Warning: I am diving RIGHT in immediately.
Disclaimer, these are my personal opinions and observations. I needed LOADSSSS of 1 on 1 help from many friends before I understood any of this, so do NOT hesitate to comment or reach out to me, and I will get to it when I can! Unknown's guide is a really good one to look at as well if you need some extra light shed in specific areas!
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So FIRST, we are going to divert our attention to a horse who is NOT show ready, and that is where we will begin and the first thing we need to understand.
(All images are clickable for closer looks)
You can see what I have highlighted in red. The numbers I have underlined, are the levels for each discipline. Ignore the eventing level, its near useless in this case, lol. You can see that he is level 6 in all disciplines. But if you look at his bars, think 2 bars per level is what you want to be considered "show ready". The horse above specifically isn't show ready because he only has 5 sets of bars in most traits, and would need 6 sets (set=2 bars) to be considered ready. So if he were a L4 (Level 4), he would need 8 bars in total for each trait involved in what ever discipline we would want to show him in, or 4 different colors.Always remember that what ever level the discipline, you will need DOUBLE the amount of bars in each trait associated with that discipline (D-Mvt, Int, Str | CC-Hrt, Spd, Str | J-Hrt, Scp, Spd). So for dressage? That will be Mvt, Int, and Str. So IF he was a L4, and he had 8 bars for all 3 of those traits I just mentioned, he would be considered "show ready", and you could enter him to see where he places. Again... the traits for Dressage are Mvt, Int, and Str. The traits for Jumping are Hrt, Scp, and Spd. And the traits for Cross Country are Hrt, Spd. And Str. This is something you will want to have written down somewhere for easy access when entering shows.
When you are looking through your easy show page (this screen below will be very overwhelming in the beginning of your show journey, and you will want to give up. Be patient.), you are going to want to find a horse, click on the drop down you use to enter.. which I have highlighted in blue in this picture..
(Again, ALL images in this post are clickable for easier viewing)
You will see what levels they are for D, CC, and J through this drop down and then click on what I have circled in red to the left (for the same horse of course) and see if their training shows that they are show ready exactly how we talked about earlier, in any of those following disciplines. You do not have to show in any specific order in the week. You will count the bars like I taught you above this, and say since he is a level 4, you will look for at LEAST 8 bars in each trait for the discipline. I like to check for Dressage first, then Jumping, then Cross Country. If none of them have at least 8 bars in anything at L4, do not enter them. If they do, toss them in the discipline they have all 8 bars for each trait in, and see how they do. Obviously your levels for different geldings and show mares will not always be L4, lol. Just look at their level for their
disciplines not their eventing level.. and multiply by 2. That will equal how many bars should be in each trait minumum.
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Below we will look at a horse who IS show ready, just to show you what that looks like..
As you see, (we are looking at dressage traits on this horse today, although they are show ready for any discipline) they are dressage L5, and you can go through and count 10 bars, or 5 sets of bars/colors in each dressage trait at minimum. Intelligence even has an extra bar, which indicates to me that this horse is ready to level up soon, so we need to enter him in dressage shows ASAP, as he will make us money currently until he levels up to L6. --------------------
Now that you understand bars (PLEASE ask away your questions and I will answer) lets move on to scoring and judging that...
I will explain this screen shot below as we move along. We will come back to this!
Say you entered a horse in dressage that you thought was show ready or simply looked show ready based on training, and they come back with scores like what I highlighted in red.. that tells you they are doing amazing, even are likely on the verge of leveling up. That horse was in the green while showing, until they leveled up to L6. They made me really good money.No matter what they place, if their scores look anything like this- (Dressage-70% or higher | Cross Country-17 or less | Jumping-20 or less), enter them again. If they place well in the first discipline you show them in on Monday, or are in the green on the easy enter page afterwards? Show them again in that same discipline. Keep showing them in that discipline every day, and every week until they level up. Once they do, it will take them out of the green on the easy show enter page automatically, and you can look to see if they have leveled up in any other discipline. If they have not (this is mostly for level geldings. This means they train and level up evenly with all of their disciplines around the same time), count their bars for the next discipline, and if they can be entered, repeat that process over again until they are entirely leveled up in all 3 disciplines (this is why I like to keep horses who are relatively even in training as it makes things much easier).
Once they level up, their ratings for each discipline will usually tell you how long it will take them to become show ready again.. but this isn't always the case. Each horse has a different pace I have noticed, and that will effect things so just watch them and keep an eye on them when you go through them.
You can also see their latest scores in the easy show enter page when you hover over their level on computer, and if they placed bad, but had a good score? Enter them again that day/night. They could have just gone up against a bunch of horses that were ready to level up.
These (below) are also examples of absolutely outstanding jumping and cross country scores. The horse leveled up in CC and J right after these shows. You will also see what I am talking about. This horse placed 8th in jumping, but scored immaculate with minimal faults. He should have placed better, so I would enter him again the very next day.
This is what I mean when I say
"in the green", or "
in the money". It is circled in blue.
(This image below)
Horses in 8th and up make their entry fees back, so you can always enter them again. If they look show ready, and place lower than that? Give them until the following Monday, train, and then enter them again. Same thing with horses whos scores arent too well, but not horrible either.. but they still look show ready training wise.. wait till the upcoming Monday, train, and enter again. This is also why its simply easier to have horses in AD.--------------------
Next will be quick.. For ratings and how fast they train up, and level...
SSS gelds are slow-ish (we are ONLY talking about gelds here specifically) but not too slow. They can stay in the money for about 3 weeks non stop, but they also take a long time to come back into the money. But it allows for a break to focus on other geldings. I love SSS gelds personally.
PPP gelds? They are right above that, they dont stay in the money as long, but they dont take as long to come back into it either. They can level up to 9 obviously before passing away, and make you the good money. Where as SSS gelds may or may not get there before.. it depends really on the horse.
EEE gelds are too quick for me, but I do have some. Very few. The higher the rating basically, the less time in the money, and the less time to become show ready. I hateee WC gelds anything. They are way too damn fast, and in my experience, you lose more than you gain.. But they are helpful if you want to do member shows. Eury (The Old Gods) has a nice timeline guide inside of their showing guide on how long it takes PPP gelds to become show ready after they level up.. but again, every horse is different in my experience, so I simply keep an eye on the training.
You can also use clinics and trail rides to bump your horses into the money quicker! I don't personally do this, as all of my gelds and show mares are named after their horse ID, so it would be very confusing for me... The only catch, is these are premium features. --------------------
SPECIAL SHOWS!! You want to enter special shows every Saturday!!! They bring in the big bucks, but ONLY enter horses who are doing absolutely phenomenal in what they have been showing in all week. If they are not damn near about to level up, do not waste the money. I mean phenomenal scoring specifically.
On Mondays and Tuesdays, I like to very thoroughly go through my gelds and show mares. Look at their levels, look at their training, and if they are show ready, I enter them in what I think they will do best in. If they have an extra bar in a trait? Find what discipline it is associated with, and enter them in that. They are likely going to level up soon and will likely be in the money that week or so. But after Mondays and Tuesdays I have usually thoroughly gone through all my gelds/mares twice over, so I know who will make me money, and who won't. I just toss who ever is in the money back into shows, and then I pick at who placed bad but has a good score, and I throw them in as well.
If they placed bad and had a bad score? I give them that week off as they are not ready quite yet. --------------------
MARES!!Mares are show worthy, yes. But they will take longer to come into the money like I was telling you with different ratings in geldings? They take a little longer in each category. I would not place them on CS (cycle supressant), as you can toss PPP+ mares up for a damn cheap breeding every month, and make some extra cash. Or you can use them to breed your own geldings later in the month. It's a win win. CS is not worth it overall in my opinion.
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RIDERS!!
I personally only use eventing riders, as I always train in AD. They can ride any horse, and I don't have to spend extra EBs on SD.
You will need to re-evaluate your horses level, and their riders level every Monday after training. Make sure your horse isn't training at a higher level than your rider.
If you are premium, you can use the barn manager for this. Click on your barn manager, go to the second option that will say something along the lines of "Your Barn Manager will reassign all of your horses that are training at a higher level than their rider" and so forth. You will check all 3 boxes available (Trust me, you want to skip fed horses), and hit submit.
You will proceed down to the next option that will say something along the lines of "Your Barn Manager will consolidate your horses and riders. Horses will be moved to riders with more experience." and so on. You will check both boxes (again, trust me, you want to skip fed horses if you do federations), and then hit submit. You will then go to your riders lounge, fire all horseless riders, and pay all of your new ones, and you are ready to start your show week!
Do this BEFORE entering shows, but AFTER training!
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This is relatively it! I will get to any questions below ASAP, and please feel free to PM me for 1 on 1 help of course, and I will do my best to assist!
I will add on if I think of anything else!
Sunny
