Horses of Hoofprint Bay How to Export Horses: Harbor Guide
Learn how to export horses in Horses of Hoofprint Bay using the town harbor, share horse files with other players, and decide when exporting beats selling.
What Exporting Horses Means in Horses of Hoofprint Bay
Exporting is a file-sharing feature, not an in-game transaction. In a pre-release feature roundup, developer-publisher The Mane Quest confirmed that the town screen now includes clickable buildings, "including the harbor where you can export your horses to share them (as files) with other players." In other words, exporting turns one of your trained or bred horses into a shareable file that another player can receive outside the game itself.
This is separate from selling horses at the breeder in town, which pays you in-game money. Exporting is about the community: showing off your breeding lines, gifting a well-trained mount to a friend, or swapping horses the way the game's accessible modding setup encourages players to tinker with tack and color palettes, as described on the official gamescom listing.
How to Export Horses, Step by Step
The harbor lives in town, so you will need to unlock town travel first. In gameplay, reaching town requires building a parking lot and buying a trailer, which follows the "first ribbon" goal of placing top three in a competition.
- Win your first ribbon and complete the goals that unlock the trailer and parking lot, so you can travel to town.
- Open the town screen and click through the buildings — the town is fully clickable at launch.
- Select the harbor among the clickable buildings.
- Choose the horse you want to export from your own stable.
- Export the horse as a file, then share that file with another player however you like.
Once the file is in another player's hands, they can bring your horse into their own game. Keep in mind that boarders are someone else's horses — export applies to horses you own, such as your starter mare, horses bought from the breeder, or home-bred foals.
Export vs. Sell: Which Should You Choose?
Selling is an income strategy; exporting is a community one. Here is how they compare:
| Factor | Export (Harbor) | Sell (Breeder in Town) |
|---|---|---|
| Reward | Shares a horse file with another player | In-game money, supports yard upgrades |
| Horse leaves your game | Depends on how you and the recipient treat the file | Yes, permanently |
| Best for | Gifting, trading lines, showing off bred foals | Funding buildings, flipping low-stat horses |
| Progress toward goals | No | Can feed the economy loop of buy-train-sell |
Selling matters to progression: The Mane Quest's announcement notes players earn money through competitions, riding lessons, and "selling home-bred yearlings." In a full demo playthrough, YouTuber Jay demonstrated the buy-low, train-up, sell-high loop by purchasing a horse, maxing his training, and reselling him when a better mare became available — watch the run in the demo playthrough video.
Choosing Which Horses Are Worth Exporting
Because an exported file represents your horsemanship, export the horses that show your best work:
- Fully trained competitors. Horses maxed in strength and endurance — like the 35/35 "train a show jumper" goal — make impressive shares.
- Foals from strong lines. Traits such as Sure-Footed are inheritable, so a foal from a carefully planned stallion-and-mare pairing is a meaningful gift.
- Horses with discovered quirks. Quirks like Snackie (gains more confidence from treats) only surface through play, so an exported horse can carry surprises for its new owner.
Hold off on exporting if:
- The horse is still mid-training with unknown potential stats.
- Your mare is pregnant — in the demo, a bred mare remained in the stable through her due date, and you will want her line at home.
- The horse is a boarder, since boarded horses belong to their owners and simply visit your yard.
Tips to Level Up Your Exports Before You Share
A little preparation makes any shared horse more impressive:
- Boost confidence early. Trail rides on the Mossy Trail offer desensitization moments, apple finds, and gait-change reinforcement — confidence is king in the early game.
- Train both key stats. Strength and endurance gate access to Caprilli, show jumping, and cross country licenses.
- Mind body condition. Heavy training drains condition, so supplement with extra grain and hay before declaring a horse "finished."
- Keep a founding mare. If you are continuing a bloodline across generations, export copies of milestone horses rather than your last living founder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I export horses in Horses of Hoofprint Bay?
At the harbor on the town screen. The town screen features clickable buildings, and the harbor is the export point where horses are converted into shareable files.
Does exporting cost money or earn money?
Neither. Exporting is a free, file-based sharing feature. If you want income from a horse, sell it to the breeder in town instead.
Can I export horses in the demo?
The harbor export feature was announced for the full release's town screen, so plan on the launched version of the game for exporting rather than the 25-day demo.
What is inside an exported horse file?
The export captures the horse you developed — its training, traits, and quirks as you experienced them. Treat the file like a snapshot of your work to hand to another player.
Can I import horses from other players?
Yes, sharing goes both ways. Since exports are ordinary files, receiving one from another player lets you add their horse to your own yard, similar in spirit to the game's mod-friendly customization tools.