SD training cycles about every 3 weeks for E-W horses, so it takes about 6 weeks for them to level. AD training cycles about every 4 weeks for strong PPP-WWW horses and more like every 5 for weaker PPPs, so it takes about 8-10 weeks for them to level.
SD training can be easier, because there's only the one discipline to focus on, but AD horses can make you more money because a lot of the time they don't level all at once, so they'll be in the money longer.
I don't do federations, but it seems like that's just something for awards and doesn't earn any extra money, so entering them would be up to whether you want those. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Yeah the barn manager doesn't do a great job. In my experience, she's better than nothing, but hand showing definitely brings in more profits. For my showing process, on Monday, I look through all my horses that haven't been ready to show at their level and enter those that look like they are based on training, and then I use the showing barn view to enter everyone else. The rest of the week, I just use the showing view and enter those who previously placed well and haven't leveled. To tell if a horse is ready by training, look at their training gauge and if they have 2x their level number or more bars in all 3 traits for a discipline, they're ready to show. They can also be ready if the bars for the 3 traits add up to 6x the level number as long as their traits aren't super uneven.
Warming, with Sleet and Heavy Icing
