Newbie Tips

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Newbie Tips

General Tips
Join our discord channel! There is so much to learn on Flying For Home and you can get 24/7 support on discord which you can either use via your web browser or download the app. Our mod team is spread across the globe to ensure someone is almost always on hand for whatever you need, as well as many veteran members who hang out here and will be more than willing to help. In addition to support, our community is friendly and loves welcoming new members with open arms! You'll often find people willing to do quick trades, offer advice, or simply chat in the Discord. Visit the Item Database in the Handbook whenever you need to know more about an item. Not only does this show descriptions and prices, but additional tips that may help you decide when and where to use some items. See that little green recycling icon to the right? Rusty The Recycler rewards you for feeding him your rubbish!
Money Tips
Play Springo! Who doesn't like a fun mini game that earns you some cash for playing? Head on over to the Vale Of Runes, which is found under the Community tab, and you can earn FFH cash for 10 played games per day as well as a chance to be entered into the weekly raffle for a random item. You can continue to play springo for no monetary reward after 10 games. Replying to news posts is a great way to earn a little extra income! Just make sure you're following the listed rules. You can also earn money (significantly less) by participating in forum posts and discussions. Sometimes members post contest they are hosting or discussions they're curious about, so it is a good place to browse. If you're feeling tight on cash, be sure to visit the Money Management page for a more in-depth look at how to earn (and keep) your money!
Horse Care Tips
Don't use special feeds more than needed. Though they aren't necessarily going to break the bank, the cost and side effects can add up over time. For example, if your horse doesn't really need Hype, consider giving them a meet off of racing instead! Always, always, always put Basic Wraps on your horses before racing. Doing so significantly reduces their chances of injury in races. Injuries mean time off from racing, and could also mean costly vet bills.
Horse Buying Tips
Don't avoid geldings! Just because a horse isn't stud material doesn't mean they cannot be a great racer -- you'll find geldings to be valuable even when you aren't new, as they can provide you with great buddy workout benefits once they retire. Look for leases! Head on over to the Sales Arena and check out the leases available on a regular basis - this is an ideal way to get quality, graded stakes racers at a low price without having to worry about what to do with them when they are ready to retire. Buy from the Yearling Sales! The annual sale is the best way to find talented prospects to form the foundation of racing string for future years. Every horse in the sale is guaranteed to be stakes quality and it's not uncommon to unearth some superstars. We always encourage newer players to buy as many as they possibly can as these will likely be better than horses you'll find from the Horse Trader or sales. If you're not sure what to bid on you can't go wrong picking the cheapest horses.
Racing and Training Tips
Entering races when you're new can sometimes be a little confusing. Always click the button to double check your entry to avoid less than ideal entering. It's okay if a couple things are yellow, but aim for having everything green. Also, avoid putting fillies in open races! A trick for prepping your horses to race is to enter them first so that when you train them you can train them on the surface and distance they’re entered. It’s a good way to see if you entered them on a surface and distance that they may not be trained for and correct it. Then last, after training, you still have the opportunity to feed a special feed (such as Hype) if needed. Check your race notes! Visiting your "Stable Results" from your barn profile will show you how your horses performed in the most recent meet and will also give you indicators for race notes. Any horse with a yellow exclamation mark has race notes to view, and if you click on this - you can get valuable information to potentially enhance how your horse performs in their races.
Breeding Tips
When you start breeding carefully review the Handbook sections about Breeding and ask questions if you need help figuring out how to match. The most common frustrations from breeding all revolve around matching too early. If you match too early you're making your life more difficult in a couple ways. Most importantly, you're probably missing out on 50% or more of the stallions that will be listed this breeding season. You're also far more likely to be denied if you're matching early. Save yourself some stress and wait to match until February and your matching experience is more likely to be a positive one. Include a note about your mares bloodtype on the request! A lot of breeders won't look at a request unless this has been done, so take the extra time to note this so that your request isn't automatically denied on this basis. If you need any help with bloodtypes on specific mares, hop on over to the Discord -- we have a specific #breeding_help channel! Fancy color does not equal quality. Breeding for color alone will hurt your stable over time -- take the time to look into pedigrees rather than choosing the first sparkly stud you find for your mare. Stud owners often charge higher fees for colored studs as well, so this could help save some money in your first few breeding seasons. Genes are far from the most important component of determining a foal's stats. Good genes do not automatically mean a foal will max well, so it's important to focus on Producer Quality rather than becoming overly fixated on perfect gene matches. Most performance genes actually have no correlation with a horse's maximum stats.

FFH Time
Monday, 08:44pm
October (Meet A)
Year 54

Open Series
Gold Cup
Zodiac Zenith

Series Entries Close
Wednesday @ 12:00pm

Meet Rollover Begins
Thursday @ 1:00am

Making Magic

Issa (#1)
09/30/23 7:26 pm
Experience now shows an exact percentage (%) for horses owned by Pro accounts.

Issa (#1)
09/30/23 2:44 pm
Distance proficiency gains have been increased for the distances above and below the distance a horse selects for training or BW.

Issa (#1)
09/17/23 3:31 pm
The Y54 Yearling Sale is open for consignments! Consignments will be accepted until bidding opens at the start of September.

Issa (#1)
09/15/23 4:50 pm
The value of Golden Apples has been updated to 200 GA = 100 PC = $1,000,000 (loosely). Prices for items in the GAO have been updated accordingly. The PC value for Sunkissed Tart, Ultra Wraps, Cream Token, Roan Token, and Dun Token have also been updated.

Issa (#1)
09/15/23 4:48 pm
Minimum pricing for public sales has increased to $100,000. Horses already listed for sale have been updated accordingly.

Issa (#1)
09/11/23 4:32 pm
A horse design contest is being held for the upcoming Select Sale. Visit #🌈pretty-pony-designs on Discord to read the rules and enter!

Issa (#1)
09/10/23 12:14 pm
Jockey fees (taken from race income) have been adjusted. The fee for 3 jockeys has been reduced, while additional cost tiers have been added for having 4 or 5+ actively contracted jockeys.

Issa (#1)
09/09/23 11:08 am
Stained Glass Cookies can now be purchased in the GAO.

Issa (#1)
09/04/23 1:09 pm
HT mares will earn 1 bonus foal slot, meaning they always retire with at least 2 slots. A bonus slot is also earned for placing top 5 in a series race, rather than top 3.

Issa (#1)
08/29/23 4:55 pm
Mares may now transition to buddies regardless of foal slots used. Mare transition fees have also been reduced.

Issa (#1)
08/27/23 2:33 pm
Registration for Birthday Bash Board Game Arena tournaments is open on Discord. Tournaments start on August 31st!

Issa (#1)
08/26/23 11:15 am
Series entry pools will not run until 6:00pm today.

Issa (#1)
08/23/23 11:10 am
Any horses you wish to enter in this year's Project 6 contest must be registered by Saturday.

Issa (#1)
08/06/23 9:44 pm
Tovero, Cream, Roan, and Silver Tokens as well as Add-On Points are now available at the Golden Apple Orchard. A new item, Rotten Apple, may also now be purchased at the GAO.

Issa (#1)
08/06/23 4:39 pm
The Training Auction is open for bidding! The auction will end at an undisclosed time no sooner than 24 hours from now.

Issa (#1)
08/06/23 1:50 pm
Breed shows now award 1 point per 4 entries and Open shows now award 1 point per 5 entries.

Issa (#1)
08/04/23 1:49 pm
'Horse', referring to an adult male horse, is being updated to 'Stallion' throughout the site. If you find a page that hasn't been updated it, please report it here.

Issa (#1)
08/03/23 5:54 pm
Anyone with Business Skill 6 may now create Stallion Spotlight ads by clicking the button in Stud Services. These ads randomly display when Genotype Search or Stud Book is loaded. Relevant SIP, Grade, and other icons will be added to spotlights at a later date.

Issa (#1)
08/03/23 5:46 pm
Genotype Search has been updated to allow searching by specific Stat Genes. The search form has also been reorganized to better flow with the order on Genetics pages and keep like genes grouped together.

Issa (#1)
08/03/23 12:53 pm
Hidden mares no longer show up in Genotype Search results.

Issa (#1)
08/02/23 7:14 pm
Horses in the Golden Apple Orchard now show Potential and stats, Stat Genes, Heritage, Peak, Prime, and their relevant transition gene.

Issa (#1)
08/02/23 1:21 pm
Players without therapeutic equipment may now post job requests for Hot Walk or Hydrotherapy rehab to help horses recover quicker. These jobs can be found on the main job board and may be completed by anyone who owns the appropriate therapeutic equipment.

Issa (#1)
08/02/23 12:04 pm
A bug with gelding horses who have Moderate/Strong Geldability has been fixed. As a result, geldings 2-4 years old who are still owned by their breeder may have improved stats. If they are already entered in races you may scratch them and enter in an appropriate grade, but you will not be penalized for Handily with any of these geldings this meet.

Issa (#1)
08/02/23 11:43 am
The Golden Apple Orchard is open for a temporary broodmare and racing dispersal. Horses relinquished through dispersal do not earn Golden Apples. The dispersal will be open through March.

Issa (#1)
08/02/23 10:27 am
A couple notes on mare grades:
1. There are no automatic F grades.
2. The grading criteria is significantly more forgiving than the grading criteria for stallions.

Issa (#1)
08/01/23 9:40 pm
Retired and pensioned mares may now Grade test through the link in Mare Services. Their grading system works somewhat differently from stallions, but still considers factors that influence a foal's Potential.

Issa (#1)
08/01/23 3:18 pm
Horses who have visible Pangare, BendOr, or Streak may need their images reloaded. If CTRL+F5 doesn't work, use the button in their Image Gallery.

Issa (#1)
07/30/23 11:37 am
Mistweaver's Cloak has been adjusted to only have 1 use and only raise Producer Quality by 1 level (Cursed will not become Average). The price has been reduced to 600 PC. Cloaks already in your inventory still have full (up to 3) uses.

Issa (#1)
07/30/23 10:50 am
Blood Type tests for mares have been reduced to $1,000,000.

Issa (#1)
07/30/23 12:16 am
Cloaked Line has been renamed to Locked to more accurately describe what it means and to avoid confusion with Cloaked horses. Horses who have Locked BT show a lock icon on their Genetics page and Hypomate.

Issa (#1)
07/29/23 5:05 pm
84 additional grooming request slots have been added to everyone's account. In the future, January will award 168 slots since it's a 2-week month.

Issa (#1)
07/29/23 12:29 pm
A new Producer Quality descriptor, Cursed, has been added to differentiate stallions who have the absolute worst PQ, much like Legendary distinguishes those who have the absolute best. No changes have been made to any horse's PQ - this is only a change in descriptive word.

Issa (#1)
07/28/23 6:32 pm
Yearlings with over 50% Risk are now ineligible for consignment in the Yearling Auction.

Issa (#1)
07/28/23 1:07 pm
Pangare markings have been updated and include 2 new 'Extreme' versions. Any horse who is eligible for Pangare may now show version of Pangare, regardless of their color.

Issa (#1)
07/27/23 11:13 pm
Breeding Skill 6 has been updated to allow early pensioning of any mare for a fee, with discounts given for mares who are 15yo+, 20yo+, or barren. The "free for all" pensioning that was temporarily put in place for Y50 has (belatedly) ended.

Issa (#1)
07/27/23 7:32 pm
Coat Condition now shows on the Care page for retired horses if they have opted in to color shows.

Issa (#1)
07/27/23 7:17 pm
Horses who use Bedazzling Shampoo in the future will show a magic wand icon on their Genetics page under any colors it has been applied to.

Issa (#1)
07/27/23 6:49 pm
Upcoming color show entries have been added as a link within the Current Entries page.

Issa (#1)
07/27/23 4:13 pm
There are 3 new versions of Mustache. These can be applied with Santa's Snack and viewed in the Horse Previewer.

Issa (#1)
07/27/23 2:37 pm
Mustache is now an independent marking that may be applied along with other face and paint markings.

Issa (#1)
07/27/23 12:59 pm
Racer Quick View now has a column to show if a horse has wraps equipped. Exact percentages have also been added to Energy, Rest, Morale, and Condition (where appropriate based on Pro).

Issa (#1)
07/27/23 11:57 am
Race History now shows race type (when SC, DT, BR, or PB) under the distance.

Issa (#1)
07/26/23 11:41 am
Purchasing equine therapy equipment has moved from the 8th Business skill to 10th Training skill.

Issa (#1)
07/25/23 6:14 pm
There are new and updated wearable medals for Genetic, Performance, and Color awards. These can be assigned through Equipment pages. (Yes, we know they clip badly with sheets.)

Issa (#1)
07/25/23 1:10 pm
Seal of Pedigree and Superior award icons have been updated.

Issa (#1)
07/25/23 11:54 am
Horses may now earn Color Excellence awards when they have earned 500 points in a color division.

Issa (#1)
07/25/23 11:07 am
New color show divisions have been added for each breed (all ages/sexes/lineage of a color) as well as an open (no restriction) division for each color.

Issa (#1)
07/25/23 10:42 am
Color Merit and Color Distinction medal icons have been updated.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 11:20 pm
Steeplechase, Driving Trial, and Contesting horses may now earn a Master award if they earn 250 points after transitioning.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 6:22 pm
Due to slight adjustments to the grading system, Stallion Grades have all been set to untested (for the year) and will need to be tested again. Racing colts who already paid to test will not be charged to retest.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 6:00 pm
Horses locked to alternating surface/gait for training will now automatically perform alternating surface buddy workouts.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 5:57 pm
The point system for color shows has been adjusted. Classes now offer a maximum of 10 points based upon entries, but horses may earn up to 5 points based upon their score in the class. More information can be found in the Handbook.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 5:40 pm
Opal horses may now opt in to color shows and can enter color shows beginning this month.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 3:14 pm
A new correlation has been established between Fae and fillies. Heterozygous Fae foals are more likely to be fillies and homozygous Fae foals will always be fillies. Ultrasound and/or Petal Dust at your own risk.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 2:10 pm
Contesting purses are 50% lower than standard purses and horses earn 2 less points (when eligible for points). However, Energy loss in contesting races now works properly so that horses may race more often.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 2:02 pm
Contesting horses now show Poles and Barrels on their stat table as a quick reminder of which stats are important in which race type.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 1:56 pm
Race Settings now work properly for Contesting horses. You may select contest type (Barrels/Poles/Either) rather than surface.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 1:39 pm
Horses in Contesting and Driving Trials do not suffer Morale loss when performing worse than their competitors.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 1:25 pm
Since I'm not sure this has been mentioned anywhere - Contesting and Driving Trials are not impacted by Colt Composure or Filly Power.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 12:23 pm
An error in Prodigy's description has been updated. It guarantees all BT matches are 1-off (not 2-off as previously listed) unless they are already an exact match.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 11:44 am
Pedigree Purifier may now be used to turn solid bred Paint Horses into Quarter Horses. (It can also still be used to 'fix' Appendix.) The price has been adjusted to 600 PC.

Issa (#1)
07/24/23 12:39 am
Race card expansion for Y54 includes: additional G1-G2 races for 3yo+ STB, 9F races for 3yo STB, varied surface races for 2yo and 3yo GB, and Stellar G1 races for 4yo+ GB.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 6:51 pm
A new edition of Project 6 (P6) is starting now! Details are in the Contest Forum.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 6:44 pm
Trophies have been awarded for Parade of Rainbows and Dance of the Dunes up through Y53. Goldbloods also have their own trophy section in the Trophy Hall.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 3:06 pm
Stable Results shows total Golden Apples earned for the meet. Partnership Results shows the total partnership earnings for the meet. These numbers will be available after January races run.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 1:20 pm
PR requirements for 2 year olds to earn points have increased by 20 per level.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 1:12 pm
Bachelor's Party has been retired.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 12:41 pm
Grooming now provides a slight increase to Preparedness.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 12:37 pm
Retired horses not locked to a training automatically perform Groundwork when using Auto Train.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 12:31 pm
Track Ride and Trail Ride increase Preparedness during off season.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 12:08 pm
Workout buddies now earn a bonus to their BW scores if they ran a personal best PR of at least 160, with a higher bonus if they ran 170, 180, or 190+.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 11:11 am
The fee for mare check-ups has increased.

Issa (#1)
07/23/23 10:37 am
The Y54 Training Sales are open for consignments!

Issa (#1)
07/19/23 3:43 pm
You may now purchase early Grade Inspections for racing colts who either have a Performance Merit (100 points) or at least 50 points if they are 4 years or younger. Early inspections cost $500,000.

Issa (#1)
07/18/23 5:13 pm
A Top Performance Ratings list has been added to the Leaderboards page.

Issa (#1)
07/18/23 10:55 am
Contesting has been added to the stock horse leaderboards.

Issa (#1)
07/17/23 7:51 pm
Morale, Rest, and Risk now show percentages on the Care page if you have the appropriate upgrade(s).

Issa (#1)
07/17/23 3:09 pm
You may now import Goldbloods from the Horse Trader. As creating a 'custom' horse is meant to be a rare opportunity (and prices were previously decreased to help sustain the breed), the value for Goldblood Tokens has been increased to 2,500 PC.

Issa (#1)
07/17/23 2:26 pm
Performance Rating Caps have been adjusted to better reflect current racing trends. The cap for G2 has been increased to 160 and the cap for Allowance has been decreased to 90. These changes have been updated on the grade guidelines chart in the Handbook.

Issa (#1)
07/17/23 2:16 pm
You may now Find a Race from the Race Settings page in addition to a horse's Profile page.

Issa (#1)
07/17/23 1:48 pm
There are new Activity Badges for breeders! You now earn a badge to designate you as a 'breeder' of a breed if you've bred 15+ yearlings of that breed.

Issa (#1)
07/16/23 4:22 pm
Blossom Tea, Frozen Nectar, and Sunkissed Tart may now only be used once in a horse's lifetime.

Issa (#1)
07/15/23 3:13 pm
Community Forum begins at 6:00pm FFH time!

Issa (#1)
07/14/23 11:41 pm
BendOr art has been updated and expanded to a range of 10 options. You can view the changes in the Previewer or when using a Lump of Coal.

Issa (#1)
07/14/23 4:26 pm
3yo and 4yo+ division races will be added to the Gemstone series for Y54. Distance information can be found in the Calendar. Zodiac Zenith purses have been increased to $1,000,000.

Issa (#1)
07/14/23 4:14 pm
You may now disable the Breeding Pass Raffle alert icon (which appears on the right sidebar) from your Settings page.

Issa (#1)
07/14/23 3:32 pm
Appendix QH/PH and solid bred PH colts and fillies will not be eligible for Yearling Auction beginning in Y54.

Issa (#1)
07/14/23 12:01 pm
The number of race starts and show starts required to earn Breeding Passes have been reduced. If you currently have more starts than is required for your next BP, this will be resolved during November rollover. Breeding Passes have also been converted to a "Pro Item" so they be exchanged at the GAO.

Issa (#1)
07/13/23 5:43 pm
When a horse receives a Handily note, their Minimum Grade in Race Preferences will automatically bump up to the appropriate grade. This is not locked and you may later adjust it if it's not appropriate for the horse.

Issa (#1)
07/13/23 4:46 pm
A Community Forum event is scheduled for this Saturday, most likely in the afternoon or evening. A more specific time will be announced on Saturday in Discord announcements. The forum will be held in ⁠#🤝🏼community-forum on Discord. If you can't attend and have something you'd like discussed, you may send me a PM or DM anytime before it begins.

Issa (#1)
07/13/23 11:22 am
Ultrasound fees are now paid immediately rather than stacking up as vet bills.

Issa (#1)
07/12/23 1:11 pm
The Golden Apple Orchard is now accepting Pro Items in exchange for Golden Apples. Barrel of Champagne may now be purchased from the GAO.

Issa (#1)
07/10/23 2:47 pm
A new round of Board Game Arena tournaments kick off on July 15th. These are just for fun and everyone's welcome to join in, even if you're new to the games! To register, head to #🏆tournaments-and-invites on Discord.

Issa (#1)
07/10/23 12:27 pm
All horses who are not Handily now have a chance to earn Golden Apples in races. This chance is highest in allowance and decreases as you move up in grade.

Issa (#1)
07/10/23 12:16 pm
Do you have horses that are consistently racing in packed fields (outside of series races)? Head over to #📥race-reports on Discord to fill out a form which will help us see what divisions need expanded races.

Issa (#1)
07/10/23 2:07 am
The ingredients to craft Pedigree Purifier have been updated to include Every Color Beans instead of Courtly Masque.

Issa (#1)
07/09/23 9:56 pm
Due to the server problems experienced on July 3rd, we had to start a fresh database for both messages/notifications and bank transactions. This means you can no longer see anything prior to the 'reset' of that information. At this time, it doesn't look like the old data will be recoverable, but we will continue looking into it and will bring the old information back as some sort of archive if/when possible. Thanks for your patience and understanding as we've worked to resolve these issues!

Issa (#1)
07/08/23 9:21 pm
Victor's Blade has been adjusted to match Robin's Nests and may now only be used on stallions under 20 years old.

Issa (#1)
07/08/23 9:20 pm
The price of injury vet bills has been increased.

Issa (#1)
07/08/23 3:28 pm
You may now test Producer Quality for any pensioned horse who is at least 20 years old, but pay a higher fee to test horses you didn't breed.