Feed & Nutrition
Proper nutrition is an important part of keeping your horses healthy and ready to perform. Horses in Equivera are fed automatically each game day using the feeding program established by their stable.
Rather than selecting meals for every horse individually, you manage the feeding program for your stable and maintain enough feed in inventory to meet the needs of the horses housed there.
Feeding Programs
Each stable can establish a feeding program consisting of:
- Forage- the foundation of the feeding program and required for horses housed at the stable. The default forage is Grass Hay.
- Complete Feeds - optional additional feed.
- Supplements - Optional product than can provide additional care benefits.
Feed must be available in the stable’s inventory when daily feeding occurs. The amount consumed depends on the product’s serving requirements and the horses being fed.
Changing your feeding program determines which products will be used during future daily feedings.
Housing & Forage
The way a horse is housed affects how much forage must be supplied from your stable's inventory.
| Housing | Supplied From Inventory |
|---|---|
| Pasture | 40% |
| Paddock | 80% |
| Other Housing | 100% |
This makes pasture or paddock housing more economical when it comes to having to store feed. While horses kept in stalls rely completely on the feed inventory.
Complete feeds and supplements are not reduced by grazing.
Supplements
Supplements are optional additions to a feeing program. Depending on the product, they made provide benefits such as:
- Condition support
- Additional fatigue recovery
- Reduced health risk.
A horse must receive its complete required serving for the supplement’s benefits to apply that day. Keeping only a small amount of supplement in inventory may therefore result in some horses receiving no benefit once supplies run short.
Different supplements may emphasize different areas of horse care, allowing you to choose products that complement how you manage and compete with your horses.
Running Out of Feed
Keep an eye on your stable’s feed inventory.
When there isn’t enough of a required feed available, horses may receive only part of their normal feeding. Insufficient feeding can negatively affect a horse’s condition, and repeated missed feeding can eventually affect health as well.
One missed feeding may be manageable, but allowing shortages to continue can make it harder to keep horses healthy, conditioned, and ready for training or competition.
Automatic Restock
Stables can use automatic restocking to help maintain their feed inventory.
When enabled, you can establish purchasing preferences such as your preferred supplier, desired inventory amount, and the maximum price you’re willing to pay for feed.
Automatic restocking still depends on suitable products being available for purchase. It is a convenience rather than a guarantee, so checking your inventory periodically is still recommended.
Feed & Performance
A well-managed feeding program helps maintain the condition and health needed for training and competition. Supplements can provide additional support, but they do not replace proper feeding, rest, training, or veterinary care.
There is no single feeding program that every stable must use. Your ideal program may depend on your horses, their workload, your management style, and how much you want to spend on their care.
Unhoused Horses
Horses that are not currently assigned to a stable are handled differently.
Equivera attempts to provide temporary basic feed and care for these horses for a daily fee. This prevents a horse from immediately going without care simply because it has not yet been placed at a stable.
Assigning horses to a properly managed stable is therefore recommended for long-term ownership.
Producing Your Own Hay
Stables with a
Hay Fields produce a small amount of forage automatically each game day. Production is based on the size and level of the facility, with the total annual yield distributed throughout the game year. Produced forage is placed directly into your stable’s feed inventory and can be used by the normal feeding system.
Forage Type
Each Hay Field grows a specific type of forage. This does not necessarily have to be the same forage currently selected in your stable’s feeding program.
For example, if your Hay Field produces one variety of hay but your feeding program uses another, the harvested hay will remain in inventory rather than automatically replacing your selected forage.
Make sure the forage you’re producing matches your stable’s feeding needs if you want your horses to make use of it automatically.
Hay Storage
Your stable’s hay storage capacity determines how much forage can be stored at one time. All forage in your feed inventory counts toward this capacity, including both home-grown and purchased forage.
Once your available hay storage is full, your Hay Fields cannot add additional production to inventory until storage space becomes available.
Upgrading your forage production and storage together can help a larger stable become more self-sufficient.
Helpful Tips
- Horses that are not currently assigned to a stable are handled differently.
- Equivera attempts to provide temporary basic feed and care for these horses for a daily fee. This prevents a horse from immediately going without care simply because it has not yet been placed at a stable.
- The cost of this temporary care is charged to the owner’s account. If the required care cannot be paid for, the horse may begin missing feedings.
- Assigning horses to a properly managed stable is therefore recommended for long-term ownership.