Wiki » Horses » Western and westerntalent

When can I start with western?

You can ride western when you:

• Completed level 5.
  
• You have completed storyline 2: The road to Buffaloo.

About 4 times a month a western contest is announced on the homepage. In addition, you can always go to Buffaloo > Saloon to see if there are any western contests. You can then register for this competition and train your horse on the special western page available at that time. You have a certain number of days to train your horse (varies by type of competition, see 'Western contest types'), after which the competition will be held

There are 2 different types of western contests:

Competition

➤ A western competition is a small western challenge where you have 2 days to train for the challenge. A western challenge occurs about 3 times a month.

Championship

➤ A western championship is a bigger western challenge where you have 7 days to train. A western championship occurs once a month.

If your horse finishes high in the western competition/championship, you have the opportunity to breed western talent. In addition, you can win western coins and special items.

Western competitions feature three different classes, each with increasing difficulty and better rewards:

Rookie

is the beginners’ class, which you can enter if you are at least level 6 and your horse is trained for western. The best 50% of actively participating riders win.

Amateur

is the class after the Rookie class, which you can enter if you are at least level 7 and your horse has won the Rookie class once. The best 25% of actively participating riders win.

Expert

is the highest class and comes after the Amateur class. You can enter this if you are at least level 8 and your horse has won the Amateur class once. The best 15% of actively participating riders win.

A western competition on My Horsez is divided into three phases, each with its own purpose and timing:

Entry phase

The registration phase lasts a couple of days. During this time, you cannot yet start competing, only register. When registering, you can see until when the registration phase lasts, after this phase the competition starts and you can actually start training.

A registration becomes valid once you’ve earned at least 35 western points. Only after reaching this minimum you can:
➤ Buy western tack
➤ Breed horses with western talent

Without the 35 points, your entry won’t be valid.

Entry requirements

• Schooled in western (You can school your horse in western on the western page underneath the saddle icon)
  
• Be stabled
  
• Must wear western tack (saddle, bridle, pad)
  
• Not hungry/thirsty
  
• Healthy & vaccinated
  
• Hoof quality 50% or higher
  
• Requirements applicable to that specific class (see: 'Western classes')

These requirements apply even if the western competition is in the train phase. A horse registered for the competition cannot be put out to pasture throughout the competition (unless cancelled).

Training phase

After the entry phase ends, the training phase begins, which lasts a few days to a week. Your goal during this phase is to earn as many points as possible by completing training sessions in different western disciplines.

Keep in mind:
➤ Each day features a different discipline.
➤ It’s possible to gain no points or even lose points.
➤ Strategy matters! Choose your training wisely

There are different types of western trainings and it varies from day to day which two trainings you can do. Normal workouts are available from 150 coins per workout. The different trainings are explained below:

• Basics: The basics are important! You get +1 training point each time and can train every 2 minutes. There is always a small chance that your horse will give a buck and not be able to train for half an hour.
  
• Reining: This training is tough on your horse, but very effective. You get +5 training points each time. After this, you have to wait for 5 minutes. However, the more often you do this training in a row, the more likely it is to fail. Eventually, your horse may even go on strike altogether, leaving you unable to train for a while.
  
• Trail: This training requires a lot of thinking ability from your horse and also a good dose of concentration. This training will regularly fail... However, if it succeeds, the experience is very valuable and you immediately get +5 points! Unfortunately, you can also get minus points with this if it fails. Your horse can't do this training more than 10 times in a row, and if you try again after that, it will stand still and do nothing for half an hour.
  
• Pleasure: This training is quite long, up to 14 minutes! You get +5 training points each time. This training will go well for your horse, the chance of failure is not that high.
  
• Cutting: An exciting training! If your horse passes the training well, you get +7 points! However, there is a chance that the cows will scare your horse, in which case you will have to give your horse more time to complete the training. Also, the training will not always succeed. The training normally lasts 5 minutes.
  
• Horsemanship: How many points you get for this training depends on how well the training went! This could be 1, 2 or 3. The training takes 5 minutes. In principle, this training always works.
  
• Halter: This workout lasts 3 minutes and earns +1 training point.
  
• XL training: XL trainings are similar to the same type of regular workout, except that they last 3x as long and therefore also yield 3x as many (plus or minus) points. XL workouts are available from 1 pluscoin.

Once this phase is over, the results and prize-giving ceremony will take place.

Results and prize-giving phase

After the training phase, the results are announced. You'll be able to see:

➤ Your final ranking
➤ Whether you and your horse placed among the top riders
➤ Whether you've won items/westerncoins

Prizes

The rewards vary depending on the class and competition. You’ll be able to see the available prizes for each class during the registration phase.

The rewards vary depending on the class and competition. You’ll be able to see the available prizes for each class during the registration phase.

➤ The higher the class, the tougher the competition - but also the rarer and more valuable the prizes!

Westerncoins

In addition to items, you can earn westerncoins, a special currency used to purchase western equipment in the Western Shop in Buffaloo. You don't have to win a match to earn westerncoins, but the higher you finish, the more westerncoins you get.

Westerncoins rewards by class:

➤ Rookie: 0 to 100 Westerncoins
➤ Amateur: 0 to 125 Westerncoins
➤ Expert: 0 to 150 Westerncoins

Bonus for 1st place:

➤ Rookie: +10 Westerncoins
➤ Amateur: +15 Westerncoins
➤ Expert: +25 Westerncoins

Titles

If your horse places among the winners, it will receive a competition mention on its profile. If you belong to the top 3, your horse will even get a special title on the horse profile which will show everyone that this horse belongs to the absolute top.

Western talent

If your horse successfully completes a western competition, it will be eligible to pass on western talent when bred in the following month.

This ability is noted on the horse's profile See the next section for full details on how western talent works

Western talent

By default, horses have 0 western talent, but you can breed western talent in your foals. If a mare has competed in a western competition in the past month and that horse has a foal, that foal can be given 'western talent'. How many points of western talent the foal gets depends on how well the parents competed in the most recent western competition. You get the points if the mare competed or if the mare and stallion both competed. There is always an element of chance in the amount of western talent a foal gets. However, you can maximise your chances by doing the following:

• Achieve as many points as possible with the foal's mare or mare + stallion at a western competition.
  
• Make sure you put the parents out to pasture within 1 month after the western competition is over.
  
• You are more likely to have high western talent if you win the western competition (in the top 50%, 25% or 15%, depending on the class).
  
• You are more likely to have high western talent if you compete in higher (more difficult) western classes.
  
• If you use parents who already have western talent, they can pass on some of their talent. This is because part of western talent is hereditary.

Your horse can give 'western talent' to its foals up to one month after participating in a western competition. So, the horse does not get western talent itself, but it can give western talent to the foals it gets.

When a foal is born, you can only tell whether it has western talent or not, but not yet how much talent it has. You can unlock western talent by taking part in a western competition with the horse. After the competition is over, the western talent becomes visible. After the western talent is unlocked, you use this talent automatically. The number of points your horse has as a western talent is the number of points that will allow that horse to start every western competition.