (you may not breed outside of the months April - June). The staff member will then breed your horse or pony, and send you back the pony's stats. All horses and ponies are born as yearlings, and can be immediately entered in Model competitions.

Surprises and Disasters

These are handed out randomly every month to members. Range from horse injuries, to sums of money being paid and won.

Facilities

Just like in real life, facilities are expensive. You will either have to learn how to consolidate your money, or be required to take out a loan with the bank should you want to open up your barn. If you choose to be a professional, you start out with a barn and five stalls, but you will have to expand if you decide to become a boarding stable.

You can choose to be a private stable or a boarding stable, that is up to you. If you're an amateur and you decide you want a barn of your own, you can step up to professional status and start with your own property.

A list of facilities available for purchase is on the Community Map, along with the form to buy them. REMEMBER, one horse requires a stall and an acre, and if we see that there is a lack of room for your horses, you will be heavily fined.