All About Equipment

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The Admin
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All About Equipment

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Equipment in SIM refers to devices that can correct behavioral problems, or assist with health issues. There are nine possible pieces of equipment (five possible for Standardbred trotters and pacers). A horse never needs more than two pieces of equipment to run at its best. Some horses just need one piece of equipment, and there are a rare few that don't need any equipment.

If a horse has unnecessary equipment, or wrong equipment, it can compromise its chances in a race, and also negatively effect its time in a workout. It is up to the player to find the right piece, or combination of pieces, that each horse requires. On the horse's Change Equipment page (link is off the horse's individual page), you can set whether the horse needs one piece or none, in addition to the equipment it actually needs. Or, you can also just set "Correct Equipment," which will cause an asterisk to appear next to the equipment across the game, denoting that you believe it is correct and that you are done setting it.


Behavioral Equipment Pieces
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Blinkers - A fabric “hood” placed over the upper half of a horse’s face, with ear holes and eye holes. A small plastic “cup” is placed around the back half of the eye-hole; the further out this cup extends, the more restricted the horse’s vision. Blinkers help keeps the horse from being distracted, so that he'll run straight.

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Ear Muffs - A form of blinkers, except instead of cutting earhole pockets in the blinkers, a type of “hood” is sewn on for the ears to fit into. This generally reduces the horse’s ability to hear crowd noise. Ear Muffs can help settle a highly nervous horse.

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Figure-8 - A special type of bridle that affords a jockey more control over the horse than the standard bridle.

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No Whip - Sometimes a horse can shy away from being hit with a whip, or otherwise rebel against being hit. Therefore, "no whip" means the jockey won't use a whip on the horse.

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Shadow Roll - A roll of fleece fabric placed across the noseband of a horse’s bridle, which prevents the horse from seeing the ground directly in front of his feet. Sometimes horses spook from seeing shadows on the ground, and a shadow roll prevents such.

Sure Win Rubber Bit Holder (Thoroughbreds only) - Gives the rider more control of an aggressive horse Only affects horses born or created in Y44 on

Ring Bit (Appaloosas/Arabians/Paints/Quarter Horses only) - Gives the rider more control of an aggressive horse Only affects horses born or created in Y44 on

Blind Bridle (Standardbreds only) - Serves the save purpose as blinkers.

Head Pole (Standardbreds only) - A pole that extends from the harness to the bridle, that helps keep the horse's head straight.

Martingale (Standardbreds only) - A strap of leather that sits around the shoulders/chest and offers more control. Only affects horses born or created in Y44 on


Health-Related Equipment Pieces
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Front Bandages - Wraps on the cannon bones that can provide support for a horse that gets sore in the front legs.
Hind Bandages - Wraps on the hind legs that can provide support for a horse that get sore in the hind legs; and also can help prevent a horse from "running down" and scraping its hind heels.

Lasix - A pre-race medication that prevent pulmonary bleeding. Bleeding during a race would cause the horse to perform poorly.

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Tongue Tie - A cloth or rubber-band strap that loops over the top of a horse's tongue and ties under his chin. It prevents "playing with the bit", which could possibly cause the horse to swallow his tongue or "flipping his palette", thereby blocking his airway.

Boots (Standardbreds Only) - Sturdy coverings on the horse's lower legs that offer protection, if the horse's legs hit against each other.


How To Find the Equipment Your Horse Needs
You can pick one of the methods below, or use them in combination, in order to find what equipment (if any) is needed for your horse.

Ask About Equipment (also known as an "equipment check") - This costs 500 game points and is accessed via the "Train This Horse" option on the horse's page. Upon paying the 500 game points, assistant trainer Mary Weather will give you one piece of equipment that the horse needs. If the horse doesn't need any equipment, she will say so. If the horse needs a second piece of equipment, she'll tell you such. If she tells you that she will need to "observe the horse in training to try to figure it out", then that means the second piece needed is a behavioral piece. If she tells you "I don't think I can help you with that", then that means the second piece needed is a health-related piece.

Galloping - This costs nothing, and might randomly reveal a behavioral piece, if one is needed for that horse. It will never be the same piece as the one revealed by an equipment check.

Teach Horse to Jump - This costs nothing, and might randomly reveal a behavioral piece, if one is needed for that horse. It will never be the same piece as the one revealed by an equipment check.

Vetting - For the cost of a veterinarian check ($500 for New Players, $700 for Juniors, and $1000 for everyone else), Dr. Hacklu might randomly reveal a health-related piece of equipment, if one is needed for that horse. It will never be the same piece as the one revealed by an equipment check.

Workouts - Horses almost always run faster timed workouts when they have correct equipment. Therefore, some players choose to give horses a series of weekly workouts, trying a different equipment piece each time, in order to find the equipment piece(s) needed. For players that have first done an equipment check, they'll equip a horse with the known piece, and then work the horse with alternating second pieces (whether behavioral pieces or health-related pieces, as indicated by the equipment check) to see which combination results in the fastest timed work.

Running Lines - There can be hints given about equipment needs in the running lines of races. However, this is not a perfect science. For example, a horse that fades in the stretch made need Lasix to prevent bleeding, or might need a tongue tie to keep his airway clear; yet, a horse might also fade simply because he got tired, or because he was against competition that he couldn't keep up with. Ideally, a horse's equipment is known before it ever races.

You can also Ask the Jockey -- see the FAQ
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The Steward
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Re: All About Equipment

Post by The Steward »

Updated 3/25/16
"There's no secret to training a good horse. It's a matter of being fortunate enough to get one."
"Funny how you often regret the stuff you didn't do more than the stuff you did do" - GG
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The Steward
Hall of Fame
Posts: 16522
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Location: So Cal!
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Re: All About Equipment

Post by The Steward »

Updated 7/8/17
"There's no secret to training a good horse. It's a matter of being fortunate enough to get one."
"Funny how you often regret the stuff you didn't do more than the stuff you did do" - GG
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