Help Tips??

Okay, so I have been playing EV for about 9 days now I think. And as far as I know I think I've been getting a pretty good hang of it for being such a new player. I've read most of the posts on the 'Help Me' threads, read all the Help Me info at the top and read through most of the game guides on the forums as well.

I have figured out how to handle Riding Schools and Showing, and I've been trying to do a mix of the two (Riding school one day, showing the next, and sometimes 5 in school and 5 in showing). I've learned how to match up treats to the horses specialty to help improve those stats. To train them every day in their specialty. To have them equipped with all of the tack. Etc 

However I just noticed some other player's horses who are also from the Equine Center as foundations... Somehow their horses stats have gotten to 200+ when the horse is around 4 years old, or 300+ when they're around 5-6.. 

I've had a few of these EC horses since I started 9 days ago and they're 4 years old now, and they're still at around 130-160 stats. 

I also notice that their horses have won so many more shows than mine (whom I'd originally been thinking were doing amazing). 

Anyways, what are some tips to getting them to improve on Stats faster?

Am I missing something?

Or are the horses I randomly picked up all just not very good (That doesn't hurt my feelings if thats the truth, because these are just starter horses and I don't have high expectations for them).

Please help!

Those horses were likely raised from foals instead of picked up at 3yrs old. When you raise a horse from a foal it gets a fairly decent stat boost when it turns 3. That stat boost in turn gives the horse a bit of an advantage in the show ring. They also might be wearing tully upgraded tack which gives a bit more bonus than standard tack.

Champagne is correct, if you purchase foundation horses as foals, that give them a better chance to have increased stats through both foal training and starting treating earlier. If you buy foundations at age 3, they can start to show etc right away but they won't have the extra boost from foal/young horse training, and they won't have had the effects of starting treating earlier.

Champagne is correct horses started as foals have an extra three years to gain stats and do foal training which improves their stats upon completion at 3 years old usually by about 50 stats if all training is completed. 
Tack, training and feeding your horses treats are all additional ways to help your horse do better in shows. You can read a more in depth guide called Successful Showing from here, to learn more about showing your horse to win. you've got a good thing going with your 5 and 5 idea, but maybe you can pick up some more tricks to help you do even better! Your horses are doing great for just starting out.

Thank-you to all three of you!

Would you guys suggest in the future if I were to get a horse from the EC, to get them at 0 years old rather than 3? 
Also, do you guys still get EC horses every now and then to bring in new blood lines or something, or is that mainly just what starters use?

And Sabriel, thank you I will give that another look at :) 

Yep, I'd definitely recommend buying EC horses as foals.

Personally I do habitually buy foundations to bring into my herd, to keep some diversity in my lines and to ensure I'm never at risk of getting my lines inbred (or too closely related to be bred together). Raising foundation horses and breeding them to some of your lined horses is a good way to keep some genetic diversity while also passing along those stats you've worked on.

Thanks River :) 

You're welcome. c:

Well I'm hours late, but here's my answers.
Personally I always buy EC horses as foals because I can afford the extra expense to buy them younger and I personally don't hunt that hard for color so I'm not wasting a lot of money to get those desirable colors buying tons of horses. when just starting out though I think some 3 year olds can help get you going in the game. You can always buy from other people for your experiment horses though!
I buy horses from the EC to add to some of my lines, and buy from outside breeders sometimes also depending on the line and what I need and if there are any horses available that meet my criteria. Some people are really insular about their lines and like to have only their own horses in their lines as a point of pride, I do that a bit with some of my lines, but others I'm much more open about buying other people's stock. It really helps with specific projects like my All Black line of TBs. I wouldn't be able to keep up with it by just buying from the EC unless I spent a lot of money on either horses or color applicators.