A warning about “free” horses

[Randall Allen]

New players: Please think twice about accepting claimers and solids for free. Just research how much the daily horse expense cost is and weekly boarding fees are. Oftentimes and almost always, it is a losing proposition for you. These horses can’t be given away to Aj until they are 5, unless you want to pay 5,000$ for each horse.

Claimers and solids won’t win you races. They are a money drain. I have seen so many players get buried into a negative balance accepting tons of “free” junk that ends up to be not so free. Then the newer players barn gets dispersed and they never return to the sim.

Claimer gallops won’t miraculously get better. I have never had a claimer jump to stakes or freak gallop in the 10 real life years that I have been here.

[Mark Mclaughlin]

taken down, sorry.

[Randall Allen]

I suggested a new type of race condition to The Steward some time back based on a horse's current gallop rating for reduced purses and no points. Claimer only, Solid only and Productive only. Got crickets. Maybe The Steward likes collecting tons of horses. I'm guessing this could help newbies get started and give some use to these horses.

I think you totally missed the point here…the point is for new players to not get suckered into getting a large barn’s rejects.

[Tammy Stawicki]

Definitely fell for that trap starting out.

Another mistake I made was picking up horses that made all their money race filling thinking they were better than they were. Basically, some players will seek out races with <5 horses and put their horses in for a guaranteed check. This is perfectly fine to do, but if said horses later wind up on the sales page you might see them and think they were good since they made a bunch of money without realizing they had never actually beat another horse in making that money

[Tom Lin]

Been playing for over 10 RL years and yet I still remember as a newish player buying a certain yearling gelding right after Festivus (I don't think it was called Festivus at the time). Back then you got $1000 for gelding a colt. The seller galloped the horse, gelded it, then posted it for sale for $1000. I purchased said horse and immediately discovered it to be a different career. Being new felt cheated. Never forgot that, nor the person I purchased it from, although it seems he has.

[John Smith]

I used to purchase horses for $1 just to fill unfilled races at TP, no matter the gallop. But yes, after Trial Park these horses mostly don't earn their keep and I still fill like I am purging some 3/4 sim seasons later.

I bought the Pensioner Classic winner the year I was in it for $1, but think it was an allowance horse at the time.

Never know what people need horses for, but it is a valid warning - they'll most likely need to be purged after your stint at TP.

[Gwen Morse]

New players: Please think twice about accepting claimers and solids for free. Just research how much the daily horse expense cost is and weekly boarding fees are. Oftentimes and almost always, it is a losing proposition for you. These horses can’t be given away to Aj until they are 5, unless you want to pay 5,000$ for each horse.

Claimers and solids won’t win you races. They are a money drain. I have seen so many players get buried into a negative balance accepting tons of “free” junk that ends up to be not so free. Then the newer players barn gets dispersed and they never return to the sim.

Claimer gallops won’t miraculously get better. I have never had a claimer jump to stakes or freak gallop in the 10 real life years that I have been here.

If a new player has a horse they don't want, they can pension it and give it away for free to Rochelle Bos. She's our local good Samaritan. Contact her for more information. She's very friendly!

Solids can earn money/win claiming races. Like every gallop rating "it depends" (is it a good solid or a bad solid?). There's no need to seek them out but if you already have some solids and don't know what to do with them - Alaska has a whole circuit of claiming races to try them in.

Trial Park is very tricky for new players. Every season a small group of players absolutely dominate the races. If you're not a top Novice player already, consider moving some of your horses away from Trial Park and seeing if you can make money in smaller tracks around the sim.

I had a *lot* of trouble making money at TP my first season. So I looked at all the nice gift horses people had given me and said to myself "Self, these horses were making money when they weren't at Trial Park. Why don't we send them back to the tracks they used to make money at?" For TBs, I found parking my horses in Peyto Southeast and then sending them to the maidens and conditionals that they qualified for within 1000 miles was easier and more lucrative than fighting for 5th place checks at TP. I took those race earnings, bought better horses, and came back and smashed it my second season at TP.

If it's any comfort the top Novices will likely overextend themselves from their TP success and crash and burn when they graduate to being Juniors. If you get experience in the 'real' sim now, you're less likely to be shell-shocked when you're a Junior or Intermediate player.

[Vicki Johnson]

Guess I am one of those social deviants offering claimers for free. But I did say would take them back when person done with them. I personally made money off the "slower" ones in Trial park but definitely didn't make the mark later. Comments from a horse hoarder of all speed levels -sloth speed to getting to turtle speed.

[Kelly Haggerty]

New players: Please think twice about accepting claimers and solids for free. Just research how much the daily horse expense cost is and weekly boarding fees are. Oftentimes and almost always, it is a losing proposition for you. These horses can’t be given away to Aj until they are 5, unless you want to pay 5,000$ for each horse.

Claimers and solids won’t win you races. They are a money drain. I have seen so many players get buried into a negative balance accepting tons of “free” junk that ends up to be not so free. Then the newer players barn gets dispersed and they never return to the sim.

Claimer gallops won’t miraculously get better. I have never had a claimer jump to stakes or freak gallop in the 10 real life years that I have been here.

If a new player has a horse they don't want, they can pension it and give it away for free to Rochelle Bos. She's our local good Samaritan. Contact her for more information. She's very friendly!

Solids can earn money/win claiming races. Like every gallop rating "it depends" (is it a good solid or a bad solid?). There's no need to seek them out but if you already have some solids and don't know what to do with them - Alaska has a whole circuit of claiming races to try them in.

Trial Park is very tricky for new players. Every season a small group of players absolutely dominate the races. If you're not a top Novice player already, consider moving some of your horses away from Trial Park and seeing if you can make money in smaller tracks around the sim.

I had a *lot* of trouble making money at TP my first season. So I looked at all the nice gift horses people had given me and said to myself "Self, these horses were making money when they weren't at Trial Park. Why don't we send them back to the tracks they used to make money at?" For TBs, I found parking my horses in Peyto Southeast and then sending them to the maidens and conditionals that they qualified for within 1000 miles was easier and more lucrative than fighting for 5th place checks at TP. I took those race earnings, bought better horses, and came back and smashed it my second season at TP.

If it's any comfort the top Novices will likely overextend themselves from their TP success and crash and burn when they graduate to being Juniors. If you get experience in the 'real' sim now, you're less likely to be shell-shocked when you're a Junior or Intermediate player.

This! Don't be afraid to venture out of TP, especially for state-bred, claiming, etc. Sometimes it is easier.


PS- def check out the horses Mr Lord Rich sells. I've never seen him misrepresent anything. They aren't likely to jump up and be G1 horses, but they should earn checks.