I ended up selling the rare breed I was trying to get going for the same reason. Couldn’t find a breeding partner and didn’t have enough time to devote to it. It seems to me there’s a lot less players these days so it’s that much harder imo to get rares going. Not as many people breeding, let alone working on rares. Not to mention expensive. I breed TB’s as a source of income and I’ve always bred QH’s so I have those too. TB’s finance it though, seems like that’s one of the few breeds that there’s money in.

Maybe Ponybox should reevaluate registry stars on rare breeds or have like a start up DNA bonus on breeds with under 50 horses. Or maybe they should offer less breeds at this point. How do we draw in new players? An app?

Anyway, I totally understand your frustration. Even QH’s there’s not much diversity, market for selling them, and they’re pretty behind TB‘s in jump height with top horse jumping 95.5”. That’s with them having all the registry stars. At the end of the day, this is a game. It’s supposed to be fun. You could always keep DNA breedings on them to try again in the future. Or maybe you’ll have better luck getting a breeding partner. Best wishes!

I totally get this and rares are so hard and I find to have the stars constantly up you need a big herd and good ranks and I just find the whole crossbreeding expensive and made harder when can’t get the items. I went to rares recently and within weeks give up again!

The registry’s we’re meant to change to help this situation but unfortunately ponybox doesn’t seem to get many updates these days I feel it’s kinda hanging by a thread and sometimes there is little as 5 people on its so sad to see. I think pb should have a major breed cull so then there would be more breeders of set breeds if that makes sense then maybe every year release 2 new breeds back in.

I do find the 5* breeds far easier hence why I went back to friesians xD

IACOG- Wasn't the answer I wanted to hear but probably the one I needed to hear. :')

The registry stars are honestly the most frustrating part and I really wish it wasn't such a vital part of having a successful breed. I breed APHs on another barn and the difference between the two breeds as far as jump height and overall performance is very noticeable and it's all because of the registry stars.

You're right that this game should be fun and it is but at this point I'm just not excited about this breed anymore and I'd rather devote my time to something with an easier payoff or devote all my time to APHs because I've had a lot of luck with those.

Thanks for your input. It helps validate my frustrations and disappointment :/

Ebony - The freaking registries are the bane of my existence XD I do wish some updates could be made. I totally understand that Jeff just doesn't have the time to make these updates as PB is just not his first priority anymore.

Narrowing that giant spectrum of how many breeds can be developed at a time would really help. Or, don't make people pay credits for foundation pairs...OR, offer a Rare Breed Starter Pack for a credit that includes the foundation pairs AND a handful of items to kickstart their success.

Of course, we all have a lot of ideas to make the game better, and we can discuss them all day, but implementing the coding and logistics of it like Jeff has to do is another thing.

Thanks for the comment. I'm afraid I'll have to give up on the Arions and switch to something that's more developed.

I just hope you stick around and keep playing. Regardless of breed!! If you’d like help getting started in TB’s or QH’s, let me know! I have too many to have enough time for them all. There’s like not even two pages of sale horses.

Oh friend, I'm so sad to see you so discouraged! I know you've been hard at work with your Arions for a long time.
One of the hardest things to do is give up on a rare breed you've put so much time and effort into, but if that's what you need to do, I support you! If I wasn't already overcommitted with my horses I'd totally take the Arions. But alas, I have too many horses and not enough time for all of them :(

I can help with Thoroughbreds or a few other breeds if you're interested. This is my jumpoff barn so I have a few different breeds here, and some are doing better than I expected. Happy to give you a good deal on some nice horses to help you get started with something new :)

I have the same problem I’m a sucker for a rare, but I find at the moment what I’ve been doing is I’ve been just focusing on adding DNA and getting a really strong line with a lot of active DNA and all tens. Obviously I am still jumping them and trying to get those ranks low to get the stars up but this time round I haven’t been putting as much time in and still having quite a bit of fun. But I’ve noticed if you do have a big heard all the same age it’s not too hard to get 4ish stars and then that’s when you get the whole herd jumped by the public :)
I wouldn’t give up but try different goals for your rares. And like IACOG said,‘sometimes it’s nice to have a popular breed on the side to get the kick of the high jumps and what not :)

IACOG- Oh I for sure will be sticking around regardless! I don't know what I would do without PB and everyone on here. :) I still love this game so much.

MO - I'll probably just stick with TBs and I really want to get the APHs looking better and better. They've been doing so well thanks to having you as a breeding partner! :) I'm currently more excited about them than the Arions so I want to devote my time to them instead.
I'll probably keep the Arions around to crossbreed with the APHs to get more variety in our lines. But I won't be actively developing them anymore. I think it's for the best :(

Will reach out to both of you at some point if I need to for TBs. Thanks y'all.

Minny - I get what you mean. I think I'm just taking on too much by starting both Arions and APHs. I just feel like at this point I'm wasting DNA and items I could be using on the APHs.

I know that if I ever want to pick them back up again all I have to do is to use DNA breeds which is nice to have as an option! But I think right now I'm content to drop the Arions and potentially pick them back up again when I'm ready for the challenge.

Yes and that’s the best part is you can just DNA breed them back again!

I had to drop my rares, i hated to but i didn't/dont have as much time to get on here as I used to and the registries made it impossible to feel like they were worthwhile. I feel like maybe, at a certain population number over whatever jump height the registries should just stick, kind of like earning top breeder, but its a whole game thing.

like 5 horses jumping over 85 gets 1 star,
then 15 to 2 stars
25 to 3 stars
then maybe 40 to 85" for 4 stars
and up it a bit to 40 over 90" for 5 stars, but then it STAYS
it would still take time and effort, but the reward would be clear and guaranteed.

Stick with it!

I breed hanos and I don't have much pbs or items etc.
They jump mid to high 80"s and I'm aiming for 90" with them.

Breeding the more common ones would be boring for me.
I would rather be less successful with the rares than swap for a different breed.

I get this, like at times if’s frustrating seeing my rares hit 80”. But at the same time I try to remember that I’m currently playing pb because i enjoy it. It’s defo a different game from when i played when i was 11, but it’s dun in a different way.

Likely I’ll feel different in a bit, but at the moment I’m enjoying working with my Chejus.

(I also used to breed Arions back on Peggy server so an always down to help bring them back!)

I know where you're coming from. I tried for a really long time to bring back German Warmbloods. When you're the only breeder and PB's and items are an issue for you, it seems impossible to bring back an extinct or rare breed. Even without a shortage of items or PB's it is still hard.

I ended up giving up on bringing back something extinct and decided to start breeding something that's not the most popular but not rare, Appaloosa's and Paint horses. But I also breed some TB's to help bring in money with higher jumps, etc.

I fully understand why you stop breeding them if you do, I'm just hoping that Ponybox is able to keep the members it has as it seems to be dwindling down more and more.