Shipping Suggestion

[Art K Stables]

When you go to ship your horse to another farm, while its nice that it sorts from the closest distance to the farthest as the default, it would be great if the shipping list could sort by the distance from the track of the horse's next race! There are certain farms I know are near certain tracks but I think its the most time consuming and what slows down the race entering process besides trying to find the right conditions for a race, which takes enough time I think. I think that would definitely help get more horses entered into more races.. And with the new tracks, I think that's the goal?
Thanks!

[Melissa Mae]

How is the computer supposed to know where you are entering your horse next?

[Steph Lonhro]

if you know where your horse is going to race next why not just ship the horse to the same area, like if it is in kentucky go to any of the farms in kentucky or even the farm in ohio or maryland, and unless it is a long overseas ship I don't worry about it

[Art K Stables]

Mel,
You would have entered your horse in the race (I would have thought obviously) .. and sure you can find a maryland track possibly, but even a canadian track may or may not have a farm close to it.. peyto is good for most, but not all.. the only way to find out is go look up the track, look at the map, see if you can find the names of the farms.. instead a simple listing when you go to ship your horse where farms are listed in the order of the distance from the track you entered your horse into would save loads of time(for me).. the way its listed now by farms from where the horse is currently located is only helpful after a race and you want to get your horse to a nearby farm.. I don't see how having that convenience is not just as convenient when you enter a race.. But maybe I am missing something or this isn't the same help for others as it is to me..

[Louise Bayou]

What I do is open the tracks/farms page and click on the track my horse will be running at. Once there it shows the closest farms.

[Art K Stables]

yes, when entering a bunch of horses, which is easier?

A. clicking on the ship to by a horse which then shows you a bunch of farms listed in a way that in no way helps you, then having to go to the tracks and farms, clicking on the track, finding the farm that is close, then going back to the horse and shipping it to the farm you saw made mention of? OR....

B. A sort on the very first list of farms that shows you the closest farm to the track of the horse's next upcoming race and clicking to it?

This really isn't rocket science and its pretty obvious to me that what I am suggesting makes things easier, but if no one is interested, neither am I.

[Sarah Chase]

My 2 cents - it wouldn't be convenient for me at all because I give my horses at least 3 weeks in between races, so after a horse has run in a race, I have not entered it in its next race yet. I always ship to farms between races, so it's convenient for me the way it is because I ship to the closest farm immediately after a race, and then when I enter that horse again in a couple of weeks, I eventually ship it directly to the track from the farm it's currently at.

[Art K Stables]

Sarah,
I also ship horses to a close farm, I would not want that to go away at all.. Right now your sorting options are A/ Distance current location to farm, and B, alphabetic.. I am asking for C/ distance from current location to nearest farm of next race. While you may not ship to closer farms for the next race, many people do and I was not looking to replace any of the current options so your convenience level would be unchanged.

[Abe Froman]

Art, the biggest thing that would inhibit that, which others have mentioned is the fact that someone racing week 8 monday, that plans to run back week 11 monday, the computer doesn't know where that next closest option will be.

[Melissa Mae]

Art, the biggest thing that would inhibit that, which others have mentioned is the fact that someone racing week 8 monday, that plans to run back week 11 monday, the computer doesn't know where that next closest option will be.

That's exactly what I was saying. My horses (as do many others) run on a 3 week schedule. The computer has no idea where the next race for the horse is so it can't sort by distance from next race.

[Art K Stables]

There is no list until you enter your horse into the next race. Many people enter their horses 2 weeks in advance, up to a few days where during that time, it makes sense to send the horse to a farm closest to the track where the horse is going to race. Many send a horse to a farm nearby once a race is over, if you so choose.. until its time to enter the horse, then you send the horse to the nearest farm to the track.. So you would just have a column next to location which is a different sort of location closest to track of next race, obviously if you haven't entered the next race, there is no location until you do so.

I mean I do understand some people have a well mapped out plan for a horse and will have to decide those farms in advance, especially if the horse is planned for big races down the line, and for that what I suggest is not going to help because obviously, the computer doesn't know the farm location for a track you can't enter your horse in a race for.. but for the average horse running in claimers, NW races, you pick your spots as they arrive and for that, my list helps a lot..

Then again, say you have decided which track your horse will race at next, but you can't enter the horse in a race for that track yet because its too early, ..so you have an option on the horse's page that is ship to farm near track, when you click it, you get the list of tracks, you click on the track, it shows the ship to list of farms in order of location from that track and you can ship your horse there from it rather than
looking at a map, trying to find the track from the map, trying to find out the names of the farms around it as you move your mouse over some congested maps, finding the name you want, going back to the horse's page, clicking on the ship to, resorting the list to alphabetical, going down the list, finding the name you hopefully remembered right (early on I wanted to race a horse in Canada and sent the horse to peyto international LOL) and then clicking it.. Were there no steps saved in this process?

[Alex Puderbaugh]

Personally, I don't see the point in shipping a horse twice (once immediately after a race, then again when I enter them). I, in fact, never do this unless their next race turns out to be more than about 6-6.5 hours away. If it's that or closer, that shipping is just extra activity that could tire the horse out that they don't really need. On the rare occasion that their race is farther away, I will ship them to a farm closer when I enter but really, it's not that hard to know what's close. There are farms just about everywhere (i.e. in California, Norway, even Turkey and Alaska), so if the horse is going to race in Cali I go to a farm in Cali. When I'm not sure where the best farm would be, or at least a good one, I use the map. And no, it's really not all that bad. It looks congested at first but that wonderful little bar on the left side of the page lets you zoom in very, very close (closer than you need really) and it only takes about a second to click on it so I don't think the map is anywhere near as bad as you make it out to be.

[Art K Stables]

Hi Alex,
Yeah you can zoom, though I did notice one track not named correctly which was confusing for awhile, and another case where the track and the farm are virtually on top of each other that wont separate unless you zoom just about all the way in. But, everyone has their own way of doing things, I just thought an easier way to tell without zooming maps and then having to go back to the horse's page, even something YOU have to do would be easier just shipping to the farm by the track you intend the horse to get to by a list of farms by distance from said track. Nothing you've said changes that, but if you don't want it, enjoy the map zooming..
I get the sense that just suggesting something automatically must mean that I am criticizing the game, and that is not so. I simply suggested something that pretty obviously saves clicks, but it sounds like some people here prefer more clicking, so enjoy!

[The Steward]

Art,

I haven't said anything yet just because adding more stuff to the already clunky shipping page isn't a high priority, but I'll just throw out there that this is the reason we haven't done anything like this yet - because most people don't enter horses back on 2 weeks.

The easiest solution is to make it so that when you go to enter, the option to ship to the nearest farm is there, not after you enter.

[Art K Stables]

Hi Em,
Yes I understand and that is fine. When the thread had stopped a few days ago I was not going to even bother but someone mentioned more stuff (was it Louise?) and I thought maybe it wasn't clear, but in any case, its all moot and never was a big deal as it can sometimes seem just because of all the chatter..
So, movin on!