Create and Manage Your EC
General
Once you reach 20 days' seniority, you can create and run your own center. First of all, you should be aware that the reserve of a center is strictly separate from the reserve as a breeder. You will have 25,000 to create your center. It's up to you to make wise choices on how to manage this money.
Here are the sources of income of an equestrian center:
Here are the sources of income of an equestrian center:
- boarding for other players' horses and ponies
- crop selling
- purchasing droppings, producing and selling manure
- you can credit your center's reserve with a diamond or one or several passes
Equestrian Centers' Store
To enable you to build your center and buy everything you will need for its proper operation, Ms. Hubert also has an equestrian centers' store. It is run the same way as the breeders' store, but with different departments:
- Competition department, where you will find racetracks. You may have two, including the one with which you started your center.
- Box department, where you will find Boxes of various sizes and bedding of various qualities
- Meadow department, where you will find meadows of various sizes and fertility, as well as the greenhouse.
- Agriculture department, where you may buy seeds, fertilizer and even manure to make your own fertilizer.
Boxes
You may board one horse per box. Due to the necessary construction time-frame, the number of boxes that your center can have is determined by your seniority on Howrse. Thus you may buy one box for every 2 days of seniority. However, if you buy them with passes, you can buy as many boxes as you like.
There are various boxes with different dimensions. The larger boxes will give your center prestige, given that they offer your horses more comfort. Each box must have bedding. There are various qualities of bedding. You can purchased bedding and boxes at Ms. Hubert's marketplace.
Of course, the type and condition of the boxes have a significant impact on the wellness of the boarders at your center. For this reason, bedding, size and cleanliness are crucial for the recuperation and morale of the horses that are sleeping in the boxes. The quality of your boxes is one of the elements that determine the prestige of your stables. Note that you can upgrade a box and thus make it larger, which will have an impact on the overall quality of all your boxes.
Bedding:
For the comfort of the horse or pony, there must be bedding in your boxes. To buy bedding, go to the centers' store. Once your bedding supply is acquired, it will appear on the right-hand side of the store page in your inventory. Go to the "Boxes" page, click "Manage the bedding of my boxes", and select the bedding that you want to use and that you have in your inventory.
To maintain the boxes and change the bedding every week, you must also have enough grooms for the number of boxes in your center. You need one groom for twenty boxes. The first is free. You need only hire a groom when your center has more than twenty boxes.
The grooms work during the maintenance of the site at 7am (GMT). Therefore, if you have just purchased a new box, it will not have bedding until the next day.
Repairs:
Your occupied boxes wear down by 2% every day. They must be repaired before they reach 100% wear. Otherwise they will be destroyed and the horses housed in them will be evicted. An icon to repair the box appears when the wear and tear level reaches 75%: it is a small anvil. The repairs will cost you 200 equus per box.
Reservations:
If you wish to board the horses of a particular player, simply reserve one or more boxes using the "Reserve this box" icon, which represents a hat.
There are various boxes with different dimensions. The larger boxes will give your center prestige, given that they offer your horses more comfort. Each box must have bedding. There are various qualities of bedding. You can purchased bedding and boxes at Ms. Hubert's marketplace.
Of course, the type and condition of the boxes have a significant impact on the wellness of the boarders at your center. For this reason, bedding, size and cleanliness are crucial for the recuperation and morale of the horses that are sleeping in the boxes. The quality of your boxes is one of the elements that determine the prestige of your stables. Note that you can upgrade a box and thus make it larger, which will have an impact on the overall quality of all your boxes.
Bedding:
For the comfort of the horse or pony, there must be bedding in your boxes. To buy bedding, go to the centers' store. Once your bedding supply is acquired, it will appear on the right-hand side of the store page in your inventory. Go to the "Boxes" page, click "Manage the bedding of my boxes", and select the bedding that you want to use and that you have in your inventory.
To maintain the boxes and change the bedding every week, you must also have enough grooms for the number of boxes in your center. You need one groom for twenty boxes. The first is free. You need only hire a groom when your center has more than twenty boxes.
The grooms work during the maintenance of the site at 7am (GMT). Therefore, if you have just purchased a new box, it will not have bedding until the next day.
Repairs:
Your occupied boxes wear down by 2% every day. They must be repaired before they reach 100% wear. Otherwise they will be destroyed and the horses housed in them will be evicted. An icon to repair the box appears when the wear and tear level reaches 75%: it is a small anvil. The repairs will cost you 200 equus per box.
Reservations:
If you wish to board the horses of a particular player, simply reserve one or more boxes using the "Reserve this box" icon, which represents a hat.
Showers
You can acquire showers to make the horses boarded at your equestrian center more comfortable. Horses with access to a shower in their box spend 10% less energy than horses without one. Each box can only have one shower.
If you delete a box with a shower, don't forget to move the shower first. Otherwise, it will also be deleted. Likewise, when a box disappears due to overuse, the shower in it also disappears.
If you delete a box with a shower, don't forget to move the shower first. Otherwise, it will also be deleted. Likewise, when a box disappears due to overuse, the shower in it also disappears.
Meadows
Land
You must buy meadows from the centers' store. You will use this land as pastures for your boarders, and as fields to grow crops, a major source of income. The meadows available at the store are of various sizes and are not all equally fertile.
Fertility is crucial as it will determine the yield of your crops. It will be taken into account in the quality of your meadows in your details, and horses put out in a more fertile meadow will eat more grass. The latter point will have consequences on the spending of the owners who board their horses at your equestrian center.
Whether you decide to use a meadow as pasture or as a field for crops, its fertility will drop if it is used. To restore fertility, you must let the meadow lie fallow. However, the meadow can only be restored up to its fertility level at the time of purchase. A meadow that was not fertile to start with will therefore never reach 100%.
The fertility of a meadow increases by 1% for each day that it lies fallow in spring or fall, by 3% in summer, and by 0.2% in winter. Land that lies fallow in winter will only slightly increase in fertility.
Pastures for the boarders
A horse needs one and a half acres of meadowland. You must therefore have a set number of acres according to the number of boxes in your center. For example, a center with four boxes must have a minimum of six acres of meadowland. Note that it is better to have more meadows, to be able to grow crops on some of them and also to be able to let some lie fallow so that the soil may be given a rest to restore its fertility.
The cleanliness of the meadows is very important. To maintain your meadows, you need grooms. If you have enough grooms, the cleanliness of your meadows will increase as the days go by, based on how many boxes you have. Note that for the first 20 boxes, Howrse gives you the groom for free so you don't have to hire one.
Agriculture
You can have 5 meadows being cultivated at the same time, no matter what the size of your center or meadows. Crops are specific to the seasons.
If you have a greenhouse, you can sow the seeds you want at all seasons without limits other than the limitation of crops to 5 meadows, taking into account that the greenhouse counts as a meadow. However, you can't grow apples or passes in the greenhouse.
You may install a scarecrow in your fields, which keeps pests away and increases your crop yield by 50%.
Crops and their season
In spring you can grow:
To earn equus, you can sell your harvest to the equestrian center store.
There are three specific cases:
To make your own fertilizer at a lower cost, buy manure from the center's store. It is available in accordance with what the breeders sell. You need 25 kg of manure to make fertilizer for 3 acres of land. Once you have purchased this quantity, you can transform the manure into fertilizer on the "Meadows" page.
To harvest a crop, click "Harvest the crop". You have twenty days to do this after the crop has come to maturity.
Once the harvest is over, the meadow will lie fallow to let the ground rest. You can then use this meadow to grow crops again, or for pasturing horses boarded at the equestrian center.
You must buy meadows from the centers' store. You will use this land as pastures for your boarders, and as fields to grow crops, a major source of income. The meadows available at the store are of various sizes and are not all equally fertile.
Fertility is crucial as it will determine the yield of your crops. It will be taken into account in the quality of your meadows in your details, and horses put out in a more fertile meadow will eat more grass. The latter point will have consequences on the spending of the owners who board their horses at your equestrian center.
Whether you decide to use a meadow as pasture or as a field for crops, its fertility will drop if it is used. To restore fertility, you must let the meadow lie fallow. However, the meadow can only be restored up to its fertility level at the time of purchase. A meadow that was not fertile to start with will therefore never reach 100%.
The fertility of a meadow increases by 1% for each day that it lies fallow in spring or fall, by 3% in summer, and by 0.2% in winter. Land that lies fallow in winter will only slightly increase in fertility.
Pastures for the boarders
A horse needs one and a half acres of meadowland. You must therefore have a set number of acres according to the number of boxes in your center. For example, a center with four boxes must have a minimum of six acres of meadowland. Note that it is better to have more meadows, to be able to grow crops on some of them and also to be able to let some lie fallow so that the soil may be given a rest to restore its fertility.
The cleanliness of the meadows is very important. To maintain your meadows, you need grooms. If you have enough grooms, the cleanliness of your meadows will increase as the days go by, based on how many boxes you have. Note that for the first 20 boxes, Howrse gives you the groom for free so you don't have to hire one.
Agriculture
You can have 5 meadows being cultivated at the same time, no matter what the size of your center or meadows. Crops are specific to the seasons.
If you have a greenhouse, you can sow the seeds you want at all seasons without limits other than the limitation of crops to 5 meadows, taking into account that the greenhouse counts as a meadow. However, you can't grow apples or passes in the greenhouse.
You may install a scarecrow in your fields, which keeps pests away and increases your crop yield by 50%.
Crops and their season
In spring you can grow:
- Carrots, 9 days to maturity
- Barley, 10 days to maturity
- Oat, 11 days to maturity
- Flax, 8 days to maturity
- Wheat, 9 days to maturity
- Turnips, 7 days to maturity
- Passes, which take 30 days. To grow passes, you must have a large fertile meadow of 15 acres and natural fertilizer.
- Apples, which take 30 days. Once the seeds are planted, you can harvest apples every fall.
To earn equus, you can sell your harvest to the equestrian center store.
There are three specific cases:
- Carrots, which cannot be sold, are available to the boarders at your center and will give your center a little more prestige.
- Instead of selling flax and straw, you can keep it to use as bedding
- Go to the marketplace to buy the seeds and fertilizer that you want to use.
- Go to the meadow page.
- If the meadow is already being used as pasture, click "Fallow", then click "Start a crop".
- Select the seeds and fertilizer for this meadow.
- Confirm. The seeds have now been planted!
To make your own fertilizer at a lower cost, buy manure from the center's store. It is available in accordance with what the breeders sell. You need 25 kg of manure to make fertilizer for 3 acres of land. Once you have purchased this quantity, you can transform the manure into fertilizer on the "Meadows" page.
To harvest a crop, click "Harvest the crop". You have twenty days to do this after the crop has come to maturity.
Once the harvest is over, the meadow will lie fallow to let the ground rest. You can then use this meadow to grow crops again, or for pasturing horses boarded at the equestrian center.
Employee's
To run your center, you need employees. There are several different jobs on Howrse:
To put together the staff of your center, go to the "Employees" page. It will take some time to build your team. Remember to integrate your employees in the life of your center, to ensure their loyalty so that you will need to use temp workers as little as possible.
The salary that you pay your employees also has an impact on the prestige of your center. The prestige will be higher if you pay your employees the top salary.
You can work at your own center. The simplest way to do this is to make yourself a reserved job offer by putting your identifier in the space reserved to this effect. A center may not hire more than two farriers or two saddlers.
To ensure the loyalty of employees who've been working for you for more than 10 days, you can offer them a 45-equus bonus which can be added to the maximum salary for their profession.
- Grooms take care of horses, change the bedding and maintain the meadows. One groom can take care of 20 boxes.
- Farriers shoe the horses boarding in your center. They help increase the quality of care provided in your center. Farriers can work in no more than 1 equestrian center at a time.
- Riding instructors allow you to provide riding lessons, a source of income for the boarders. Lessons count towards your center's prestige. One riding instructor can handle 30 boxes.
- Saddlers provide bridles and saddles for the boarders in your equestrian center with the same specialty as your center. Saddlers can work in no more than 1 equestrian center at a time.
To put together the staff of your center, go to the "Employees" page. It will take some time to build your team. Remember to integrate your employees in the life of your center, to ensure their loyalty so that you will need to use temp workers as little as possible.
The salary that you pay your employees also has an impact on the prestige of your center. The prestige will be higher if you pay your employees the top salary.
You can work at your own center. The simplest way to do this is to make yourself a reserved job offer by putting your identifier in the space reserved to this effect. A center may not hire more than two farriers or two saddlers.
To ensure the loyalty of employees who've been working for you for more than 10 days, you can offer them a 45-equus bonus which can be added to the maximum salary for their profession.