The Laboratory, or the Lab for short, is a location in Horse Reality. Here, you can test your horses to determine what alleles they have. The Laboratory can be accessed in two ways; either by clicking the Laboratory on the city map or by selecting “Go to laboratory” through the Genetics tab on a horse's page.
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¶ Colour Testing
When accessing the Laboratory from the city map, you first have to select which horse you'd like to get tested. Alternatively, you can reach the Laboratory directly from your horse’s profile. Select a horse and click on the Genetics tab, where the Colours & Patterns box will show up. It features an orange button labelled “Go to laboratory” that will take you straight to the Laboratory and pre-select the horse for testing.
Tick the checkboxes for the genes you'd like to test. It costs 15 HRC per selected test. Once ready, click the orange "Test for [amount] HRC" button. You will get redirected to your horse's profile where you can view the results. Each gene can be tested only once. This will permanently reveal its alleles that replace the initial question marks on the left side of the Colours & Patterns box. A notable exception is the KIT locus: Since several colour mutations are found here, the alleles won't be visible until all KIT alleles have been tested. Genes that have a few testable mutations have drop-down lists that reveal all included tests once clicked.
Premium members have a "select all" option to tick all checkboxes for all tests at once. They can also test all of their horses in which case they will remain on the Laboratory page after testing instead of being redirected.
The image on the left shows the Colours & Patterns box of a horse that has not been tested yet. The image on the right shows the Colours & Patterns box of a horse that has been tested for all available genes - note how green checks indicate the genes that have been tested, while red crosses indicate which genes the horse has not yet been tested! Ever since Shetland Ponies arrived in Horse Reality the tests also include the mushroom dilution which is missing in the screenshots below.
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¶ Untestable Genes
The laboratory tests can only be performed on scientifically identified colour genes, these are the genes listed in the Colours & Patterns box. However, there are also "hidden" genes such as flaxen, sooty or rabicano. They are known to affect horse colour and can be identified by phenotypes and pedigrees. Still, no laboratory tests exist for them yet in real-life, which is why there are also no tests available on Horse Reality. Skilled players can even identify horses that carry them, though.
If you are not sure about the phenotype or genotype of your horse, you can ask others for help in the forum.
¶ KIT Alleles
The KIT gene test had been bugged. Unless all KIT alleles had been tested, the results of the test were sometimes wrong. This included the breed-specific tests, even if the horse being tested was neither an Arabian nor a Quarter or Icelandic Horse. This bug couldn't have been fixed within a reasonable time frame, so another solution has been applied. The horse's alleles won't be visible until all KIT genes have been tested.
¶ Changelog
- On December 19th 2022, the Laboratory page was transferred to V2[1]
- On January 18th 2023, a small bugfix was implemented[2]
- On February 1st 2023, a small bugfix was implemented[3]