Have any of you...

decided to ONLY use your horses in riding schools? Like completely in lieu of showing? I'm not sure what the odds are for stat increases with shows, but I feel more comfortable just sticking my guys in a riding school for a sure thing. Sure, I'm not increasing my player points, but I'm not sure if I care that much.

Anyone else feeling the same?

I've been putting the horses who haven't won anything in the shows to increase their stats in my Riding School lately. Only have been entering maybe 12 horses in shows at the most, but it's fine. :) What I'm more concerned about is raising my member experience points than my player points. :)

The ones who are being shown, they are earning several stats, I'm at least breaking even, and am also making a small profit at least 5 times a week. :)

The best thing about the Riding Schools, the horses receive stats pertaining to their discipline, which is wonderful!!! I also got a plushie from one of my horses bonuses, which totally delighted me. :)

I have several geldings for that purpose.

I have some I am trying out in just riding schools. It seems that the chance of gaining stats for some lower level horses is better for me(imo) verses showing and not gaining stats.

I have one account that I use exclusively in riding schools. The horses are gaining nicely in stats, and I am making money and gathering items. I use peppermints or hay cubes in them daily as well...although you don't get to pick the stat they gain in, they are gaining several stats a day there as well. Have been doing it for a week or two now, one day soon will show them and compare to the ones I have been showing and see if they place better...

I have a few gelding that are riding school horses only. I can be much more selective when I show horses now. I now show only,when the horse is in the top 15% of the level, otherwise they go to riding school .
I like seeing stats go up but there is something very satisfying, seeing a page of show wins. I doubt I will ever quit showing completely.

i bought two store horses.

ones for showing, ones for schooling

they are same treats, same training, same everything except for the type of action they get.


im a person who cares for stats., the higher the better.

i dont care for showing, earning money from shows, wins from shows, so to me, it doesnt matter what stats are high, so long as the overall stats are the best.

its been 9 days since i started this project of mine.
if you do not mind slowly gaining player exp, and certainly dont care for money (if you use your own stable), and only want to gain stats... I'd go with schooling. It's still early in this test though. Here are the results so far,

N1 BDR Show Test - 4 year old Chestnut Welsh Pony Mare
Stats: 123 Points: 14348
N1 BDR School Test - 4 year old Perlino Welsh Pony Stallion
Stats: 142 Points: 2476


clearly, schooling awards stats much better than showing. but everything else is gained a lot more slowly. :D

so to me, a person who cares only for high stats, it seems sschooling is the way to go. But we'll see if it sticks out as they age/progress, schooling may become less beneficial as they gain more stats. Youre definitely more than welcome to stalk the progress of these two :3

I have a herd of geldings I was using purely for show points, as I've been loosing older horses that win a lot I decided to try them in Riding Schools unless they're within 5 stats of a level up. It's been earning me a nice chunk of money, experience and random treats and the stats go up a little faster (The geldings don't get treats themselves, so any stat gain is from schooling now!)
Schooling is nice for lower levels but I gain many more stats, points and money from showing my upper level horses so I don't think it's something I'd ever switch over to completely. It's a nice medium for players who are struggling though.

@PotatoRen -

What a fantastic idea! I'm certainly going to set up a division of horses entirely focussed on schooling ~ I too care mainly about stats rather than points/wins/money. Glad I read this post xD

I have taken to retiring horses from showing at 20 (although I have some younger than that currently retired) and sticking them in riding school for the last two weeks. Gives me all the benefits of items, etc., but doesn't cost me the money to show a horse that I'm no longer breeding.

The other benefit is that pregnant mares can continue in riding school throughout foaling.

I've just been putting all of mine in the riding school, simply because I started to show only at the top of their stat bracket, and I've been too lazy to go through them all. At least I know they're getting some form of stats that way.

Potato Ren - what method are you using to show your horse in this comparison? Hand showing, or one of the auto show options? I've found that hand showing specifically for stats is still more effective than schooling unless the horse has really high non-specialty stats. But, if you are using auto show, definitely schooling gives a more consistent increase in stats, due to the chance of entering shows that don't have enough entries to give stats, or ones that have so many entries that you are unlikely to make the top three.

I put my horses with high non-specialty stats (90 total and up) in the school, plus any retirees or mares who are about to give birth.