We’re excited to share details about an upcoming feature that will add depth and realism to Legacy: a comprehensive horse care and stable management system. This update will introduce several interconnected mechanics that simulate the day-to-day responsibilities of horse ownership, from grooming and hoof care to stall maintenance.
Let’s break down how each component will work.
Coat Condition
Coat condition will be tracked as a percentage value between 0% and 100%. There are two ideal ranges depending on your horse’s career:
Non-showing horses: Should maintain a minimum of 50% coat condition. If allowed to drop below this threshold for an extended period, horses will eventually develop equine dermatitis, preventing them from training, showing, or performing jobs.
Show horses: Should maintain 100% coat condition, which will factor into show scores.
Condition loss rates:
- Pasture-kept horses: 15% per rollover
- Barn-kept horses: 10-15% per rollover
- Stall cleanliness affects barn-kept horses—the dirtier the stall, the faster they lose condition.
Grooming
Grooming a horse will automatically restore coat condition to 100% with a single click. You can also hire a groomer to automatically groom your horses each rollover.
Groomer costs:
- Daily “full” grooming (maintaining 100%): approximately $50/rollover. This option is intended for show horses.
- “Partial” grooming (only when the condition drops below 70%, or every fourth rollover): $15-25/rollover on average. This option is intended for non-show horses.
Stall Management
Horses kept in barns will have a stall dirtiness value ranging from 0% to 100%.
- Dirtiness increases by 25% per rollover if not cleaned
- Mucking out a stall drops dirtiness completely to 0%
- Stalls kept above 50% dirtiness will make their coat condition drop faster, hoof dirtiness increase faster, and potentially make their hoof condition drop.
- Grooms can be hired to clean stalls for approximately $50/rollover
Hoof Care
Hoof care involves two separate components: dirtiness and length.
Hoof Dirtiness
Hoof dirtiness ranges from 0% to 100% and affects injury chances during training, showing, or pasture time. Hoof dirtiness can be manual cleaned with a single click of a hoof pick by the player, or managed with a hired groom.
Accumulation rates:
- Pasture-kept horses: 15% per rollover
- Barn-kept horses: 5-10% per rollover (depending on stall cleanliness)
Injury risk:
- Over 20% dirtiness: increased injury chance while training or showing
- Over 50% dirtiness: increased injury chance while in pasture
Cleaning costs (via groom):
- Show/training horses (daily cleaning): $15/rollover
- Non-show horses (less frequent): approximately $8/rollover
Hoof Length
Hoof length also ranges from 0% to 100%, with 0-20% considered “normal.”
- Hooves grow at 10% per rollover
- Need trimming at least once every third rollover (this actually decreases V1 farrier costs!)
- Hooves outside the normal range increase injury chances during training, showing, or pasture time
Trimming costs:
- 30% growth (normal trim): $50
- Every 20% over 30%: additional $25
- 50% growth: $75
- 70% growth: $100
- And so on
Shoeing
This is where things get a bit more complex—but we wanted to make it as realistic as possible!
In real life, not all horses require shoes, and we’re mimicking that in-game. Several factors determine whether a horse needs shoes:
Hoof condition: Body condition (simulating nutrition), genetics, and stall condition (if barn-kept) combine to create a hoof condition value between 0 and 100.
Shoe requirements by hoof condition and discipline:
| Hoof Condition | Disciplines Requiring Shoes |
| 0-20 | All disciplines |
| 20-30 | Cutting, Dressage, Trot or Pace Racing |
| 30-50 | Barrel Racing, Cross Country, Endurance, Flat Racing, Jumping (any), Marathon Driving, Reining |
Manual vs. Automatic Options
All of these features will have both manual and automatic options, except for farrier/hoof trimming and shoeing. All prices listed above are for automatic care via stable hands. If you manually groom, clean hooves, and muck stalls, you won’t be charged for the horses you care for.
Estimated Total Care Costs (Automatic Options)
Here are some estimated weekly care costs if you use automatic stable hands:
- Non-showing horse in pasture: minimum $65/rollover (if shoes not needed)
- Showing horse in pasture: minimum $130/rollover (if shoes not needed)
- Showing horse in barn: minimum $180/rollover (if shoes not needed)
Balancing Income
We realize this adds to the cost of maintaining your stables. To balance this, we’ve increased job pay and are also considering increasing show purses.
What’s Next
This is what we have planned so far for the horse care system. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this new system! As always, thank you for your support—we can’t express enough how much we appreciate this community.