Hello! Im aleady falling in love with the game but I cant quite figure out where to start! The option of customizeable pictures is awesome! I would really love to specialize in Quarter Horses or another similar stock breed! I would love to ask for some help on how to narrow down the seach on horses- I can find the breed and gender I want, but they all seem to be private sale or bazookas of money? Is there a way to hide private trades (is that to another player or offer for all players?) The "How do I?" forum has kinda confused me in terms of searching for horses to buy as none pop up when I search for a horse than I can train/be affordable? 

Welcome to HP!! Glad to have you here!

You can buy 'Store Horses' of any breed or gender you want from the Store here!

Welcome! So glad you joined! :)  Unfortunately there are not many horses availabel for public sale, but its really easy to train your own from the store! Feel free to reach out anytime !

Welcome!

Horses set for "private" sale just means that you can buy out right on the spot. You have to place a bid and wait for the current owner to log in, see the bid, and hopefully accept. But any one can place a bid on any horse that is set for "private" sale.

"Public" sale just means the current owner has set the horse for a specific price that anyone can just choose to pay on the spot and take the horse immediately versus waiting for a bid to be accepted

Hey! Welcome!

I'm also new and have been rather surprised by how fast my store horses are gaining points through showing. I'm a former HL player from, like, yikes, 20 years ago. I do think the horse/dog points are higher than they were way back when, as well as the value of things, but I suppose inflation can find its way anywhere. 

Glad you're here! 

Hello! Welcome!!

I agree with Fathoms, most people start with buying a mare and stallion from the store and training them together. They start with zero points but like Swamp Pony said, if you consistantly train them they actually gain a lot of points. I remember having a million in HL was almost unheard of but most of my store horses hit 2 million by the time I breed them.

Everyone does it differently but I'll ususally breed my store horses and then buy a store horse to be its "match". So if I breed a pair and they have a mare, I'll buy a store stallion. I only do one pair at a time though so I know a lot of people will have a bunch they breed to to keep them from inbreeding.

The community is always happy to answer questions so feel free to reach out here or directly :)

“Life is short but also like terribly and insufferably long at the same time.” - Jenna Marbles

Welcome to HP! Echoing what the others have said, most people start with store horses, however a couple more easier places to find horses that are actively for sale by other players is to check out the "animal sales" forum category (also found here: https://horsephenomena.com/forum.php?cat=1 ) as many players sell backup foals. OR check out the breed embassies: https://horsephenomena.com/embassy.php

And yes, most people have their animals listed as "private sale" which basically only means that you have to place a bid on said animal and can't buy them outright. Doesn't mean they are private sales only to certain individuals. A lot of times I will message the player too to let them know I bid.

Many times I have animals for sale on my spare accounts and don't always see the message right away so I try to make note in my forum thread where I post my backup foals to have players message my main account so I know sooner that someone bid on my animal. :)