Help/Horses

The **Horses** tab is a main topic of the help page in *Horse Isle 3*. It covers all aspects of a horse, such as life span, genetics, breeds, and care.

## Sub-topics

### Life Spans

The default lifespan for a horse in the Infinite Wilds is "natural." All horses will live a minimum of 26 years. Some smaller and lucky horses can live a **maximum** of about 40 years (game time of one "day" per real hour, so a very long-lived horse will last a year and a half real-time) but the majority will live to be around 30, with some under and some over.
Gelding a stallion will give him a small boost on whatever lifespan is remaining to him.
A horse in it's last year of life will be "too frail to ride". This is the only indication that the time is near.
There is no way to know a horse's eventual lifespan in advance.
A horse's lifespan is largely based on size, breed, and, as with all things, luck. A smaller horse or pony will have a longer lifespan than a big draft horse.
Foals age at double the speed of adults (two days for every real hour) and adults age at day per every real hour.

Horse Amulets:
Many types of horse amulets are available. Keep in mind that a horse may only wear one of each kind (life or protection) at a time- these are applied through a horse's TACK tab, not through your inventory.
Life Amulets
Speed up the life of a horse, stop their aging entirely, or speed up pregnancy.
**Infinity Amulets.** Infinity Amulets prevent horses from aging as long as the horse wears them. They cost 100 Mobia (so, $1.00USD). They do have side effects, however: horses who wear Infinity Amulets are permanently sterile, and cannot be used for breeding, even after the amulet is removed. If you remove an Infinity Amulet from a horse, the horse will carry on aging from where it left off.
**Geminus Amulets.** Geminus Amulets safely triple the rate at which a horse ages, so one doesn't need to wait so very long for that new foal to grow into a rideable adult. The fast-aging effect lasts only for the time the amulet is worn; removing the amulet returns the horse to normal aging. Geminus Amulets cost 400 mobia ($4.00 USD).
**Gravida Amulets** Can't wait for that foal to be born? A Gravida Amulet is what you want. They cost 800 Mobia (so, $8.00 USD). Gravida Amulets allow a mare to safely foal in one-third of the time it would take were she not wearing the amulet. It has no effect on the mare otherwise.

Protection Amulets
Protection Amulets may be worn at the same time as a Life Amulet, each serving a different purpose for protecting your horse in some way.
**Salus Amulets** Salus amulets protect a horse from injury while the amulet is being worn. They cost 250 Mobia ($2.50 USD).
**Transmutatio** amulets protect your foal from, of all things, becoming like their parents! This amulet must be applied **before** the mare is bred and can only be applied to a mare. **Warning:** This has a chance of giving you both excellent foals and very, very bad ones. They cost 1,000 mobia ($10.00 USD.) **This does not increase your chances of a somatic mutation.** This causes ONLY INHERITABLE mutated traits.
**Adsimulo** amulets protect your foals from random mutations- ANY random mutations, be they positive or negative in any part of the foal's genetics. The foal will always be between its mom and dad, stat wise, and within the color and pattern variations of both parents. They cost 1,000 mobia ($10.00 USD.)
**Munditiae** amulets protect your horse's groom! You can traverse any amount of muddy or dirty water and your horse will magically have all dirt and muck repelled from their coat. They cost 250 mobia ($2.50 USD.)

Extended:
Horses with an Extended lifespan are still sterile and cannot be used for breeding, but age at the normal rate from the time the infinity amulet was removed.
**An Extended horse can never have a foal or be used as a stud.** If you bred a mare before applying the amulet, her pregnancy will not progress and you'll need to take the amulet off for the foal to be born.

Eternal:
Have a horse you just can't bear to live without? You can make its lifespan Eternal buy purchasing an Infinitum Amulet in the game store. Infinity Amulets cost 100 Mobia (so, $1.00USD). You use an Infinity Amulet as a piece of tack.
As long as the horse is wearing the amulet, it does not age, HOWEVER, it is permanently sterilized, and can never be used for breeding again, even if the amulet is removed. A horse who has worn an Infinity Amulet in the past, but is not wearing it now, has an Extended lifespan. To be a little redundant- an Eternal or Extended horse CANNOT have foals.

Overview:
Horse Isle 2 featured horses with natural lifespans on Life Cycle and horses who lived forever on Eternal. Horse Isle 3 allows you to have both! Infinitum Amulets are used to set a horse as Eternal, allowing you to keep a favorite horse for as long as they've got the Infinitum Amulet on.

### Breeding

Always choose your breeding stock with care, as in this game there are a great many traits--nearly a hundred!--that can all be inherited to a greater or lesser extent. The less a horse meets your idea of perfection, the more disappointing your breeding results will be. Know what it is you want to breed for in advance, and choose only those mares and stallions who are already close to it as you can find.
In Horse Isle 3, the genes as far back as ALL grandparents are considered when assigning genes to a foal, and a trait not seen in either parent but present in a grandparent may crop up in a foal as a surprise. Keep this in mind when choosing your breeding stock (this includes ordered horses!) If you'd like to prevent grandparent genes from affecting your foal, an Adsimulo Amulet from the Shop in-game will only allow parent genes to affect your foal.
Inbreeding (breeding a horse to its own siblings or parents) can be done if you insist, but it is extremely likely to result in a large drop in intelligence for the foal.
**Gestation**
Natural gestation in Horse Isle 3 takes a full seven days to complete, or 168 hours. Despite what the timer on the mare says, foals in Horse Isle have a bit of growth and time magic surrounding them- they're rather in a hurry to get out into the world and grow up! So even though the mare says she has 335 hours/in-game days, she really only has half of that.

Surrogacy:
Really want a foal out of a mare you don't own and want to use your own stud? You can do a Surrogacy breeding trade in which the mare's owner sets a fee for the use of their mare.
The foal will be owned by the stud's owner, rather than that of the dam- as soon as the foal is born, it is transferred to the stud's owner and will be listed as nursing until it's weaned.
And no worries! The foal will find a nanny mare in the stud owner's herd, so they'll get all the nutrition they need :)
To complete a Surrogacy trade, BOTH horse owners must select Surrogacy during the trade.
To see which of your mares is currently being used in a Surrogacy trade, click "Show Surrogacy Contracts" at the bottom of your horse list.
**NOTE:** Surrogacy will never result in twins, as the price is just for one foal. Even if both players have Double Bubble as a specialty, this remains the case :)

Performance Metrics:
An important thing to consider when breeding are the **Performance Metrics** of a horse. A Connemara and a Thoroughbred might both have a base genetic stat of 500, but the Thoroughbred will perform better simply because of its conformation and genetic traits. While we touched on that a bit in Inheritance of Traits, we'll cover them a bit more in this section. Keep in mind that while you can train a horse to improve them individually, in the long run it's better to breed for horses with better metrics.
While all stats are important, your horse's performance metrics will tell you how well she utilises training and genetic stats. These are influenced by her conformation and her genetics. There are also conformation penalties, like big horses taking speed hits! We've also listed what you can train a horse in to improve these traits. Training does not have an effect on the foal!
**Positive Traits** - these are in blue on your horse's profile.
**Speed** - How fast a horse will go. (Speed)
**Sprint Boost** - How much of a speed bonus a horse gets while sprinting- doesn't last long! (Speed)
**Accell Rate** - How quickly a horse can get up to max speed. (Speed, Agility, Strength)
**Decel Rate** - How quickly a horse can slow down. (Very important when you're trying to take a big jump or avoid a rainforest pit!) (Speed, Agility)
**Jump Power** - How high AND far a horse can jump. A horse with a low jump power will land you IN a crevice instead of over it! (Strength, Agility)
**Pull Strength** - How many full sleds a horse can pull before they just cannot pull anymore. Draft horses are king here! (Strength)
**Stride Length** - Measures how much ground a SINGLE leg covers. Very important for speed and turning! A horse with longer legs can move faster.
**Turning Speed** - How narrow a turn angle a horse can make. (Agility)
**Reverse Speed** - Measures how quickly a horse backs up. (Agility, Speed)
**Fear Tolerance** - Measures how far a horse will go into scary situations and is measured by the Bravery personality stat. It's helpful to have a high fear tolerance so they don't get scared silly by everyday things. (Intelligence)
**Negative Traits** - these are in red on your horse's profile.
**Stamina Drop** - Determines how quickly a horse loses stamina while riding, sprinting, and jumping. (Endurance)
**Reaction Time** - Determines how quickly a horse picks up on the cues you've given them. (Intelligence, Agility)
**For more in-depth information** about base stats and their implications, please read the Performance Metrics guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=4238

The Foal:
Your foal will share barn space with its mom until it's gone from Suckling to Foal (Colt or Filly.) While they're living with mom, they'll never get hungry or thirsty, as she provides them everything they need.
Adorably, if you have your mare in a showpen or pasture while the foal is nursing, they'll stand right next to her!
Rarely, your mare will have twins. This is very special and a mare will always deliver her twins safely in the lands of Horse Isle.
It's recommended that you always have space ready for any foals that will age up, or you'll go over your horse limit when they do and your horses will NOT be happy about the lack of barn space! Your Energy and Travel will also get a penalty hit until you reduce the number of horses you have. It's good to plan ahead!
A foal cannot be separated by any means from its mother until it is no longer suckling and its protective status has left it, at about 113 game days old.
**Foal Aging**
Horse Isle is a magical land of growth and renewal happening very quickly; trees regrow even after they're cut and entire gardens grow in a matter of hours!
Curiously, this magical affect also extends to the foals born in it. Instead of the year long pregnancies a mare experiences in other lands, it's halved, and foals grow twice as fast in Horse Isle than they do in any other lands, magical or no. They continue this amazing growth until they're exactly four years old, and the growth magic fades away.
Providing a pregnant mare with a Gravida Amulet will speed her pregnancy along even further- in just over two real life days, she'll foal safely. (Approximately 2.3 days.)
Providing a foal with a Geminus Amulet will surround the foal with MORE of the world's mysterious growth magic, allowing them to go from birth to adulthood in just over a week (9.3 days, if you're curious.) After they hit adulthood with the amulet on, they'll still age three times faster than they would without the amulet, so time it carefully!
A foal will get their mane in just a few short months if they've a long one; shorter manes or maneless won't become apparent until they're nearly a year old.

Studding:
You may use another person's stud if they have that particular stud available in their store, or complete a Breeding trade.
**Store Studding:**
A store owner may choose to put their stallion up in their store for studding. He will stay in your store, taking up both a horse slot and a store slot. You cannot ride or compete with him at this time, and if you'd like to use him for breeding, you'll need to do so through your store. He'll still continue to age and require food and water, so keep an eye on him!
You can safely remove him from your store at any time and he'll continue his life like nothing happened. :)
A stud standing in a store will also have a counter of times used, letting you know how popular the stallion is.
You can also see the 20 cheapest stallions standing in a store at any Shopping board.
**Breed Trading:**
If you don't own a store or just don't want to have to bother with keeping a stallion up for stud, there's also the option of a Breed trade. This is a fairly simple process!
Click "Trade" like you'd offer up an item and hit "Breeding."
Player A offers up a single mare and the (previously agreed upon) stud fee.
Player B offers up their stallion.
Both players accept the trade if they think it's fair and neither horse leaves the account- the breeding is completed on the spot and the mare will become pregnant.
Each player may only offer ONE horse up in a breeding trade (so no trying to get seven mares bred at once! ;) ) There's no limit to how many breeding trades a player may complete.

Requirements:
In order to breed your horses, you will need to build a Breeding Barn on your ranch (which, of course, means you need a ranch), a mare and a stallion. It would also be prudent to make sure you have enough barn space for your new foal when it is born; the mares of Horse Isle are very particular about their barn slots and don't want to share after the foal is weaned at 111 days old (.3 years.)
Mom and dad also have to be in tip-top shape when you're planning on breeding them. They must be healthy, not hungry or thirsty, and be in a good mood. If they don't meet these requirements, the breeding just won't happen (but they'll tell you why they won't breed so you can fix it.)
Mares can breed from 4 years old to 20. Stallions can breed from 4 years old and then until they pass away.

Inheritance of Colors:
Within reason, and making some considerations for game mechanics, we have included here every color gene we could find as of the time of this writing (April 2019).
**A little vocabulary first:**
A **gene** is a section of DNA which contains the instructions for a trait. Animals have **alleles** ("al-EEL") for each gene-- one inherited from the mother, and one from the father.
Alleles can be the same, or can be different. If both are the same, the animal is said to be **homozygous** ("ho-mo-ZAI-guss") for that gene. If the alleles are different, the animal is **heterozygous** ("HET-er-o-ZAI-guss")for that gene.
If an allele always shows its effect no matter what the other allele is, it is said to be **Dominant**. If the effect is only shown when the animal is homozygous for it (when they are both the same), the allele is said to be **Recessive**. If an allele shows a little effect when heterozygous and a lot when homozygous, it is called a **Partial Dominant**.
Genes can affect other genes. A gene whose expression depends on that of another gene is said to be **epistatic** ("EP-ee-STAT-ick") to the other gene.
In genetic notation, a -- (usually an m-dash) means "any other allele, doesn't matter."
The actual genes are discussed in the Genetics section.

Inheritance of Traits:
For game purposes, we're defining "traits" as aspects of a horse's color or conformation which are not inherited from the action of known genes, and which can vary very widely, and on a continuum, in their expression. For example, "Leg Length" is a trait; legs may be short or long or anywhere in between. "Color shade" is also a trait; a chestnut can be liver, or red, or copper or golden and anything and everything in between. Dappling is also a trait with varying 'doses' of expression, from very strongly expressed to nearly invisible.
Foals' traits will usually be somewhere between those of their parents. A 16hh mare bred to a 14hh stallion are likely, but not guaranteed, to produce a foal around 15hh. But strange things do happen, so don't be overly surprised when they do!
On the other hand, if you have two horses who are perfect in every way but share the same conformational fault (e.g., swayback, sickle-hocks or the like), the foal is extremely likely to share that fault, and may even show it to a more extreme degree. It is always prudent to breed away from a fault in preference to breeding toward a desired trait.

Gelding:
Gelding a stallion will give a personality boost in the Follower stat by 10%, and Easygoing by 10%.
Geldings also have a slightly longer lifespan than their stallion counterparts.
A stallion may be gelded at the age of 4 (breeding age) at any Veterinarian for a fee.
**Gelding is permanent. You cannot get your stallion un-gelded, so be sure you really wish to geld him!**

Crossbreeding:
you will see this term a lot in Horse Isle. So, what is it all about?

Crossbreeding is the act of breeding two horses of **different *types***, OR two horses of **different *breeds* even if both breeds are of the same type.**
This breeding strategy has been used for thousands of years to create new breeds, but it became particularly famous in the 20th and 21st centuries that saw a lot of **crossbreeds.**
**Crossbreeds are breeds that are created by crossing specific *breeds*** to create a hybrid of these breeds. For example:

-- Arabo-Friesian is created by crossing an Arabian with a Friesian.
-- Anglo-Arab is created by crossing an Arabian with a Thoroughbred.
-- Appendix Quarter Horse is created by crossing a Thoroughbred with an American Quarter Horse.
As popular as crossbreeding is in the real world, in Horse Isle it is a bit trickier.

**Should I crossbreed in Horse Isle?**
Depends on your goals.
If you don't really care about the breed or purity of the foal, then yes, crossbreeding is the best way to go. Why? Because if you choose the parents correctly, then crossbreeding is the best and fastest way to combine good qualities from different breeds into a single horse.
However, crossbreeding also has some major disadvantages, especially if you aim for a particular (non-cross)breed:
1) **Foals might inherit bad qualities from both parents.** This is particularly important when picking parents with vastly different traits.
*For example:*

-- If you cross a horse of huge size and huge hooves with a horse of tiny size and tiny hooves, you might end up with a foal that has a huge body but tiny hooves.
-- Similarly, if you cross a horse with high agility and low speed with a horse with low agility and high speed, you might get a foal with low agility and low speed.
2) **Foals might end up as grade horses.** This is often because their conformation won't match the standard for any breed, including the standard of their parent breeds
3) **Unexpected results.** Even with an adsimulo amulet used, you can never estimate which foal you will get with the same accuracy as with crossing horses of the same breed.
4) **Purity might be reset to 0.** The breeding settings of most breeds in Horse Isle take bloodlines very seriously (as do their breed registries), and won't consider the foals to be "pure" if the breed of one of their parents is different from the breed of the foal.
**Closing thoughts:**
As a whole, unless you aim at an official crossbreed, or unless you don't care about the foal's breed and purity altogether (which is perfectly fine, by the way!), it is not recommended to cross breeds in Horse Isle.
If you are breeding for a breed that is not an official crossbreed, and are still interested in crossbreeding, then:
1) Aim at crossing breeds that look somewhat the same.
2) Check parentage and purity restrictions under the technical details in the BBB intro of the breed you desire, to make sure you won't end up with a grade foal and that the foal can be pure.
For more information, read the following guides in Breeding forum:
-- *Intermediate guide: How do parentage, pure-breeding, and studbooks work in HI3?:*
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=10&VIEWID=847
-- *Advanced Breeding Guide: parentage, purebreeding, and the BBB:*
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=10&VIEWID=2965

4Yo and 0Yo: their importance in breeding:
On the profile page of every horse, you'll find a **4Yo** and a **0Yo** button, both of which are useful when breeding horses or picking a breeding stock.
**4Yo: a must to look at**
When choosing a stallion or a surrogate mare, it's always better to look at their **4Yo** profile rather than their regular profile.
Why? Because the 4Yo page shows the horse's **natural** performance metrics & base stats, without bonuses such as tack, training, bond, experience, etc., taken into account. It also shows the horse without tack and without hair styling, thus allowing you to see their **natural, mature conformation** in its entirety.
This means that the 4Yo view allows you to see the conformation which their offspring are likely to inherit, and what their offspring performance metrics might be close to, **within breeding restrictions**. This last bit is tricky, so remember to read about the *Inheritance of Performance Metrics* and the *Inheritance of Conformation* (both under Horses > Breeding) for more info.
**0Yo: important for picking foals**
Breeding-wise, the 0Yo button is geared towards hardcore players who strive to develop a way to predict a foal's future potential. You can see it as a mimic to looking at a foal in real life, and based on their movement, jumping style, and personality, trying to predict what kind of horse they will make.
By comparing the 0Yo view to the 4Yo view of various horses, you can get an idea of how foals mature performance-metrics-wise. This knowledge will then allow you to look at foals, who don't have a 4Yo view yet, and estimate whether you should keep/buy/sell them based on your needs. :)
That said, remember that this will be an estimate, so don't get too disappointed if the foal matures into a completely different horse than you expected. ;)

Amulets:
The world of Horse Isle has several magical breeding amulets that enable your horses to produce foals that look and perform on the same level or, potentially, wildly differently to their parents. It's no surprise that these are two different amulets, though here we'll explain what all three breeding amulets do.
**Gravida**
This special amulet is the oldest known breeding amulet. It utilizes the growth magic naturally present in Horse Isle to speed up a mare's gestation for the entire time it is worn. Removing the amulet will let the mare foal at a natural speed. This amulet is perfect for those players with rather exciting foals coming along... rather than waiting a whole week you'll get to see your mare's foal in 2.7 days! This also allows a mare to be more productive over her lifetime.
This amulet doesn't put any additional stress on the mare. We've done tests- wearing a Gravida amulet feels like eating sugary cereal while watching Saturday morning cartoons.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
These amulets below only need to be worn during a foal's conception... after they're used, they fall off right into your Inventory! **Neither will increase chances of somatic mutations like Mosaic, Bleach, Bend-Or, or Flash.**
**Adsimulo**
This is a special amulet that uses the magic already in a pair of horses to function and prevents the foal from deviating (going out of) their parent's performance range. This means their personalities, their conformation, and all genetic traits will stay between what Mom and Dad would normally produce, with no surprise genes or traits from four generations back. This does NOT mean that a foal's performance metrics will still be between Mom and Dad- due to how different traits combine, every foal will be different. Two horses that have a natural speed of 16mph may still produce slower foals just because of how conformation traits line up in the foal.
Simply put, this means that the foals produced by two long-legged parents won't come out with short, stubby legs or give them some crazy mane from Great Great Grandma.
**Transmutatio**
We're not actually sure what kind of magic these amulets use, but we're pretty sure it's safe. Like 97% safe. These amulets pretty much do the opposite of what an Adsimulo does in that they can wildly change the outcome of a breeding... from foals that are significantly faster than their parents or slower or a different coat color or...
Transmutatio amulets essentially create a sort of genetic chaos in foals. They change any trait they see fit to, and while this is usually something subtle like their ears or mane, it can also do things like increase their genetic subtotal, increase or decrease muscle mass, change their leg lengths, or even give them a coat color that isn't even allowed in their breed! To get really conformationally wonky foals, we encourage you to breed horses that look extremely different to each other.
**So what do these amulets actually change?**
These amulets change genetic traits, or things a foal inherits from their parents. Performance Metrics are not considered traits- they are the sum total of a horse's personality, training, conformation, and experience, seen in real time.
Traits are things like leg length, ear size, ear curvature, body size, whether or not they have white markings, coat color, their personalities and genetic stats. This isn't everything that traits are, of course, because then this would just be a very boring list.
For more information on Performance Metrics, please read through Pathfinder's very extensive forum post here:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=4238

### Wild Horses

Every 1 in 250 wild horses will be a breed. Its purity will be 0% and its heritage unknown, but will otherwise be much like an ordered horse in stats and conformation (though some breeds that have subtypes will be a little skewed, eg a Paso Fino might share traits with a Cuban Paso Fino and that will give it a conformation penalty.)
**How will I know a wild has a breed? I don't ID my wilds and don't have Keen Eye!**
Easy! When you catch one of these rarities, you'll get a POW message (a popup on window) saying "Lucky Find!"
**Does whistling summon wilds with a breed?**
Yup, but the 1 in 250 chance remains the same, and even if you managed to whistle in 250 wilds you would roughly get about one breed. Whistling will bring you biome specific horses and ponies, but they won't increase your chances of out being one of the Lucky Find perfect wilds. Please refer to the Biomes section of the BBB for more details on the types of horses located in each biome.
**Where are they?**
Lucky Find wilds are... very lost. You'll find Shires on the Plains or Akhal-Tekes in the snow, with no explanation as to how they got there. They did not escape a local ranch, nor were they abandoned- they just sort of inexplicably pop up in the most unusual locations. Once you get an eye for a biome's horse types, the Lucky Find wilds are **very** easy to spot- as they're totally out of place!
**My Westphalian Lucky Find doesn't look like a Westphalian!**
Because the Westphalian is a Tier 4 breed, every warmblood you catch will initially identify as a Westphalian- if your horse doesn't match the Breed Info appearance of the horse you caught, it is not a Westphalian. You'll need to re-identify them using the **Best Main Breed Match** toggle. If you don't toggle this, it will not reidentify your horse!
**My Lucky Find doesn't look exactly like the Library breed, but it's not a Westphalian!**
You should re-identify it or get a conformation test if the horse is too far off what you see in the Breed Info panel. Lucky Find wilds should be perfect or near perfect in conformation.

Identifying:
You can identify your wild horses through the Horse Expert building in clubs (the building with the magnifying glass on it. This magnificent horse expert can tell you your horse's genetics, conformation, how it compares to other breeds, and, the purpose of this article: tell you what in Horse Isle you just caught!
**Identification**
This identifies your horse's breed. But if you think that's not a good match or you've caught a Lucky Find that doesn't match the library breed profile...
**Reidentification**
We have two types of reidentification in Horse Isle. The default is **Most Specific Breed**, which matches your horse to the best match in its conformation.
**Most Specific Sub Breed** matches your horse more directly- rather than identifying every Lucky Find warmblood as a Westphalian, this will better match your horse to the sub breed it actually is.

Where to Find Wild Horses:
Wild Horses may be found anywhere but ranches and club villages, as long as it's on land and not on an island that will be sunken by the tide.
Horse types will vary by biome; checking the Library will give you the best idea of what horse types are caught where, from size to color to conformation and various traits, like whether they're gaited or have feathers or are metallic.

Wild Whistle:
For **100 Mobia**, ($1USD) players may call eight wilds to them, belonging to the biome they whistle in.
A Wild Whistle is used immediately, right where you're standing, anywhere save for club villages and owned ranches.
Whistled Wilds only stay around for 30 real minutes, after which they scatter off into the wilds, having lost patience after being summoned.
Logging out and logging back in will not 'despawn' the wilds unless you happen to log out just before the 30 minute time frame ;)
**NOTA BENE:** If you whistle in a public area, those wilds are 'free game.' This means it's probably a good idea to whistle away from other players. As they are wild horses and unowned by anyone, they are unable to be 'stolen.'

### Tack

Adventurers have discovered a magic in these isles that has the curious ability to improve their horses, but one that cannot be applied directly TO a horse. After many experiments (including one mishap with a pair of shoes and the Speed imbuement...) we have discovered that the best way to harness these magics is by applying them to tack!
Every crystal is aligned with a certain horse stat- Agility, Endurance, Intelligence, Speed, and Strength. The crystal colors are purple, red, blue, green, and yellow- the color of the crystal will match up with the color of the stat it improves on the horse's profile page.
**To Imbue Tack:**
This is a very complicated magical process, but we were able to simplify it by hiring other, smarter people to actually imbue your tack with magical energies. We've housed these magicians at the Imbuer in club towns, where they work independently from the club's coffers (meaning a club will not get the money from tack being imbued there.)
Make sure you've got the crystals and gold dust required! It's not so expensive for the first few levels, but it is VERY expensive to max out an entire set of tack (roughly 6 million gold dust per piece) and will require a LOT of crystals!
An Imbuer can improve a tack's stats up to the following for each, in every stat:
**Saddle:** 30 points
**Bridle:** 20 points
**Saddle Pad:** 10 points
There are seven levels of imbuement, so each tack piece can be improved 35 times before it's maxed out. It's fairly easy to see which of your items in inventory have been imbued, as they're the ones with the colorful tag after the item name and the icons will shimmer with their imbued magic! The tack, when placed on a horse, will be brighter than normal, with the edges glowing the combined colors of the imbuements placed on it. The brighter the glow, the stronger the imbuement!
**Plushie Imbuement:**
Plushies will give the same imbuement as a saddle pad, but this cannot be adjusted. Plushies just won't show up in the imbuery window- we're pretty sure that however long they've been in the caverns, they've soaked up as much of the magic as any one plushie can.
**Where to Find Crystals**
These magical crystals are found in caves throughout Horse Isle.

Decorative Tack:
Decorative tack is tack you just put on for fun, but isn't required. These items all must be crafted in a workshop or purchased from another player, and can be dyed any color you like.
**Polos** are usually used to protect a horse's legs from sticks and rocks while riding, but here they just serve the purpose of looking nice.
**Bows** are worn on the dock of the tail and sit rather nicely.
**Bonnets** are a cute piece of tack worn over the ears.
**Blankets,** or rugs to those in Europe, cover the entire body of the horse, protecting them from weather. Those made in Horse Isle stay on without straps, hugging the horse somehow.

Bareback:
You may mount a horse by going to its profile and clicking 'mount,' with or without tack.
Unlike the first two games, you're able to ride a freshly caught horse bareback. This is not without its risks, however!
**Saddle:** Without a saddle, you're going to fall off often and your horse won't move very fast. Your horse will move at a fraction of its normal speed.
**Saddle Pad:** You can't actually put a saddle on without a saddle pad first, the horses don't like it (very uncomfortable!) and won't let you put the saddle on without one.
**Bridle:** While you can ride without a bridle, this is very difficult as you've got very little steering control and your horse just won't stop as quickly as they would with a bridle.
For these reasons, it's recommended that you get yourself some tack as soon as possible.

Tack Sets for General Use:
The minimum needed to ride a horse in comfort and safety is a bridle, saddle and saddle pad (also called saddle blanket, though here we use "blanket" to mean what Europeans mean by a "rug"). All tack must be crafted at a Workshop and can be dyed any color you like.
Tack Styles:
**Western:** This functional leather tack set is the classic set of cowboy tack.
**English:** This sleek tack is the classic set of English tack, and is suitable for many disciplines.
**Where to Get Tack:**
Tack must be crafted or purchased from another player.
**A Note:**
You must pair English Saddles to English Saddle Pads and Western Saddles to Western Saddle Pads. This ensures a proper fit on the horse and the Ultimate in adventuring comfort for all!

Plushies:
Scattered around the underground caverns are very special crates- nobody quite knows where these sparkling crates come from, but they each contain something a horse wants very badly- a plushie!
For some reason- perhaps because they've been in the caves for so long- the plushies of Horse Isle give a magical stat boost while equipped to your horse, similar to a saddle pad. Your horse can only have one plushie at a time. Every plush will have some sort of imbuement on it, but the boost is random, though the absolute minimum is +7 (overall- not per stat.)
The maximum total imbuement for every plushie is +50, or +10 in every stat. A +50 plushie is very rare!
These cuddle buddies come in a very wide variety- from dogs to cats to chickens to elephants, there are so many plushies your horse may have a hard time choosing which is their favorite!
With the **Lucky Plushie** library tome, the minimum random imbuement is increased from 7 to 14 (total stats.) Collecting enough plushie crates will give you the 'Cuddly Collector' award!
Plushie crates don't respawn in the same location, but will spawn continuously in caves as other treasures do. There is no limit to how many will be out in the world. A cave might have no crates or it might have more crates than you can count!

### Pedigree and Lineage

Players may create a Horse Certification- this may be a sort of award, something given out to horses of friends, or, if you'd like, your own breed! This is a very fun aspect of the game. This will also keep real world breeds distinct from player created. A horse with a Certification will have it listed under their Breed, and you can see all horses registered under your certification at the Post Office.
For 1000 mobia, you may purchase your Certification in the **Shop**. To register a horse for a Certification, you can do so at a **Post Office**.
From there, you'll write a description of your Certification standard. For example:
**Magical Glitter Pony**
A certification for ponies that look magical and also glitter. Does not need to be an actual pony.
(in this case, a very pretty looking Metallic horse.)
**Submission Fee:**
This is typically 1/5th the cost of the acceptance fee, however you can make it as much (or as little) as you'd like. This is given to you as a fee simply for reviewing the horse. Unless you waive the fee and delete the application, the owner of a rejected horse will not get this back. (If you'd like to give their submission fee back, simply Delete the certification application.)
**Acceptance Fee**
Of course, any good studbook will have a registration and acceptance fee ;). You'll need to specify what your fee is for a horse to be reviewed for certification as a Certified Magical Glitter Pony.
**Review Submissions**
After all that is said and done, your Magical Glitter Pony Certification can now take submissions. If a horse doesn't fit your specifications, you can reject them and give a quick note to its owner as to why it was rejected. ("This horse looks magical, but does not glitter.")
If the horse is deemed worthy of your very awesome Certification, it'll now display it on the profile under Breed! It'll look a bit like this:
**Breed:** Grade Pony
**Certifications:** Magical Glitter Pony
**Number of Certifications**
A horse may have multiple Certifications- perhaps Magical Glitter Pony, Best Dancer and Horgie (horse that looks an awful lot like a corgi.) While there's no limit to this, you may want to only register them with a few certifications to keep their profile clean (and for your sanity.)

Notable Ancestors:
You will sometimes get a horse so special that you'll want to see its impact long after they've left for greener pastures. These horses are the Secretariats and Darley Arabians of this world- a horse so magnificent, it's written into song and legend. (And has a book or two written about it.)
You may register a Notable Horse such as this through the Library for 25 Mobia, where their name at the time of registration and their breed will be permanently recorded. You and EVERYONE that has a horse descended from this magnificent creature will be able to see how many generations away they are!
After a horse has 100 descendants, you can no longer view each individual profile. You can, however, see who owns the descendant from the Ancestor page on the horse's profile... for a fee!
A few notes, however:
1. We only list the **six** most recent Ancestors of Note in the lineage to keep things a little less confusing.
2. This is NOT a pedigree system. This will just allow you to see what truly legendary horses were used in the creation of your horses- and to see how your magnificent horse has influenced the game months and years after he's passed.
3. If an Ancestor of Note appears multiple times in a horse's history, we have chosen to only list the most recent appearance.

Pedigrees:
We do not have a full Pedigree system on Horse Isle. You are able to track a horse with living ancestor's pedigrees through profile pages, however!
Clicking a horse's History in their profile will bring up by whom the animal was sired by and which dam they're out of. If the horse has one or both parents living, you can click to view their profiles from the horse's history page.
Very dedicated players may create a pedigree on their horse's profile!

Breed Blood Percentage (BBP):
Also known as **BBP**, is accessible from the horse's History page (see Horses > Profile > History for more info).
The BBP lists the 'breed content' of your horse in percentages, and therefore lets you know which breeds had the most influence over your horse. It has nothing to do with breed-identification or purebreeding.
Each horse's BBP is calculated as follows:
**(\*Sire BBP / 2) + (\*Dam BBP / 2) ==> add up percentages in case of a joint breed ==> output = BBP.**
**\*** - at time of conception.
Resetting the BBP:
At the bottom of the History page, you will have an option to **Reset** the horse's BBP, which you can use if you are the horse's owners and if the horse is purebred for their breed.
Resetting the blood percentage will **delete** the horse's original blood percentage, and will replace it with **100% current horse's breed** (see example below).
**This change is permanent,** so be sure about it before clicking!
*For example,* if you cross a *pure* Arabian with a *pure* Haflinger, you will get a *pure* Arabo-Haflinger who has 50% Arabian blood, and 50% Haflinger blood.
If you choose to cross this Anglo-Arab with an Arabo-Friesian who has 50% Arabian 50% Friesian blood, the foal will then have the following blood percentage:
25% Haflinger blood (Arabo-Haflinger's 50% divided by 2)
25% Friesian blood (Arabo-Friesian's 50% divided by 2)
50% Arabian blood (25% from each parent added together)
If, on the other hand, you choose to *reset* the Arabo-Haflinger's blood, you will then have an Arabo-Haflinger with 100% Arabo-Haflinger blood.
If you cross *this* Arabo-Haflinger with the same Arabo-Friesian from before, you will then get a foal who has the following blood percentage:
50% Arabo-Haflinger blood (Arabo-Haflinger's 100% divided by 2)
25% Arabian blood (Arabo-Friesian's 50% Arabian blood divided by 2)
25% Friesian blood (Arabo-Friesian's 50% Friesian blood divided by 2)
Untracked blood:
If the calculation results in any percentage that is lower than 1.56, the 'breed' will be termed as **Untracked blood**. It will then be treated as one 'breed', meaning that the unknown percentages will be lumped together.
*For example,* if you cross a stallion who has 3% Friesian blood with a mare who has 3% Barb blood + 3% Don, the resulting foal will have 4.5% untracked blood. This is because:
Foal BBP = (3% Friesian / 2) + ((3% Barb / 2) + (3% Don / 2)) = 1.5% + 1.5% + 1.5% = 4.5% untracked.
**The takeaway** from 'untracked' blood is that the horse in question carries small amounts (less than 1.56%) of various breeds, where the larger the percentage, the more breeds were mixed.

### Stats

A horse's personality may affect their ride-ability unless they've got quite a bit of experience under their belt (err... cinch.) Experience benefits cap out at 10,000 points. A VERY experienced horse also gets a 5% boost to their stamina!
You'll begin to see improvements in personality as soon as your horse starts racking up the experience points- it happens slowly, not all at once. There's no magic button that will make them learn it automatically; their personalities don't improve with just a few training sessions. It takes a lot of dedication to get one of these more difficult horses to behave!
A **Stubborn Leader** (25% stubborn, 25% leader) may decide that the direction you've chosen just doesn't work for them. The more experienced the horse is, however, the less frequently they'll try and move you about (or spin around in useless circles.) At 10kEXP, they're five times less likely to spin you right round...
This is a unique personality trait in that even if ONE trait is under 5% and the other is close to 25% and the horse is over 10kexp, the horse will still spin, though not as often as they used to.
A **Skittish** horse will outright refuse to move in certain areas or gets terrified at bones, certain jumps, or water touching their feet. Once they learn more about the world, they'll only freak out about half as much as they used to.
An **Ornery** horse will get tired of you riding them pretty quickly and will buck you off! With enough training, though, they'll buck you off less frequently (five times less likely to buck at 10kEXP.) This trait starts expressing at 25% Ornery/Playful.
An **Antisocial** horse doesn't like being around a lot of other horses and riders, and will toss you off to go hide or just have a panic attack if there's too many people there. Once they get some experience, you'll notice that they begin to tolerate crowds more. At 10kEXP, only a horse that's 5% social will just refuse to move in very crowded areas; they'll still tolerate more (up to 5x more players allowed nearby before antisocial freakout with 10kEXP, with the range being 5-12 players at 0% social to 25% social untrained.)
A **Lazy** horse (25%) will slow down almost as soon as you stop urging them forward (instead of keeping the gait you requested.) At 10k EXP, all but the very laziest (5%) will learn to keep their pace up.

Height:
Horse Isle is host to both teeny tiny miniatures and towering giants.
**Minimum Height** The smallest a horse's adult size in game is 5.1hh, or 21 inches at the shoulder.
**Minimum Riding Height** The smallest a horse can be and can still be ridden is 12hh.
**Maximum Height** A horse may get as tall as 22.2hh, a truly mammoth sized beast of a horse!
A taller horse isn't always better, though, as size will often make it harder for a bigger horse to lift herself for a jump or to move very quickly due to her bulk.

Trick Training:
A horse may be taught a number of tricks! Hitting SHIFT + Z will bring up the horse emote wheel for the horse you've got placed. Among these tricks, you can teach them the following:
Shake Hands - The horse offers you its hoof to 'shake.'
Shake Head 'Yes' - The horse will nod on command.
Shake Head 'No' - The horse will shake its head from side to side.
Piaffe - A flowing, trotting in place motion most commonly used in Dressage.
Levade - A controlled motion in which the horse raises the front end of their body and holds it. (NOT a rear!)
Bow - The horse will take a bow, curling one front leg under its body and placing the other front leg out front.
Sit - The horse will sit on their haunches.
Look At Me - The horse will look at you, on command.
Stretch- The horse will stretch forward on command.
Capriole- The horse will leap upward, their front hooves tucked under their chest and their back legs kicked out backwards.
Pin Ears- The horse will pin its ears like it's mad at something.
From this menu, you can also tell a horse to stop following trails. This will prevent the horse from following ANY trails until they're put away. You'll need to tell them "Don't Follow Trails" every time you wish for trail-free riding. ;)
**Ok, that's neat... but how do I train them?**
For starters, you'll need to hit SHIFT+Z to pull up the trick menu and select a grey trick. This is an unlearned trick, and you'll be working on learnin' them something. ;)
Teaching a horse a new trick relies entirely on the fact that the horses of Horse Isle are incredibly treat motivated. Still, this does require a fair bit of patience. A horse needs to perform the trick properly and then you'll need to reward them with a treat! Not just any treat, however...
1 Yum gives a 25% chance of the horse learning the trick permanently.
2 Yums gives a 50% chance of the horse picking up the trick.
3 Yums will give a 75% chance of learning the trick.
4 Yums, the horses' favorite treat ever, will give a 100% chance of learning the trick.
A horse with a lot of intelligence will ALWAYS learn a trick faster than a horse that.... might need a few more visits to an Intelligence trainer.
If a horse learns a trick, they'll gain plenty of experience from their lesson and you'll be able to ask them to perform the trick every time, no treats required!
If a horse fails to learn the trick, you'll need to start the trick training process all over! Please note that your horse will gradually become more moody if they fail to learn the trick... keep an eye on their mood bar. A horse in a bad mood won't want to learn at all! A horse may also do any number of things before learning the trick... which can be just as entertaining as the trick itself.
**Awards**
You may also find that, should you teach enough tricks, you'll be eligible for the Trickster Award!
**A Note on Rearing**
Though some horses in these isles will rear randomly, it is not a behavior we wish to encourage. It is very dangerous and has caused many real-life injuries! **A rearing horse is not a well-behaved horse.** Most players will be content teaching their horse the Levade, which is a more controlled motion and only done when the horse is **told** to. A true rear is a behavioral issue and must be corrected by an experienced trainer!

Base Stats:
We keep track of five base statistics in the game.
**AGI** Agility determines how fast a horse can stop and start, and how tightly it can turn.
**END** Endurance determines how long a horse can work before tiring.
**INT** Intelligence measures how good a horse is at figuring things out on its own.
**SPD** Speed is a measure of the top speed a horse can reach in a full-out sprint.
**STR** Stength is a measure of how high a horse can jump, or how big a load a horse can pull.
In all cases, a value of 250 is average. A value of 500 is as high as a horse can be born with.
Stats a horse is born with are shown in blue, and you'll see a grey area above this, showing the maximum you can achieve with this horse.
Every training session will give your horse 25 points of experience (or 50 with the Equinition tome,) and this is very important! Experience and bond also make up a good percentage of training. Tack, experience, and bond will round out the rest of a horse's training points. The full layout is as follows:
**Training at Trainers:** 300 points (10,000 points in training)
**Experience:** 40 points (0-10kEXP points)
**Extreme Experience:** 30 points (10k-100KEXP points)
**Bond:** 30 points (0-10k Bond)
**Tack:** 60 points
Our more clever players have noted that there is still some grey left in the training bar when this is all complete. That's for later! :)
**For more in-depth information** about base stats and their implications, please read the Base Stats and their Implications guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=3208

Overview:
When you look at stats for a foal or a newly caught wild, you will see the current measure of the five basic statistics we track for each horse. Purebreds will have definite statistical limits for each trait, although individuals will vary within those limits; grades can be anywhere on the map.
Stats have been divided into **Base Stats**, which are absolutes, and **Performance Metrics**, which show how the base stats and conformation and so on all interact. Because of this, you may have a horse who has immense strength (high base STR) but is a lousy jumper (low jump power), since while she has much strength to pull a load forward, her conformation doesn't allow for the upward spring a good jumper needs.

How to Train a Horse:
Different club villages have trainers who can train your horse in base stats. Not all villages can train in all stats, and trainers in different villages will charge differing fees, so shop around for the best deals!
A horse must be listed as "In Training" in order for them to show up on the training list. A horse is given a set amount of points per trait, and each training will give him a percentage of points in that stat. Each horse has a max 'bank' of trainings, or the number of trainings a day they're capable of that regenerate over a period of time. Every horse gets the same amount of trainings per stat- he will benefit most from traits he's already good in!
Every training session will give your horse 25 points of experience, and with the Equinition tome, 50 points of experience.
**But why can't my Competitor be trained?**
A Competitor horse is assumed to have been fully trained, so they don't show up on the Training list. :) This is to keep your Training list free and clear for horses that you're actually training- too many horses on that list could be very daunting a list, indeed!

Bareback:
The best trained horses in game with the most experience, ridden by only the most experienced riders, may be ridden bareback.
**What are the requirements for bareback riding?**
Bareback riding requires 50,000 horse experience and 250,000 player experience.
**WHAT? That's way too much!**
This replicates real life horses- you're not going to jump on an untrained or partially trained horse and stay on them without tack, nor will an inexperienced rider be able to stay on even the most experienced horse. (We mean, you could try, but it's not going to be an enjoyable experience for anyone, and as it has the potential to be very dangerous, we do not recommend it.) At 50,000exp, we consider a horse rather adequately trained- not fully trained, as that takes until 100,000exp- but we don't want to be TOO mean. With this training level, a horse is much less likely to act foolish without tack!
**Is there any benefit to Bareback?**
Nope. It just shows off how much experience a player has, a nice little achievement gained from many hours of hard work and effort put into the game. It IS achievable by all players, given enough time. It may take some players longer to get there, but if the effort is applied, the reward is considered by many to be worth the effort.

Performance Metrics:
While base stats give an overall picture of a horse's capabilities, Performance Metrics give you a much more specific view of how well your horse is currently doing in particular areas. Performance Metrics are largely based on the conformation of a horse. They change with training and the addition of appropriate tack. Performance metrics will give you additional insight to how much a horse's abilites have been changed by training. For stats with a blue bar, more is better. With a red bar, less is better.
**Stride Length** In the game, this is the measure of how much ground a horse's leg would cover from it's furthest point forward to its furthest point behind. The longer a horse's stride length, the farther (and generally, the faster) it can go with a minimum of effort.
**Speed** How fast a horse goes on flat ground at a full, but not forced, gallop, in miles per hour.
**Sprint Boost** How much faster than the previous a horse can go at a full sprint.
**Acceleration Rate** How quickly, in meters-per-second per second, a horse can get to full speed from a standing start.
**Deceleration Rate** How quickly, in the same measure, a horse can stop from a full gallop.
**Turning Speed** How fast a running horse can make a tight turn, measured in degrees per second. So if you have a horse with a 60 degree-per-second turning speed, it will take him three seconds to make a 180 degree turn.
**Reverse Speed** How quickly your horse can back up if it has to, in meters per second.
**Jump Power** How high and fast a horse can get off the ground, in meters-per-second per second in the vertical.
**Fear Tolerance** Horses are notoriously nervous by nature, but some will carry on regardless to a greater or lesser extent. This is a measure of how likely a horse is to set aside its fears because you asked it to. The scale goes from the timidest milquetoast of a horse to the Will Take All Comers fearless beast.
**Pull Strength** How heavy a load a horse can pull. This should give you an idea of their overall strength.
**Stamina Drop** Some horses tire easily; some can run for hours. This is a measure of how quickly a horse loses stamina per second.
**Reaction Time** Some hot-blooded horses seem to react to things almost before they happen; some coldbloods are asleep on their feet and seem to have been so for years. This is a measure of how quickly a horse will react to things happening around it, particularly any directions you give it.
**SLED** These are measures of how well a horse can pull a number of sledges/sleds of the same weight. The more there are, the less force a horse can apply to any one of them.
**For more in-depth information** about base stats and their implications, please read the Performance Metrics guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=4238

### Genetics

We have a great number of color genes for you to play with! Here's a short overview of what they all do. (Remember, all horses have all these genes; but usually, they have alleles which do nothing.)
**Agouti.** Agouti alleles determine whether a horse will have black pigment all over its body, or just on its points. One allele allows the black-and-tan version of Seal Brown.
**Brindle.** In the real world, there are several ways to arrive at a brindle horse; some which are genetically controlled and some which aren't. Since some players love to breed brindles, we've included Brindle as a homozygous recessive *brbr*.
**Champagne.** Champagne is a simple dominant which changes black pigment to brown, and red pigment to golden, in both skin and hair. Champagne horses usually have amber or hazel eyes.
**Cream and Pearl.** Alleles here produce the Palomino, Buckskin, Cremello, Perlino and Pearl colors.
**Curly.** At least two genetic mechanisms are known to give rise to a curly coat. We've chosen to use a mechanism of partial dominance; ClCl is the wiry, "Brillo Pad" curly, Clcl is the usual curly one sees, and clcl is not curly at all.
**Dun.** The dun gene has alleles which cause the dun effect (stripes and pale body), and the linebacked effect (stripes but no lightening of the coat).
**Extension.** Alleles of this gene, simply put, determine whether of not a horse can produce black pigment in its hair.
**Feather.** Unlocks feathering in horses.
**Flaxen.** The homozygous recessive alleles *flfl* cause the mane and tail to be a light blond color, often with darker tips.
**Frame.** The Frame (also called "frame overo" or just "overo") gene has an allele which causes white faces and white spots on the side of a horse. This is a dominant allele; but since *FF* produces Lethal White syndrome, all the Frame horses in the Infinite Wilds are heterozygous.
**Gait-Keeper.** The Am allele here results in gaited horses who amble and pace.
**Grey.** Horses carrying the Grey allele, *G*, visibly lighten as they age. Some turn completely white. Homozygous greys typically lighten faster and more completely than heterozygous greys.
**Hair Type.** This refers to the mane and tail, which may be silky, coarse, wavy, or several other textures.
**Leopard.** This gene has an allele, *L*, which, when heterozygous, results in a spotted (appaloosa) horse, and non-spotted or "few spot" horse when homozygous. *ll* horses are not appaloosa spotted.
**Manchado.** This interesting spotting pattern from Argentina (and Wales!) causes white areas starting on the topline when homozygous recessive *mama*. This allele is extremely rare!
**Metallic.** No one has yet pinpointed the gene that controls the hair structure that gives Central Asian horse breeds their metallic sheen, but we've included it here as a partially dominant, but rare, gene.
**Mushroom.** The mushroom gene is strongly suspected to be a homozygous recessive, though the actual gene has not yet been identified. It changes red pigment to a flat grey which can be nearly black or quite pale.
**Pangare.** The dominant allele *Pg* lightens areas where the skin is extremely stretchy.
**Rabicano.** The exact genetics of Rabicano is unknown; in the game, the homozygous recessive *rbrb* produces white striping on the flanks.
**Roan.** The dominant allele *Rn* produces variable amounts of white hairs intermixed with colored ones, especially on the back and haunches; but always leaving the face dark.
**Sabino.** Multiple patterns in horses are labeled "sabino," but what we have included here is "Sabino-1." The dominant allele *Sb* causes plenty of white on the face, legs and sometimes on the belly and barrel.
**Silver, a.k.a. Silver Dapple.** The dominant allele *Z* lightens black pigment to varying degrees, resulting in pale manes, tails and points on bay, brown and black horses.
**Sooty.** There may not actually be a sooty gene in real horses, but we've included one here because it gives a counter-shading effect that many players find very attractive. We have made the allele a partial dominant, *Sty*, so that heterozygous horses are not as sooty as homozygotes. Some are dappled!
**Splashed White.** The dominant allele *Sw* causes white areas on horses which are similar to the typical white markings of cats and dogs. In real life there are, as of this writing, 5 known variants of splash. We've used Splash-1 here, as it's the fanciest.
**Tobiano.** The dominant allele *T* causes the common pinto pattern which looks like white paint poured on the horse from above.
**White and White Spotted.** At the time of this writing, the White (formerly called "Dominant White") gene has 27 known alleles! We decided to simplify things. In the game, the white allele W produces horses who are entirely white. White Spotted, which we made a separate gene, produces horses with varying amounts of white from very little to almost pure white.
**Rare Genetic Types**
Some of our rare patterns (defined by the RarePatn gene) are genetic and require VERY specific breeding to acquire, but they're not random like the above! The genes below are either hard to trace or unknown as of July 2019... so we made some up.
**Gulastra Plume.** This light colored tail on a bay horse was made famous after the chestnut Arabian stallion, Gulastra, passed it on to many of his get despite having a normal tail, himself. The odd, rare pattern can be found in any horse breed, however, and isn't just limited to Arabians! (This requires RarePtn and glpglp to express.)
**Dark Mane and Tail.** Some of your grey horses may retain a dark mane and tail should they be lucky enough to inherit the genes required for this! (This requires RarePatn and dmtdmt to express.)

**Grey Mane and Tail.** On a dark enough horse, this might appear to be silver... but we assure you, this localized greying only effects the mane and tail parts of the horse and will cause them to grey out. (This requires RarePatn and gmtgmt to express.)

What noninheritable mutations do we have?:
Noninheritable Somatic Mutations are mutations that *occur randomly regardless of parentage.* This means that even if you cross two mutated parents, the foal might be born normal. It also means that two non-mutated parents can foal a mutated foal.
The mutations are:
**Netting.** Also known as "lacing," this is a giraffe-like, reticulated pattern that appears on the backs of horses. It varies from just a bit along the topline or extending further down the horse's sides. Netting always consists of white hairs. A horse must have the **dapple** trait for netting to express.
**Bleach Marks.** This somatic mutation is a lightening of the coat, making the horse appear to have been 'bleached,' giving the horse grey spots with colored rims.
**Birdcatcher Spots.** Birdcatcher spots are white flecks or marks on an otherwise dark body, ranging in size from a few single white hairs to make the horse look like they're covered in ping-pong balls! While it's unknown what gene is responsible for birdcatcher spots, it's not thought to be genetic in most cases (and isn't genetic here ;).)
**Bend-Or Spots.** These unique markings are darker pigmentation, ranging in red to black, typically found on palominos, chestnuts, and even darker colored horses. In Horse Isle, these spots can extend all the way to the neck- or be so small it's a little hard to see, being just a few spots on the rump.
**Tetrarch Spots.** These are white spots on a grey coat, named for the grey Thoroughbred stallion that made them so well known and passed the mark on to his descendants. While we don't have The Tetrarch here, we do have his very special mark!
**Mosaic Coat.** While entirely a chimera in real life, we've included the Mosaic mutation here as a rare, special sort of 'marking.' A chimeric horse is one that is genetically two horses, the result of one zygote being absorbed into the other in the very earliest stages of pregnancy. In-game, this appears as large splashes of color over a normal coat.
**Flash Markings.** This shocking white marking appears as white "lightning strikes" or swirls on any horse color, typically around the neck but it has been known to pop up on other areas, like the barrel or rump!
**Can every horse express these mutations?**
No.
When it comes to lacing - a horse must have the **dapple** trait for netting to express.
When it comes to the other mutations - they all require a minimal amount of markings or the presence of a pinto pattern, *and* require that the coat *won't* be in particular colors.
For more detailed information, please read the "Requirements for rare patterns + which breeds come in mosaic" guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=6702

Hair genetics: manes & tails:
There are 16 different natural styles of manes in Horse Isle, and an even larger number of natural tail styles. All of these are determined by only one gene and four traits.
**Manes:**
**HairType:** a *gene* that determines the texture and 'shape' of the hair (alleles in paranthesis): silky (Sk), wavy (Wv), and coarse (Cs).
**ManeLength:** a *trait* that controls the length of the mane. There are four length types: minimal\* [mane is absent], short, medium, and long\*.
\*Doen't exist in donkeys, zebras, and hybrids.
**The style of the mane is determined by the combination of HairType + ManeLength.**
For a detailed description of the different mane styles, please read the Genetics of Manes guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=3396
**Why did my born foal bald?!**
In Horse Isle, foals are always born with the shortest mane style possible, which is why 'horse' foals in Horse Isle are born without a mane. Worry not, because as they grow older, their mane will grow longer until it reaches its proper length as determined by the ManeLength trait.
**Tails:**
The texture of tails can be either *silky* or *wavy*, and is determined by the **HairType** gene. However, the overall 'shape' of the tail is determined by three traits:

**HairThickness:** determines the thickness of the tail.
In donkeys and hybrids, also determines the *thickness* (not length) of the mane.
**Tail Length:** determines the length of the tail.
**Tail Angle:** determines how high the horse carries their tail. The higher the tail, the thicker and shorter it'll seem.
**Other equines:**
While the natural styles of manes and tails in donkeys, zebras, and hybrids are different from that of horses, the genetic mechanisms behind them are the same. The **HairType** gene determines the texture of the hair, and the **four traits** determine the exact appearance of the mane and tail.
**Stylized and 4Yo**
If you are unhappy with the natural look of your horse's mane and tail, you can always stylize them at the barber (osterley). In this case, the horse will have a 'stylized' tag below their profile avatar.
If you wish to see the natural mane and tail of a stylized horse, simply click on their **4Yo** view (for more info, see *breeding > 4Yo and 0Yo view: their importance in breeding*).

What color and pattern traits do we have?:
Color/pattern traits are **inheritable**, which means that parents who have these traits can pass them on to their offspring. There traits are:
**Appaloosa Traits.** These traits, called **AppyBlanket** and **AppySpots**, together with the *Leopard* and <Pattern genes, control the exact appearance of 'appaloosa' coats in leopard horses. The effect of these traits is visible only in horses who carry the leopard *L* allele.
**Belton.** Belton is the name for small, roundish areas of color which appear in the white areas of horses with *markings* or with a *pinto* coat. The effect can range from a few small dots to numerous dots similar to the pattern found in German Shorthair Pointer dogs.
**Dapple.** Dapples are slightly lighter spots to the rest of the coat, although in rare cases the pattern can be reversed with the spots being darker than the coat, a phenomenon known as 'reverse dappling.' They can be centered around the horse's back, or occur on wider areas of their body from neck to hindquarters.
**Markings.** Markings are white areas on the horse's face and lower legs that are *not* related to pattern genes such as leopard or pinto.
*The markings trait controls the extensiveness of the markings,* which can range from none at all to a wide blaze on the face + four stockings. However, it does *Not* control the exact size and, from a certain limit, the exact dispersion of the markings. This means that the shape/dispersion of markings are *not* inheritable.
**Pangare.** This trait, together with the *pangare gene*, controls the extensiveness and whiteness of the mealy effect in mealy horses.
**Pinto Strength.** This trait controls the extensiveness of the white areas in *pinto* horses, meaning horses who carry at least one of the following pinto genes: frame-overo, manchado, sabino-1, splashed-white, tobiano, or white-spotted.

Markings: terminology, genetic control, and FAQ:
Markings are white areas on the horse's face and lower legs that are *not* related to pattern genes such as leopard or pinto. In real horses, markings are controlled by a variety of unmapped genes. In Horse Isle, however, things are somewhat simpler; markings are controlled by both a single *trait* and a *random* component.
**Terminology: they have names?!**
From this point on, I'm going to use proper marking naming. So, if you are unfamiliar with the terminology, here it is. :)
Facial markings:
**\*Star** = a white, roundish spot on the forehead of the horse. Ranges from a small, fingertip-sized dot to a large, apple-sized circle.
- *Irregular star*= a star whose shape is different from a circle.
**\*Snip** = a marking on the horse's muzzle. Ranges from small to large, and from centered (located at the center of the muzzle) to non-centered.
**\*Stripe** = a continuous, somewhat straight stripe starting at the forehead and extending down the face, often all the way down to the muzzle where it ends in a snip.
- *Irregular stripe* = a curved stripe.
- *Interrupted stripe* = a stripe with a gap that cuts it into two, shorter stripes.
**\*Blaze** = a thick stripe. Can be irregular or interrupted just like a stripe.
**\*Bald face** = an extremely thick blaze that covers most or even all of the front of the face.
**\*Badger face** = a marking that has the outer border of bald face, but the inside is colored (not white).
Leg markings:
**\*Coronet** = a white line that covers the coronary band.
**\*Pastern** = the leg from the *pastern* down is white.
- *Partial pastern* = the pastern marking covers only the front/back/sides of the pastern.
**\*Fetlock** = the leg from the *fetlock* down is white. Can be whole or partial.
**\*Sock** = any marking on the lower leg which is longer than a fetlock marking but is lower than stocking (see below).
**\*Stocking** = a white sock that extends all the way to the knee/hock.
**The markings spectrum:**
In Horse Isle, markings range from "none" to a maximum of a "thick blaze + 4 stockings". This range has a *gradual progression*: No markings at all **>** a star **>** a star or a snip **>** larger facial markings and/or leg markings **>** a thick blaze + stockings.
Where your horse's markings are on this spectrum depends on their **genetic markings trait**. This means that:
-- Markingless parents are more likely to have markingless foals.
-- Parents with loud markings are more likely to have foals with loud markings.
The **total size** of white areas is also genetic. However, the exact **length, shape,** and, in case of multiple markings, **location** of the markings is **random**, and is **non**inheritable.
*For example:*
Sire: has a stripe + a fetlock;
Dam: has a star + a sock;
The *total* white area of the markings--meaning stripe + fetlock, and star + sock--is *equal* in both parents.
=> Foal is *likely* to have the same *amount* of white as their parents but its *dispersion* will be random. As such, they might be born with, a thick blaze, *or* a snip + two fetlocks, etc.
**Markings amt [amount] penalties:**
Some breed registries have restrictions on the type of markings that horses of the breed can have. In these cases, in Horse Isle, if a horse of this breed has too loud/little markings, they will be penalized for having **"markings amt"** being too high/low, respectively.
**Trivia:**
1. In real horses, chestnut horses are more likely to exhibit white markings. This association doesn't exist in Horse Isle, though.
2. The genetic control of the shape and size of white patches in pinto patterns is similar to that of markings. The overall size is determined by a trait, while their exact shape is random.
3. **Non**-spotted donkeys and mules lack leg markings, and the only facial marking which they exhibit is a white star which ranges from small to large.
4. Zebras and zorses don't exhibit markings.

How do genes work?:
We've gone through an awful lot of trouble to keep the genetics of color as true to life and current knowledge, given the way the game works, as possible. We've had to make a few simplifications (genetics is never as simple as it looks!), and we've added a few things as genes when, in fact, their actual genetics is unknown or poorly understood at this time, because we know how much players like to breed for them.
As in life, horses always have two alleles for each gene, one from each parent. Which allele a parent gives its offspring is entirely random. With a few exceptions, you can't know exactly what you're going to get from a cross, but you can figure out the probability!
If you know your horse's alleles (you can get the Horse Expert in the club villages to tell you, for a Mobia fee), you can find out the odds of one result or another. For example:
>> If one parent is *ee* and one parent is *EE*, all offspring will be *Ee*, because one parent can only give *E* and the other only *e*.
>> If one parent is *ee* and one parent is *Ee*, about half the offspring will be *Ee*, and the other half *ee*.
>> If both parents are *Ee*, about half the offspring will be *Ee*, one quarter will be *EE*, and the other quarter *ee*.
This is true for all genes and their associated alleles. Alleles undergo what is called "independent assortment," and, except under extraordinary circumstances, the alleles of any gene are inherited independently of the alleles of all the others.

Hair genetics: feathering:
**Do horses have feathers??**
Not exactly...
Usually, the lower legs of horses are covered with short coat hairs, just like the rest of their body. However, in some horses, primarily cobs and drafts, the lower legs are often covered with an additional, longer, thicker layer of hairs. These hairs are called **feathering** (or 'feather').
Feathering can range from sparse ('light') feathering at the back of the cannon bones, to thick ('heavy') feathering which covers the lower legs entirely all the way to the hooves.
**The genetics of feathering:**
The real genetics of feathering in real horses are still unknown, but in Horse Isle feathering is controlled by **one gene** and **one trait**.
The feathering **gene** determines whether or not a horse will have feathering, and if they do then how thick can it get.
The genotypes are:
**ff** = no feathering.
**Ff** = light feathering.
**FF** = light to heavy feathering.
Fun fact: this genetic control is the reason why crossing a heavily feathered horse (FF) with a non-feathered one (ff) will always result in offspring with light feathering (Ff), a phenomenon that also happens in real breeds (although the real genetic mechanism behind it is still unknown). :)
The feathering **trait** controls the exact **thickness** of the feathering **within the allele limitations**. This is why two horses who are homozygous for the feathering gene might have vastly different feathering in terms of thickness.
**Feathering in other equines:**
While horses can have thick feathering, hybrids and donkeys can exhibit light feathering at most, and zebras never exhibit feathering.

Eye colors:
**What eye colors do we have?**
Green, tiger, blue/light-blue, hazel, amber, and, the most common of all, brown.
**Are eye colors linked to coat color?**
Yes and no.
In general:
- Double-cream dilutes always have blue or light-blue eyes.
- Champagne, pearl, cream-pearl, and smoky-black horses *never* have brown eyes.
However, the exact eye color is **random**. This means that **in Horse Isle, eye color is not inheritable!**
The only "inheritable" case is pinto horses with white faces, because they always have blue eyes. That said, their offspring will be born with blue eyes only if they are also born with a pinto pattern and a white face. In other words, they don't inherit the blue eyes per-se, but only the pinto pattern, part of which is the blue eyes.
**Erm??? this is not very realistic???**
True, but we had to do our best with the coding limitations on hand to enable a large variety of realistic eye colors. ;)

Genes vs. Traits:
'Genes' and 'Traits' are two genetic mechanisms that determine the expression and inheritance of various characteristics.
**Genes** determine **binary** characteristics, meaning whether or not a certain characteristic takes place or not. This is done by **alleles**, where every allele is linked to a single, specific characteristic. The alleles of every gene can be identified via genetic tests.
For example: the Champagne gene has two alleles:
- Allele Ch gives the horse a champagne color.
- Allele ch doesn't affect the horse's coat.
You can check if a horse carries the champagne Ch allele by performing a genetic test on the horse (via the horse expert.)
**Traits** are *not* "made" of alleles, but are merely **numerical values** that determines the phenotypic aspect which is controlled by the trait. Some traits affect the color and pattern of the coat, while others affect conformation and base stats. In all cases, these traits are non-binary (contrary to genes) and range from 0 to 1.
For example, the exact shade of a coat, the strength of a dappling pattern, and the length of the legs are all numerical, non-binary traits on a scale from min (0) to max (1).
The numerical values of all of the traits are 'invisible', and cannot be identified via genetic testing. In other words, you *can't* run a genetic test in order to tell the numerical trait of your horse. This is similar to real life, where you can't run a genetic test to identify all of the genes that determine the length of a horse's legs.
Traits do have a genetic component, meaning that foals will usually be born within the trait ranges of their parents (unless they mutate out of the range, which is rare but happens).

### Horse Slots

While the wilds are infinite, your number of horse slots are not! **Each horse slot must be unlocked by building a barn. Barns each hold three horses.**
You are limited to 300 horse slots as a nonsubscriber; while you can have more, you will be unable to ride or place your horses if you go over, regardless of how many barns you own or what bonuses are applied. You may not breed, purchase from auction, receive horses in a trade, or catch wild horses if you are over these slots.
Subscribers may have up to 800 horse slots.
You may also have another 700 horse slots if you choose to purchase horse max extensions in the Mobia Shop in-game. Each extension allows 5 horse slots and costs 100 Mobia. You'll still need to build the barns for this, but the slot addition is permanent and will stay with your account forever. You're only able to purchase this item if you already have over half of your max barn slots- so there's no accidental buying if you're unsure of what it does. :) 800 horses is usually more than enough for most people, but we offer this as a way for very dedicated breeders (and hoarders) to expand their breeding programs if they're not content with the 800 horse cap.
If you go over your own horse limit (base slots with NO barns- 3 for non subs, 9 for subs) you'll find your energy, focus, and travel will begin falling and your horses will all start losing their good moods!
Barns:
You may increase your total number of horse slots by building Barns on your ranches.
Each new barn holds an additional 3 horses and the style does not matter. It's important to the happiness of your horses (and the sake of your travel, energy, and focus bars) that each of them has a barn slot of their own. If you go over your max horses, you'll have a bunch of cranky horses on your hands.
Each pasture or show pen counts as a single-slot horse barn, as well. This cannot be upgraded.
Only the Shedrow style of barn may be built flush (right next to) another barn. The others have a sort of 'buffer zone' where you can't build.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Sometimes, the space a single barn gives just isn't enough, but that next parcel also seems like it's too far away and you've just got... way too many horses to house.
For that reason, we've found the Magical Barn Upgrade... ok it still requires you to actually put in resources and just make your barn bigger. To keep the barn's integrity, you'll need **twice the resources** to upgrade your barn.
An Upgraded Barn will hold five horses instead of three. If you choose to remove your barn, **you will not** get the resources used refunded, only the base barn will give you any refund!

Can a Horse Get Lost?:
Nope! A horse can never lose its way in the wilds (the same cannot be said for their owners.)
If a horse does go missing from your account, it likely died from old age (or it was sold.) Your horses are pretty attached to you and will not willingly leave your account for any reason unless it's old or sold ;)
If you place or dismount your horse and walk away from them, they'll go back to your barn ("horse inventory") on their own after you're about 65 meters away from them.

Show Pens, Stores, and Studs:
A horse in a show pen, pasture, or store (for sale or stud) will still take up a horse slot. Stores do not act as 'holding areas' to allow additional horse slots ;) Every horse you own, save for foals that are nursing, will take up a slot no matter where they are.
If you cannot find a horse you're trying to sell on your horse list, check out your show pens and pastures and ensure they're not hiding in your store!

### Other Equines

Mules are often cited as being the world's oldest manmade hybrid, with the hybrid being recorded as far back as 3000BCE. They are calmer than horses, less stubborn than donkeys, and fairly long-lived at any size. They are used for saddle, draft work, packing, dressage, jumping, racing, and any other discipline you might set a horse to (they take their jobs very seriously.)
**Parentage:**
**Mule:** A mule is the product of a donkey sire and a horse dam.
**Hinny:** A hinny is the product of a horse sire and a donkey dam.
For the sake of this writer's fingers, every hybrid in this family will be called a mule.
**A note on Hybrid Animals:**
Hybrid mammals are, except for very rare cases, sterile (infertile) due to chromosomal differences between the parent species. In mules' case, a horse has 64 chromosomes and a donkey has 62 chromosomes. This different structure and number will render nearly every mule infertile.
Therefore, in Horse Isle, mules and hinnies are always infertile.
**But there are recorded mule foals!**
Yes, but even the Romans had a saying for a rare, almost impossible event- 'when the mule foals.' There have only been 62 recorded molly mules giving birth to foals since the 16th century!
**Mule Colors:**
Mules and hinnies have the rather fun trait of being a combination of both mom and dad's patterns and colors. Champagne mules exist where champagne donkeys don't; a red dun mule can have the normal 'horse' red dun with an absolutely enormous shoulder cross. You could say that everything about this particular hybrid has hybridized!
For **in-depth info** about all of the colors and patterns that mules have, as well as the genetics behind them, please read the detailed guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=7190
If you only want a brief explanation, then continue reading below. :)
Mules come in most dominant patterns and colors that are found in horses, as well as some donkey patterns and some completely unique ones.
But most importantly, mules **CANNOT**:
Be albino
Be double-Dilute cream (IE perlino, cremello, or smoky cream)
Be frame Overo
Be manchado
Be mushroom
Be pearl (including cream-pearl)
Be rabicano
Be full-body corn roan
Be sabino (though they can have White Spotting)
Be splashed-white
In addition, due to the hair structure of their donkey parent, mules cannot be metallic. While champagne mules may appear metallic, they are not true metallic as the hair structure is different (as seen under a microscope) and doesn't allow metallic sheen.

Zebroids: Overview:
While the different zebra species- Plains, Grevy's, and Mountain- all have different chromosomes, they're able to interbreed freely with each other in Horse Isle and have healthy, happy foals that can further go on to create more foals! Zebra crossbreeds will always be fertile.
The same cannot be said for zebra hybrids of donkeys and horses, however. Zebra hybrids, known collectively as zebroids, will always be sterile, meaning they cannot have foals.
**What's in a Name?**
Hybrids are often named in a way that essentially lets you know which parent was what. Zebroids are named as follows:
Horse Dad, Zebra Mom: Hebra
Zebra Dad, Horse mom: Zorse
Donkey Dad, Zebra Mom: Donkra
Zebra Dad, Donkey Mom: Zedonk
Zebra Dad, Shetland Mom: Zetland
**How to recognize them?**
The best way to recognize zebroids is by looking at their coats. If a "horse" or a "donkey" have vertical, non-brindle stripes over their legs and body, then they are a zorse or a zebra, respectively.
**Unique coats:**
There are **three genes and five traits** that control the patterns of stripes in zebroids, from the shape of the stripes to their scrambling, number, opacity, and more. This, together with color and pattern genes, ensure that each zebroid has a unique coat.
For **in-depth information** about the genes and traits that control stripe patterns in zebroid, please read the following guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=7190

Donkeys: Color Genetics:
You may have noticed that donkeys have a different array of colors to horses. As said in the Donkey Overview, donkeys are not horses. They have a different genetic set and different color and pattern names.
The color names are not, unfortunately, very creative. Save for Ivory, Cameo, and Russet, you'll find that any bay donkey will just be called 'bay,' with no indication of the color shade name. This is not a mistake on our part, this is simply how donkey colors have been named!
For in-depth info about all of the color genes that donkeys have, what they do, which donkeys they affect, and what are they called like, please visit the following detailed guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=6374
If you only want a brief explanation, then continue reading below. :)
**Agouti** (A,Ap,a,at)- This gene affects the distribution of black and red pigments in the donkey's coat, and determines if a coat will be black, brown-black, or bay/brown (the latter depends on the Extension gene).
**Extension** (E,e)- controls the amount of black pigment in the donkey's coat. An ee donkey is red.
**Light Points** (Lp,lp) - This gene, when expressed, gives the donkey lighter points around the eyes and muzzle. In rare cases, a donkey will have no light points (NLP), in which case it will be listed on their profile as 'NLP'.
**Spotted** (Sp,sp) - Spotted donkeys are loudly colored, with white splotches of color starting from their legs.
**Tyger** (Ty,ty) - This gene gives the donkey a 'long' spot pattern, more like a smear than you see in Spotted.
**Grey** (G,g) - This isn't actually grey as we see it in horses. The grey gene in donkeys gives the coat a fixed grey color.
**Pangare** (Pg,pg) - This gene is behind the white 'mealy' hairs on the donkey's legs, abdomen, chest, and jaw.
**Smokey** (Sk,sk) - The Smokey gene in donkeys mixes grey hairs into the coat, thus making it look lighter and slightly greyer.
**Cameo Ivory** (ic,C,Iv) - This gene gives donkeys a 'diluted' coat unique to donkeys. The shade depends on the base color of the donkey ;)
**White** (W,w) - This whitening gene causes a donkey coat to be completely white.
**Missense Albino** (Ma,ma) - This gene turns a donkey completely white as it is a gene that causes a donkey to express albinism.
**Russet** (R,r) - This gene affects the lower-leg color of bay and chestnut donkeys.
**Roan** (Rn,rn) - Mixes white hairs into the coat of the donkey.
**What about MUTATIONS?**
Donkeys cannot be Tetrarch, Bleach, or Lace due to a lack of the grey gene.
Donkeys can be Mosaic, Flash, or Bend Or, though these are still quite rare.
As donkeys do not have white markings (save for a star,) the marking requirement for mosaic has been removed.

Zebras:
Zebra history
Zebras have long fascinated people with their dazzling coats and strong, familial attachments, though they have never been domesticated. Their aggressive tendencies and generally foul personalities, along with their small sizes, have mostly relegated zebras to 'pasture pet' status, to those that are lucky enough to own one.
Any zebra over 12hh in Horse Isle, however, may be ridden. Their behaviors are mostly kept in check, here, as **all current equines** in Horse Isle long to be partnered up with the humans that have claimed these lands as their own. It may take a bit of doing, though... a zebra is naturally ornery and will frequently remind you of this up to a certain training point.
The zebras here, however, are still not domesticated. Tamed, yes, and even trained- but they are still a forever wild species.
**Where Do I Find Them?**
Zebras are most populous in the Savanna, where they make their home. They can also be found in Salt Flats and in Mesa biomes, though this is significantly less common.
**Stripey Stripes**
Every zebra species has their own striping patterns, and every zebra's stripes are unique, like a fingerprint. While each species follows its own striping rules, there are variations within those making each striped equine totally unique.
Following this, you may also notice that there are different color shades within zebras and may- rarely- find a partial albino or a blonde Plains zebra.
**Personality in Spades**
Note: you cannot get "Perfect" persona in Zebras, they have a different min/max for some of the traits. They have slightly different personalities from horses, so they don't use the full range on chart for everything. Basically, this means you'll never get a zebra with 100% Perfect persona... it's just not in their nature!
**Mutations**
Zebras may be flash, bleach, or birdcatcher. These cannot be found in Super Horse orders- they may only be caught in the wild or bred as they require some interesting genes a Supered Horse just doesn't have.

Zedonks and Donkras:
If it looks like a donkey with stripes then this is a zedonk or a donkra.
**Zedonk:** A product of a zebra sire and a donkey dam.
**Donkra:** A product of a donkey sire and a zebra dam.
**Max height:**
Zedonks cannot be taller than **16.2hh**.
Donkras cannot be taller than **15.3hh**.
**Zedonk colors:**
**\***The following applies to both zedonks and donkras.
For **in-depth info** about all of the colors and patterns that zedonks can have, as well as the genetics behind them, please read the detailed guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=7190
If you only want a brief explanation, then continue reading below. :)
Zedonks come in most colors and patterns found in donkeys save for a few. Nevertheless, their coats look more unique than the coats of donkeys thanks to the great variation in their striping patterns.
Note that zedonks **CANNOT** be:
Chestnut
Flaxen
Ivory
Homozygous white-grey

Zorses and Hebras:
If it looks like a horse but has non-black-and-white stripes, then this is a zorse or a hebra.
**Zorse**: A product of a zebra sire and a horse dam.
**Hebra**: A product of a horse sire and a zebra dam.
**Max height:**
Zorses cannot be taller than **19hh**.
Hebras cannot be taller than **15.3hh**.
**Zorse colors:**
**\***The following applies to both zorses and hebras.
For **in-depth info** about all of the colors and patterns that zorses can have, as well as the genetics behind them, please read the detailed guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=7193
If you only want a brief explanation, then continue reading below. :)
Zorses come in most colors and patterns found in horses save for a few. Even so, their coats vary greatly thanks to countless variations in their striping pattern, and thanks to the unique coloration that their manes and tails can have.
Most importantly, zorses **CANNOT** be:
'Regular' chestnut without dark points
Flaxen
Homozygous cream (cremello, perlino, smoky cream, etc.)
Homozygous white-grey
Pearl
Rabicano
Manchado
Metallic
Mushroom
**Gaited Zorses**
If a Zorse/Hebra parent is an AmAm gaiter (both ambles and paces), the resulting zebroid will gene test as Amco but will double gait, even though zebras themselves cannot be gaited. We've sort of chalked it up to weird horse magic.

Donkeys: Overview:
Donkeys have long been used as a beast of burden, carrying packs and pulling carts (among other uses) for even longer than horses have. It is also thought that there were multiple domestication events- meaning cultures domesticated them separately, without help or knowledge of others having domesticated them. People knew from the start that these adorable creatures were very useful.
It should be noted that donkeys are not horses. They can interbreed with them to create hybrids, but due to Haldane's Rule (explained further under Hybrids,) these mules and hinnies- the result of either parental crossing- can never have a foal.
**But there's recorded mule foals!**
Yes, but even the Romans had a saying for a rare, almost impossible event- 'when the mule foals.' There have only been 62 recorded molly mules giving birth to foals since the 16th century!
**Donkey Hair**
Some donkey breeds, like the Poitou, are incredibly hairy. We have different types of this wooly gene- ranging from the lovely, fluffy silky to the heavy, matted type.
The wool does not hang off of the donkey's body as donkeys in Horse Isle apparently produce a self-clinging static. This is very handy in allowing all tack types to fit all donkeys no matter how much hair they have!
If you are interested in in-depth info about the donkey coat-hair types, as well as about mane styles and the genetics behind them, then please visit the following detailed guide in Horses forum:
https://hi3.horseisle.com/www/forums.php?FORUM=5&VIEWID=6374
**Donkeys need different tack!**
In the real world, yes, this is true, as their backs are wildly different to horses. But Horse Isle has saddle magic- the same saddle that fits a 22.2hh Grade Draft Horse can fit a 5.1hh Grade Miniature Horse.
This is due to the fact that the leather in Horse Isle comes from Wonderland mushrooms, which grow to astronomical sizes. The leather created from these mushrooms maintains that same growth magic, though we haven't quite figured out how any of that works.

### Profiles

Prefixes are the freezebrands of Horse Isle. They are permanent and cannot be removed or hidden once applied unless it's YOUR prefix on YOUR horse. You cannot remove a prefix on a horse that came with one unless the owner agrees to do an Unprefix trade.
An Unprefix trade will allow the OWNER of the prefix to remove the prefix from your horse without resetting bond or removing the horse from your account. Easy peasy.
A prefix must first be registered at a **Clubhouse**- your first prefix will cost 100 essence and the price will increase with each additional prefix.
There will be two 'checks' prior to getting your new prefix- the first tells you that it's available to use and the second will confirm that you wish to purchase the prefix.
To apply a prefix to a horse, simply select it from the dropdown in their profile, located under their name!
A prefix may be retired (deleted) if no living horses are registered with it.
**Can I see a list of every horse with my prefix?**
Unfortunately, no, as this can potentially be a list that is hard on both your computer and on the server to retrieve (some prefixes have upwards of 2,000 horses in them!)

Customizing Horse Profiles:
Always a favorite feature of the Horse Isle Games: customizing horse profiles! We have some very basic HTML that you may use to prettify a profile and we have included the instructions on how to format it here. You'll need to take out the spaces in the formatting or it won't work!
**Bold**- You may bold text using < b > text here < / b >
Underline- Underline is < u > text here < / u >. Really good for putting emphasis on something.
*Italic*- This tilty text is created with this: < i > text here < / i >
~~Strikethrough~~ This can be used if you wish to retract something but still keep the information up by using < s > text here < / s >
**Center**- You may center your text by typing < align=center > text here < / align >.
**Indent**- you may indent paragraphs by typing < indent=20% > text here < / indent >. The 20% is an example, you may indent it further, but at that point you might as well use center ;)
Sᴍᴀʟʟᴄᴀᴘs - This super neat bit of text is produced by typing < smallcaps > your smallcaps here < / smallcaps >. (It's not supported in the help center on the main website, but trust us when we say it looks really neat!)
Supertext- Supertext can be produced by typing < sup > supertext here < / sup >
Subtext- can be created by typing < sub > subtext < / sub >
**Sizing**- You may use < L > 18pt font here < / L > and < M > 15pt font here < / M > to have reasonably sized, larger fonts in your profile.
**Colors!**
This is an easy one. Typing < #FF0000 > will start coloring text red. < /color> will stop the color tag.
More examples:
< #00FF00 > Green Text < /color>
< #0000FF > Blue Text < /color>
< #FFAAAA > Pink Text < /color>
< #808080 > Grey Text < /color>
Additionally < color=red> will work. (Only for the following colors: black, blue, green, orange, purple, red, white, and yellow.)
You can find color hex codes (#FF0000) many places, and the easiest way to find a good color may be to google "Color Picker". Their form is two digits of Red strength, 2 digits green, finally two blue. and hex digits range from 0,1,2..9,A,B,C,D,E,F So, F is a stronger color than 9 :) i.e. #000088 is dark blue, while #0000CC is brighter, while #0000FF is brightest only-blue possible.  :)

Styling:
Ostlers aren't just for taking care of the horses of the rich and lovely... they're also for making your horse show-ready! For a reasonable fee, you may style and color your horse's mane and tail. If you no longer wish for your horses to have a styled mane and tail, you may also pay the ostler to 'undo' their hard work!
A horse that's gotten their hair done will say so in their profile, and at the bottom of their profile photo it'll say "Styled."
To view what a horse naturally looks like, check out their "4yo" button. This will reveal not just the horse's stats and natural metrics as they were at four years old, but what their mane and tail actually look like, au natural.

History Page:
Ever wondered about the story of your horse? If so, then their History page is the place to start digging into their past!
The **History** page lists useful information about your horse, such as their **birthday** and the number of times they **won** competitions and shows. Most importantly, it lists everything there is to know about their origins, breeding, and, well, history. ;)
**1. Parentage:**
The sire and dam of the horse appear at the top of the page. Plus, if they are still alive in the game, then there will be a link to view their profiles, thus allowing you to write the pedigree of your horse! (Go to Pedigree and Lineage > Pedigree for more info.)
Most importantly, the history page shows the breed of both parents at the time of conception. If you ever wish to re-identify your horse at the Horse Expert, then these are the breeds that the expert will take into account (see Types of Horses > Breed identification).
**2. Blood Breed Percentage (BBP):**
The BBP lists the 'breed content' of your horse in percentages. It has nothing to do with breed-identification or purebreeding. It is simply there to let you know which breeds had the most influence over your horse.
The BBP is calculated as follows:
**(\*Sire BBP / 2) + (\*Dam BBP / 2) ==> add up in case of a joint breed ==> output = BBP.**
**\*** - at time of conception.
Some horses carry **untracked blood**, which simply means that they carry tiny amounts (less than 1.56%) of various breeds, where the larger total 'unknown blood' percentage, the more breeds were mixed.
For more information about reading, calculating, and managing your horse's BBP, go to: Horses > Pedigree and Lineage > Breed Blood Percentage (BBP).
**3.Favorite human:**
Lists the player who was the first to give the horse in question their most favorite treat (see Care > Treats). If it lists "Not awarded yet", it means that if you can still be awarded the horse's 'favorite human' if you give them their favorite treat. :)

**4. Notable events log:**
Includes the useful following information-
**\* Horse ID** - a number unique to your horse.
**\* Horse's origins** - when the horse was ordered/bred/caught wild, as well as by which player. If it was bred, then to which parents (name + ID) and whether or not an amulet was involved.
**\* If an infinitum** amulet was ever applied - then when and by who.
**\* Previous owners** - who were the previous owners of this horse.
**\* If the horse was ever bred** to other horses - then to which horses. Note that the total number of times that the horse was bred is listed under the horse's birthday.

**Additional optional offspring information:**
If your horse was ever bred to other horses, the History page will list:
\* The total number of times that your horse was bred.
\* A link to the profile of the more recent foal that the horse had *if* they are still in the game.
\* A link to the profile of the horse to which it was last bred to, *if* they are still in the game.