1. My Horse Farm
For Kids?
Welcome to beautiful Trotterville! Your very own farm is just down the
road. Take good care of your horses and build your business as you breed
champions. Outfit your riders, from head to toe, by choosing from an array
of clothes, accessories and hairstyles! Spend your money wisely, make
good decisions, and train your horses to become world-class champions. If
you succeed you will be rich and famous! The Winners Circle awaits!
Minimum system requirements - Pentium 3 with 500 MHz, 64 MB RAM,
32 MB graphic card, DirectX-7 or higher, CD-ROM, 600 MB free hard disc
space, SoundBlaster-compatible soundcard with DirectX support, mouse,
speaker or headphones Rated E (everyone)
Features:
* Learn the business of owning and managing a real horse farm
* Care for horses and train them to be world-class champions
* Outfit riders by choosing from an array of clothes, accessories, and
hairstyles
* Spend money wisely and make good decisions
* Fun and educational for horse lovers of any age
Personal Review: My Horse Farm
The target age group for this game is 8 years and older. However, at age
19, I still get quite a lot of enjoyment out of this game, and I have yet to win
the championship competition.
On the surface, the game does appear typical of something a little girl
would play. The graphics are cute but bland, and the riding portio n itself is
not very difficult. However, several things that are hugely great aspects of

2. the game aren't even advertised by the company. Mostly, I am referring to
the breeding portion of the game.
Genetics play a pretty big and complicated role in the color and talent of a
foal. While an 8 year old child probably doesn't put much thought into
which horse they breed their mare with, it really adds enjoyment to the
game. It is very unlikely that you can win even the first level of competition
with your original mare. No matter how much effort you put into her care,
she simply doesn't have the power to make it through a long rigorous
competition. However, with selective breeding using only the best horses
you have access to, over time, the foals turn out greater than their
ancestors. These are the horses you have a chance at the big time with.
In addition to the talent of the horse, there are also several color options
that you can put into your breeding plans. Just because the mare and the
stallion are, lets say, chestnut, doesn't necessarily mean the baby will be.
But the color of the foal is not completely random at all. The colors of all of
the ancestors of the breeding stock can contribute to the color of the foal. If
the chestnut stallion had a grandfather that was black, there is still a tiny
chance that the foal could be. I have even found that certain colors are
recessive to others. It takes quite a bit of experimentation. I have even
created a few colors that weren't even existant in any horses at the
beginning of the game. (For example, by breeding only the lightest of
palominos, I eventually got a foal that closely resembled white.)
With this in mind, you can focus on one color and essentially create your
own "breed" of horse that you will stick with, populating the game with
mostly one color. You can also try and keep all of the colors alive and
thriving with talented horses. THis is the most challenging, since you also
should try to avoid "inbreeding" (for example, breeding a foal to its sibling,
parent, or grandparent. There shouldn't be any repeated names in the
horse's pedigree).
Aside from the breeding aspect, several other aspects make the game a
bit complex for the younger crowd. There are many things that you are
able to purchase for your horse, that are not necessary at first to making
money, but could be very tempting for a child to want to buy for their horse.
This makes it very easy to go bankrupt.
I found that the easiest and quickest way to make money and therefore be
able to upgrade my buildings is to buy several mares, continuously breed
them, and sell their foals. I don't worry about showing or training or
anything until the whole farm is completely upgraded and I am making a
large consistant profit. This way, I can have one mare of each color, and
only breed it to a stallion of the same color, and therefore keep all of the
colors alive for me to work with and modify later. This however, takes quite
a bit of patience, which kids often don't have. Children often also tend to
get attached to their horses, and cannot sell them. It is a quick road to
bankruptcy.
Another thing that I enjoy about this game is that multiple players have
different farms, but share a breeder and town. This way, for example, if
one player sells their horse to the breeder, another player could then buy it
or breed their horse to it. I thought this was a cool way of interacting.

3. Although I have brought to light the complexity of this game, by all means,
don't hold off getting it for your child if they are around the 8 year old (or
even younger) range. It is an excellent tool on how to care for a horse, and
with a bit of help from a parent, they will quickly learn the controls and
have a lot of fun with it. It is easy enough to sell back or mortage buildings
if they go bankrupt, and this way they can learn from mistakes. Overall, I
think it is a much better game than it's creaters even take credit for.
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