¶ Horse Aging in Legacy
As you are hopefully aware at this point, horses age in Legacy. Their age affects several things, most notably their ability to show or do jobs, and their fertility, but your horses will also die of old age too. This guide will explain everything that age affects in the game.
¶ Young horses
For more information on working with young horses, see our page about managing youngstock.
¶ Show Horses
The two main divisions of showing, inhand or disciplines, are each affected differently by age.
¶ How aging affects disciplines - through the performance abilities
Aging doesn't directly affect discipline show score, but rather it affects your horse's current performance abilities (not the maximum, which is genetic and never changes). Basically, your horse's current performance abilities will increase with training and exercise, which will improve their score, but, at a certain age, their performance abilities will start to decline, which will decrease their score.
¶ Let's talk about the growth phase first
You've probably noticed most of your horse's performance abilities don't start at zero, with the exception of jumping which does, and intelligence which is always at the max. Their current stats are marked with the vertical gray bars:
But did you know that the where they start when they are born is genetic? Each stat has it's own genetics to determine how good a foal is when they are born. This means that some horses will need less training or exercise to reach their max!
Even further though, each horse's stats ‘mature’ at different rates than others. This is only noticeable when training or exercising, and just means that some stats will increase faster or slower than other horses. This is genetic too!
So, if you pay close attention, you could breed for horses who start off with higher stats, and gain faster, giving you a competitive edge earlier on in showing. This is really important for Futurities!
¶ Now let's talk about the declining phase
No matter how much we don't like it, bodies don't function as well with age. This is reflected in the game with horse's performance abilities. Once they pass a certain age, as determined by their genetics, their current performance abilities will start to decline (aside from Intelligence). You will see this happen in game by the vertical sliders start to drift back towards the left. This means that each horse will have a peak time in their lives for showing, and beyond that, earning money or points may become difficult.
¶ When do the performance abilities start to decline?
Well, it's genetic! It also varies by each stat, so here is a little guide:
| Performance Ability | Age when decline starts |
| Agility | 18 - 22 Years |
| Balance | 18 - 22 Years |
| Jumping | 12 - 14 Years |
| Speed | 5 - 7 Years |
| Stamina | 13 - 16 Years |
| Strength | 13 - 16 Years |
| Surefootedness | 20 - 24 Years |
¶ No, you don't need to stop showing them as soon as they start to decline
The decline will be so small at first, you man not even notice it, and you can counteract the decline by continuing to train or exercise them, which can help them continue to show at their top form. However, as they get older and older, the loss to their stats will get larger and larger, to a point that training or exercise may not help much. It will be up to you then to decide whether it is worth it to keep showing them.
Their stats also won't completely drop to zero either, but will stop at about ~25% of their maximum.
¶ What about Inhand Shows?
The performance abilities don't affect inhand shows, so you don't need to worry about performance ability decline if you only show inhand. However, aging does affect a horse's overall appearance, and older horses won't catch the judge's eye as well. So, you will notice your horse's inhand scores start to decrease a little once they reach 15 years old and this decrease will get larger and larger with time.
¶ Fertility
Age also affects horse fertility, but affects mares and stallions differently, as detailed below.
¶ Mares
Mares aren't able to be bred until they turn 3 years old. At that point, they are at their peak fertility, and will remain there for a number of years. But, after a certain age, their fertility will decline. When this decline starts, and how quickly it happens is determined by their genetics.
A decline in fertility just means it will become more and more difficult for them to get pregnant as they get older, but, don't worry, they will never become completely infertile! The decline will start when they are 10 - 15 years old though. This means that mares will be at peak fertility between 3 - 10(15) years of age, or a total span of 7 - 12 years.
¶ Stallions
Stallions are a bit more complicated. Unlike mares, they are able to breed as early as 2 years old, but they don't reach their peak fertility until they are 6 years old. You can overcome a younger stallion's poorer fertility some by using AI (where the vet will make sure the straws are good quality), but you won't be able to collect as many straws from them.
When a stallion gets older though, their actual fertility will not decline, but they will not be able to breed as many mares. Over time this will get worse, until they are only able to breed/be collected a few times each game month during breeding season (really old stallions may not be usable at all during the off-season!). This decline is genetic and starts at the same ages as mare fertility decline (10 - 15 years), so stallions will be at peak fertility between 6 - 10(15) years of age, or for 4 - 9 years.
¶ Life Span
Horses in Legacy will eventually die of old age. This will happen sometime between 24 - 40 years old, and is determined by their genetics. You will not receive any compensation when they pass, but you will get a notification to let you know. When they die, they go to ‘Rainbow Bridge’, a special ranch owned by TheCollector.
Deceased horse's will still be viewable in the game though, so long as you have a link to them. For example, if they are in one of your horse's pedigrees, just click their name and it will take you to see them, you just cannot interact with them.