Quitting With a Horse - How to Quit

Original article written by Regina Moore posted 13 years 2 weeks ago

You’ve decided you no longer want a horse in your racing barn. How do you get rid of it?

The most common method of parting company is to put the horse up for sale. I’ve written a separate article on the subject of selling.

Here are your other options.

GREENER PASTURES
On every horse’s page is the option to send it to Greener Pastures. It neither costs money, nor earns you any money, to “GP” a horse. It’s simply a quick, convenient way of removing a horse from your barn.

When a horse is sent to Greener Pastures, it shows being owned by Alexandra Jaysman, the computer. Since the computer is controlled by The Steward, the horse is now hers to do with as she pleases. For example, if one pensions a horse before GPing it, with the intention that the horse can’t be raced by another player, it’s possible that The Steward might un-pension the horse, if she thinks it could be worthwhile for another player, and she'll then put it up on the sales list for new players.

Some horses sent to GP end up on the sales list for new players, some don’t. I don’t know what the criteria is for determining which do and which don’t. In all cases, the price is $1000. However, at the end of the year, all horses owned by Alexandra Jaysman are put up for sale on the general sales list, super cheap ($100 last year), so anyone can buy them. The horses that don’t sell at the end of a week or so are then eliminated from the game, and will show “deceased” when one clicks on them. (Also note that any player can, at any time, request to buy a horse from the Alexandra Jaysman listing. See the FAQs for more details.)

So, be aware that sending a horse to Greener Pastures doesn't necessarily mean the horse will be metaphorically romping around a green pasture the remainder of his days.

Greener Pastures has been a controversial subject in the past, as some players view it as sending a horse to slaughter. Some breeders, in the distant past, have even gone so far as to offer to pay $5000 to buy back their homebreds from players who no longer want them, rather than see those horses GP’d. Another potential negative about GPing horses is that The Steward sometimes gets flustered with dealing with the thousands of horses that get sent there – especially youngsters that she feels were given up on too soon -- which puts her in a position of having to make decisions about them.

Still, if there were something “wrong” with sending a horse to Greener Pastures, then the option obviously wouldn’t exist in the game. If you want to GP a horse, then do so. If the idea makes you uncomfortable, then don’t, and choose another method for removing the horse from your racing barn.


YOUR OWN PASTURE - RETAINING OWNERSHIP OF RETIRED HORSES
If you want to keep ownership of a horse after deciding to end its racing career, you can pension it by selecting that choice from the horse’s page. The horse then is shown in the “pasture” on your homepage. If you’re beyond your newbie status, you should already know you get charged a $5 stall fee every day for each horse you own. When a horse is in your pasture, there is no longer a daily $5 fee.

However, there is a board fee, assuming you don’t own your own farm. You’ll want to be sure your horse is at a farm that charges the minimum $5 weekly board after you pension it, so its upkeep is minimal. (A horse at a $5 farm will cost $80 per game year.)

Horses at pasture can have some fun second careers. These career choices are:

1. Being a lead pony. The ability to train horses via “ponying” is relatively new, so I can’t speak to how or when best to use it. Just know that both the pony and the racehorse to be ponied need to be located at the same farm or track. So, a pony might need to be shipped.

2. Being in competitions. If you choose to make your pastured horse an “eventer” or a “rodeo horse”, then the computer runs periodic competitions, and 1st, 2nd , and 3rd places are randomly chosen from that pool of horses, along with a small amount of prize money. You’ll receive a pm whenever any of your eventers or rodeo horses earns any money. (There isn’t any shipping , entering, or other management associated with this. Randomly choosing a winner is something the computer automatically does.)

3. Being a Lesson Horse or Fox Hunter. These are strictly “for fun” careers. Occasionally, you’ll receive a pm telling you how one of your lesson horses or fox hunters is doing in his new endeavor.

If you don’t choose a career for a pensioned horse, then he’s categorized as a Pasture Ornament.

Please note that there’s no way to change a horse’s career, once you select one. I’m hoping the ability to make changes shows up with whatever other changes are on tap for the upcoming Year 30.

There’s no limit on how many horses you can have in your pasture. But if you decide you no longer want a pastured horse, you can GP it at any time.

Fillies that are retired from racing become part of the breeding barn, as broodmares, unless they are then pensioned, which puts them in your pasture. Players are usually eager to breed fillies upon retirement. Whether that’s a good idea or not is a different subject altogether. I’ll just caution that I’d be very leery of automatically viewing any horse as an asset, just because it has a uterus.

Please note that a horse can never race again once it has been retired or pensioned, and breeding stock can no longer be bred, once they have been pensioned.


GIFTING
Gifting is when you give away a horse to another player; ie, sell it for $0. Gifting can be a nice gesture between players, but only if the horse still has some racing ability or breeding value. Would you appreciate someone gifting you a complete deadbeat? Probably not. So, don’t do that to others and put them in the uncomfortable position of rejecting your gift, or feeling obligated to accept a horse whose only earnings potential is that he’s capable of finishing fourth every once in a while. If nothing else, you can ask the potential giftee ahead of time if they have any interest in accepting the horse that you’d like to give them. Sometimes, even if you’re offering a horse that is currently doing well, the other player might not want it, because it’s a different breed or type than what they’re most interested in.


Whatever method you choose to remove a horse from your racing barn, know that you’ve taken a positive step in maintaining the quality of your stable, and in retaining your own sanity.

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