In Horses of Hoofprint Bay, no trait changes a horse’s strength or endurance. Each one changes something narrower: its feed needs, how it behaves under saddle, how often it gets hurt, or what it gives a foal. Rebellious matters most once Confidence reaches 98, and Bad Inheritance only matters if you breed the horse.
Your library’s Traits and Quirks book describes all 14 traits. The numbers below are what it leaves out.
Every trait at a glance
Vet Test shows whether the vet can reveal the trait, and Foals shows whether it can pass to a foal.
| Trait | What it does | Vet Test | Foals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy Keeper | Gains 10 body condition a day | Yes | Yes |
| Hard Keeper | Loses 10 body condition a day | Yes | Yes |
| Snacky | Treats give 1 or 2 Confidence | No | No |
| Cuddly | Scritches give 1 or 2 Confidence | No | No |
| Neat Freak | Gets dirty less often | No | No |
| Mud Lover | Gets dirty more often | No | No |
| Sure Footed | Fewer injuries in the fields and from falls | Yes | Yes |
| Injury Prone | More injuries, even with the fields closed | Yes | Yes |
| Good Mom | Foals start stronger and more confident | No | No |
| Good Inheritance | Raises foal potential by 2 | Yes | No |
| Bad Inheritance | Lowers foal potential by 2 | Yes | No |
| Rebellious | Changes speed by itself at any Confidence | No | Yes |
| Energetic | Needs double the exercise, speeds up by itself | No | Yes |
| Chill | Barely needs exercise, slows down by itself | No | Yes |
Some traits rule each other out. A horse can’t be both Easy Keeper and Hard Keeper, Neat Freak and Mud Lover, Sure Footed and Injury Prone, or Good Inheritance and Bad Inheritance. It can have only one of Rebellious, Energetic and Chill.
Gender matters for two groups as well. Good Mom only appears on mares, and the Inheritance traits never appear on geldings.
How to reveal a hidden trait
Horses you buy come with 1 to 3 random traits, and only about a third of those are already known. To see what’s known, open the folder next to the horse’s name in the stable. The list sits at the top of Horse Info.
The quickest way to find the rest is the vet. Open Medical and click the phone in the kit to call one.
Then pick Test Traits and Quirks for 200 coins, which reveals every hidden trait marked Yes under Vet Test.
The others have to show themselves.
| Trait | How it reveals itself |
|---|---|
| Easy Keeper | Body condition climbs past 30 at the end of a day |
| Hard Keeper | Body condition falls below -50 at the end of a day |
| Snacky | Keep feeding treats while Confidence is below the upper marker |
| Cuddly | Keep scritching its itchy spot at or below the upper marker |
| Neat Freak, Mud Lover | Appears on its own once the horse has been at your yard for a few days |
| Sure Footed, Injury Prone | Can appear overnight with the fields open, or after several falls in one run |
| Good Mom | When her foal grows into a yearling |
| Good Inheritance, Bad Inheritance | When a foal is born above or below its expected potential |
| Energetic, Chill | Finish any run lasting over 30 seconds |
| Rebellious | Finish a run over 30 seconds at full Confidence |
That last one is stricter than it sounds. Knock one rail and Confidence drops to 99, so the horse won’t reveal the trait at the finish. Forest Walk avoids that, because you lead the horse on foot. Don’t rush it, though: at full speed it takes about 26 seconds, which is too short to count.
These three riding traits don’t announce themselves at the finish either. Check Horse Info back in the stable to see what turned up.
Feed and care traits
A horse with hay in its rack normally breaks even on body condition. Easy Keeper adds 10 on top of that every day, and Hard Keeper takes 10 away. That’s a big swing, so watch the body condition gauge on any new horse for its first few days.
Skip the grain on an Easy Keeper. Body condition above 50 makes it overweight, which raises the risk of laminitis. A Hard Keeper needs the opposite, especially once you’re training it, and an empty hay rack hits it hard: one night without hay can take it from -35 to -65 and leave it hungry.
Snacky and Cuddly are small bonuses. Each treat or scritch gives 1 or 2 Confidence instead of 1, so they reach the upper marker faster. Neat Freak and Mud Lover only change how much grooming a horse needs.
Injury traits
These odds are rolled once a day for each horse, and they’re the chance of being hurt during turnout.
| Horse | Fields open | Fields closed |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 10% | None |
| Sure Footed | 3%, abrasions only | None |
| Injury Prone | 20%, including cuts and lameness | 5%, abrasions only |
Close the fields on an Injury Prone horse when you can’t check on it every day, because cuts can get infected if you don’t treat them. A Sure Footed horse is the safest one to leave out. Traits don’t protect stallions from each other, though: they can still get hurt fighting over a mare.
Falls add a second risk, which builds with each fall in the same run. Sure Footed pushes that back so the first falls are harmless, while Injury Prone brings it forward.
Riding traits
Every horse changes speed by itself while Confidence is below 98, and it happens less often as Confidence rises. At 98 or above, a normal horse stops doing it altogether.
A double-arrow icon warns you just before a change. Blue arrows pointing left mean the horse wants to slow down, and red arrows pointing right mean it wants to speed up.
Rebellious, Energetic and Chill horses never stop, and you get half a second less warning before each change. That’s the entire effect of Rebellious, and it costs you most on your best horses. Below 98 it rides almost exactly like any other horse. At 100 it still changes speed about every 10 to 23 seconds, while a normal horse holds its pace all the way round. On a horse you won’t keep at 98 or above, it barely matters.
Energetic horses only speed up on their own, and Chill horses only slow down. Pick your correction to match: be ready to slow an Energetic horse before a jump, and be ready to push a Chill one on.
These two also change how much exercise a horse needs. Too little in a day and it goes Explosive, which makes it dangerous to ride. Lunging Free is the course to run if that happens, because it lets the horse blow off steam.
| Horse | Daily exercise needed at 20 endurance |
|---|---|
| Normal | 2 |
| Energetic | 5 |
| Chill | 1 |
The number grows with endurance, and Energetic is always about double. One lesson gives 5 exercise and a training run about 12, so a working day usually covers it. Trouble starts on rest days. Open fields overnight count as a little exercise, which helps, but plan on working an Energetic horse daily.
Breeding traits
A foal’s strength potential and endurance potential are each the parents’ average plus a random roll. Inheritance traits shift that roll by 2 for each parent carrying one.
| Parents | Added to the average |
|---|---|
| Neither has an Inheritance trait | -4 to +11 |
| One Good Inheritance | -2 to +13 |
| Both Good Inheritance | 0 to +15 |
| One Bad Inheritance | -6 to +9 |
| Both Bad Inheritance | -8 to +7 |
Those ranges are for unrelated parents. Half-siblings roll -8 to +7 before traits, and full siblings or a parent and child roll -12 to +3.
A hidden Inheritance trait still counts. The breeding lab’s preview only uses traits you’ve already discovered, so it can show you a range the foal won’t really get. Spend the 200 coins on a vet test before paying for a cover with a stud you don’t know.
Good Mom is the best trait for a broodmare. Her foals start at 15 strength and endurance instead of 10, with 5 extra Confidence on top of the usual half of hers.
Don’t count on traits passing down. Only seven can be inherited, and two parents with 1 or 2 of them between them pass on none. With 3 or 4 between them, a foal gets one at most. Foals also get 1 to 3 random traits of their own, so they often carry something neither parent had.
The Breeding guide covers the rest, from stud fees to what to do on each day of a pregnancy.
What to look for when buying
- For riding and competing: Sure Footed saves you vet bills, and Chill is the least work. Think twice about Rebellious on a horse you plan to keep at 98 Confidence or above. Below that, it’s no reason to pass.
- For breeding: vet-test first. Walk away from Bad Inheritance, and pay more for Good Inheritance or a Good Mom mare.
- For a busy yard: avoid Hard Keeper and Energetic, since both punish a day you forget them.