It’s a real honour today to chat with Jive Inc.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to get to know you a bit better and thanks for taking the time out.   

1. What’s your real name Jive and where are you from, Sir?

• My names is Lance and I’m a 36-year-old who feels 65. I’m a nurse hailing from Louisville, Ky. Actually about 10 minutes from Churchill Downs. I live with my fiancé (Kelsie) and 2 dogs (Hannibal and Willow)! To be married Oct. 23rd at the KYD museum!

1. Thought you looked young Lance, that’ll change with marriage. I’ve noticed you have bred some really nice horses in the game, however, right now everyone is talking about a very special horse you bred – Howl Of The Hound. He certainly is a monster of a horse! What where your thoughts watching the Kentucky Derby please?

• The horse got a really good trip, I was shocked Evergreen wasn’t as big as factor as he been prior to that. I think the bad trip Evergreen had helped Howl Of The Hound. Plus having the best trainer in Dan managing the horse helps also. If I knew the horse was going to be that good, I wouldn’t have auctioned him. Cheesy had a nice run from a tough post position though, might be a threat in the BEL if HOTH wins the PRK?

1. I am hearing regret in your tone Lance. If you could turn back time, would you have sold the horse?

• This is the second horse I regret selling big time. The first was La Terrifiant to Wayne (Our Athletes), who went on to give her a fantastic career before selling to Smokey.

1. Yes she is a beautiful horse, think she sold for something like $1500 right?

• Actually $1700 to Smokey. I would obviously keep HOTH if I could go back in time but what people need to consider is whether I would’ve been able to get the out of the horse what Dan got from him. I doubt I could. He was really patient with the horse, didn’t race him until November and I don’t think it raced it’s third race until February (3-year-old campaign). Wayne took his time with LT too, he was more patient than me and it paid off for him.

1. Howl Of The Hound has interesting inbreeding 4 x 4 Raunchy which helps explain the big heart I think if you look at the bloodlines back end. The horse just doesn’t like losing.

Marry Me Mandy the Sire a 10-year-old I see plenty covers selling it sparked some extra interest, which is great. Any more exciting prospects from the same sire?

• Yes! A horse called Up In Smoke (previously known as Smoke Two Joints) however someone complained to support and I got the dreaded rename. So, I went with the Cheech and Chong reference. I don’t even smoke and can’t understand why someone complained? He is fast and already won a stakes race. Imagine the next race he will face tougher competition.

1. I don’t get it either sorry. On the subject of big hearts, I own the name Seabiscuit next time you bred a monster like him let me know sure can work something out . Do love the horses name Cheech and Chong though. Didn’t he beat Orange Chicken?

• He did on his maiden debut. Orange Chicken is a fantastic 2-year-old by Arindel, on for the watchlist. I got couple of fillies working 58.2 at 5 F. I have an affinity for the filly’s more than the colts. That’s why I sold Howl Of The Hound. I sold all my colts and kept the filly’s. It’s come to bite me in my arse. Dan (MB Stables) very kindly sent me 25 vouchers when Howl Of The Hound Won the KYD, which was very nice of him and unexpected.  

1. You say bite in the butt. You got some decent sized Breeders Bonuses so far; it’s certainly established you on the breeder map. Marry me Mandy has got plenty of interest and next time you put a horse in the sales for $20 odd bucks I reckon it will get extra attention. Know you churn and burn some horses to help fund the stable and think it’s good for business, results like that so to speak. Curious Lance how did you manage to grow your stable?

• Well, there’s always an initial investment at HRP to get going. However, when a horse called Truly Deeply Madly turned 3 and became a stakes winner, then competed in the Breeders Cup the filly and mare sprint, she added funds to the account so I could breed. I watched other stables having successful with horses I sold and I said to myself, “Man if I just kept the horses I bred, I’d be a lot better off.” So now I’m thinking now it doesn’t make sense to sell your best horses. It took me about 300 foals to create Up In Smoke, so It wouldn’t benefit me to sell him for even $700 when you look at the cost of creation.

1. What would be your advise for new players breeding please? Everyone views things different I want to hear what you think.

• Cherokee Sunset and Commanding are great lines but I look outside those lines. You could find mares with them in their pedigree and use sires with outside lines. It’s an idea of rather than trying to create a carbon copy of all the knock-off Commanding and Cherokee sires, creating an off-line sire.  

Also don’t be too quick to buy a sire for $800 or something crazy. You can find yourself some nice Sires with good bloodlines for $50. Look what Marry me Mandy cost me or Miles Per Gallon, $40. You don’t have to put $1k into a sire to have hope.  It’s all testing. Test test test.  

1. What advice would you give to new players in general please? Its good to hear different perspectives.

• It’s harder now than it was years ago. I played here years ago under the stable name Visceral Stables and then took about a 2-year break from game. I came back as Jive.

We have a good community of people here. Players like Dave, Dan, Rich, Dom, Smokey– they help stables. When I Started the private sales rule was different. I meet a couple of stables like Sarah Stables and Pan stables who offered me stakes horses for $40/$50 and helped me with placement of the horses. Now you can’t do that. If Dan wanted to help a new stable he can’t, someone will take that horse by doubling the private sales offer now.

The best advice is to pick the brains of the successful stables and understand the difference of opinions in the forum. Bickering is white noise on the forum but you can find good advice/opinions and form your own thoughts.

Lastly, when you get a good horse don’t sell it! Usually, they get better with age and they can hold breeding value. Don’t give them away for peanuts. Also be careful buying a horse from Dan or Smokey for $500. Not because it isn’t a good deal, the horse is worth that or more, but the problem is those stables have 10 horses better than that and you’ll be going up against them. Then you get frustrated when that $500 horse isn’t winning all the time. I did that a lot early in my career here. Keep your quality horses, work them and learn from them.

1. Understand you left the game for a couple of years and came back, ever feel like quitting Jive since then?

• That would be a good question and the answer is yes, several times and that would be another note to newer players. If you feel overwhelmed just take a month’s break and don’t sell your barn. Your horses will be sitting there when you come back in a month. If you start to grow your stable it can get stressful, constantly training and nominating and it can start to feel like a job instead of a hobby. Just take a break instead of quitting.

1. How did you hear about HRP? Are you also ex Race clubs or DigiTurf there seems to be a lot here.

• I played Digiturf in 2006/2007 I did Ok, I had some quality horses but it didn’t feel very real. Horses could race 3 times a week and it was like a slot machine. Buy as many as you can and hope for the best. I saw a post on the forums there in 2008 mentioning HRP I checked it out and it scared the S*** out of me! Meters/Stamina/Transport/Breeding. 2 years after that I thought I would have another look as wanted a more real like sim. And that’s when I joined as Visceral Stables. Sarah stables took the time to phone me for a few hours and talked me through how to train, nominate, and breed horses. It was very kind of him.

 Also Pan Farms helped me out, he sold me a really good horse (Crimson Smith) for a good price and walked me through my first race. I finished 3rd in a stakes. I read some negative stuff in the past about Pan in the forums and his pricing. But he was very helpful to me in the past and I know he’s helped a lot of newer stables. Take Raj for example (Night Rider Stables), he values his horses and if he is going to sell them, he’ll do it so he doesn’t regret the sell. I’ve learned to appreciate that approach to selling. Everyone values horses differently, so just keep that in mind when you purchase. It doesn’t hurt to ask a few stables with more experience their opinion no the price either!

1. It’s good Sarah stables and Pan helped you at the start. You hit on a real problem how scary looking HRP is to newer players with a difficult player guide to digest. Is there someone in the game you want to do a shout out to Lance and why?

• Someone I think gets a bad wrap is Dave (AER Stables). Dave helped me a lot too, sometimes he flies off the handle and he can be an emotional guy but he knows his s*** when talking HRP. He always gave me good, honest advice, even when pricing horses. He just don’t take s*** from nobody, his hearts in the right place, he just likes to give people a good ribbing sometimes. Which brings me to this point….

When AW comes into the forums and stirs the pot, a lot of people clap and say cheeky fellow, when Dave does it, he is an A######E?  I think it’s worse for a player who doesn’t participate in the community to stir the pot, rather than a relevant player. You see AW comes back for that quick attention because it’s too difficult for AW to compete with Dan or Smokey at this point. AW can’t beat Dan… The only time Dan will lose his grip on the game is when he gives it up.  On subject of Dan, he’s going to win the Preakness and cause a lot of hype leading up to Belmont.

1. I will for sure include that. Do you have any association with Horses if any?

• I love horses watching and betting on them. If that counts. I watched Zenyatta break her maiden live and literally travelled across the country watching her as she won 19 out of 20 races. She is my favourite horse of all time. I have a wall in my office dedicated to her. Newspaper clippings, photos, posters, all signed by Mike Smith.

1. It is good enough for me. I ask as some players are jockeys, RL trainers Vets etc and ha your partner is very understanding. What are your thoughts on the private sales? I know it’s been a hotly debated topic at the moment.

• F### that S###. Please include that Kevo. It’s designed because a small group of people were unhappy. Me and Our Athletes and others enjoyed selling horses back and forth. We would make package deals, swaps. It was designed because people thought Smokey, Dan, Dom, Rich, and Max were cheating by swapping horses. Cheating by selling horses under market value. I just didn’t see it happening that much, maybe a couple of times in the game a couple of dodgy deals went down but let’s not punish the whole community! Investigate the wrong-doers and punish them.

 How can you try and help new players by selling them a horse cheap when it will get swooped up by a more experienced barn for double the price? The current system just helps bigger stables procure talent and doesn’t help the smaller guy. It kills the Derby and Oak sales also.

My general advice to people out there? Don’t worry what Smokey and Dan are doing, just focus on your own barn.  

1. What are your thoughts on the auction process/structure right now.

• I think lot of people just put their junk in there and people buy a lot of junk in hopes it is a hidden gem. It reminds me of a dollar store. Instead of deactivating people seem to just put their crap in and clog it.

1. Would you be up for a cap on the number of horses barns can enter into auction?

• Yes I would and that may help people be more selective with what they enter. It’s a watered-down auction with little time to look at the horses right now. I basically don’t browse the auction.

1. You have had a real boost this year with your results, BC bonuses and vouchers from MB. Jive you mention keeping all your females, all is not lost I am sure :). There seemed to be a lot of importance in the earlier years at HRP on sires and less focus on broodmares.

Players like Smokey have helped highlight their value. I remember a couple of years ago someone leasing some horses to Commanding then moaning on forums. MB came on and pointed out the horses were pig ugly and slow and just because you lease to a good sire, he doesn’t wave a magic wand, you have to use a quality mare too! You hold them in extra high regard, I would say more so than others. Thoughts on the lady’s please?

• I Absolutely love the lady’s . It’s a good assumption. I don’t lease a lot of mares. I try to breed them myself but when I do lease them, I look for quality stakes producing mares with strong pedigrees. Mares that actually had racing careers matter to me. Go look at Fractious who is a major player now. He leases all those quality mares for $25/ $50/$100. It’s no coincidence he’s now a major player! He’s getting and using quality mares.

1. What are your goals this year Jive?

• My goal is to keep learning about these 2-year-olds an get them to the Breeders cup. Then after that try see if I can get them on to the Derby and Oaks trail. I’ve learned that patience is key, so I have to avoid frustration when speed bumps happen. Also to keep having fun!

1. Game improvements what would you do if in charge of the road map for HRP?

• I don’t know enough about the engine to comment on how it should be programmed. I will leave that to the guys who are more tech savvy. But for me I want to see a bit more of an interactive game. More polished and presentable to the players. For example, seeing a visual representation of your horse with its unique conformation IE heavier, thinner, more muscular, the colour, bad back legs, facial features. Like a 3-d image. You could even go into the auction and see them. It could lead to a more immersive and interactive community. You could have an avatar that goes to the track and trains and interacts with other trainers avatars, kind of like a video game. I am not saying it be like Playstation, I love realism but it doesn’t have to be so outdated and stagnant.

1. Anything you would like to say to the community

• Newer stables if I can help you, reach out to me, if I don’t know the answer I will go and try to find.
  Arindel – Orange Chicken will never be able to catch up with Up In Smoke. Come and get me, pal 😉
  In all seriousness though: before we post something in the forums, I would ask people to really think about what you want to say. Just because people have different views and different opinions doesn’t make it not valid. That goes for both sides that argue. Agree to disagree. It doesn’t look good having a 27 page thread in tech forum name calling. Let’s be friendly and have fun. We can’t all agree on everything, that’s what makes the community unique and amazing. We all love horses.
  ONE LAST THING: AW get your arse back here because I’m ready to Whoop it !!! 😉

Going to have to stop you there Jive we ran out of time . Subject of time, thank you again for yours today and I would like to wish you the very best of luck this season and with the wedding! I think your hard work with breeding is starting to pay off. A stable to watch in the future.

Off next week to interview another member of our community.  Thanks for reading and

Stay tuned!

Kevo/El Primero Rodeo

Categories: FEATURED STORIES, SRF Interviews