I've been a fan of horse based sports since reading the biography of Seabiscuit, a book that was emotionally moving and shed a lot of insight into the world of horse racing and horses in general. For many people like me, however, the closest we'll ever come to owning a horse is through videogame form, and luckily we've got games like My Horse and Me to come along and help bring our dreams to life. We got to chat with My Horse and Me's producer - Dane Cypel - about the upcoming game and what we can expect.

My Horse and Me is a sim game from the raising and grooming of a horse all the way up to the competition level of equestrian sports. Let's start from the beginning stages of the game. How do you go about getting started in your equestrian career? Will players be able to choose their characters and horses? How many different types of horses are there in the game too?

Good questions – basically when you start the game, you’ll have the option to name your horse before you start customizing it. In order to keep the “rider/horse” bond strong, players are allowed to have one horse to train and take care of. The types of things you can do customization wise range from saddles to stables (on the DS version you can upgrade your stable) to style and length of the mane and of course, your riding outfit. The horse itself is a sport horse which closely resembles a Warmblood breed of horse.

Not everyone has the money or luxury to be able to own a horse in real life, but we can only imagine that the raising and care of your horse must take some work. How deep or simple is the horse raising aspects of the game, because some games can go too far and really make you micromanage almost too many aspects. What are players going to have to be in charge of when taking care of their horses?

The management/care of your horse is just as important as taking first place in a tournament. Everything you do with your horse will affect how it performs. This can be a simple customization or it can get a little deeper as you get into the game. Feeding your horse, brushing your horse, etc are all very important aspects of your overall performance.

When it comes to the care of your horses, what activities will players be involved in, and how will those handle with the Wii's motion controls? For example, will players brush their horses and actually use the Wii remote like an actual brush, doing the motions?

Pretty much – the DS version will work similarly as well. There are several mini games on all platforms that will revolve around your horse’s care.

With its focus on equestrian sports, it seems that the maintenance of your horses will ultimately payoff when competing. Will the positive or negative care of your horses affect their performance actually when they're on the field and competing? For example, if you miss a brushing or fail to properly handle them before an event, are we going to see a decrease in their abilities? If so, how will players know the state of their horses and whether they need more attention or not?

Care of your horse is an important aspect which can be determined from a number of aspects. Within the DS version, there is a horse statistics meter which tells the player the state of their horse. As the stat bar dwindles, the horse will become less responsive and harder to control. If the horse is not being taken care of, the player will not be able to use the horse, since it is either tired, or not willing to cooperate. The Wii version is a bit different. Horse care is determined by the player. In the effort to keep the game fun, the player can choose when to wash the horse and to groom it. Doing so unlocks a number of game features, such as new costumes for both the player and the horse.

How does training play into the game and how does it affect the skills of your horse? What kind of training will the players participate in and what will the gameplay of these sections be like?

The training aspect of the game is actually pretty cool. Because the point of the game is to perform perfectly (just as in real life) players will have a “trainer option” – meaning after a Challenge they can opt to watch a replay of the Challenge and listen to a trainer’s tips on what they could do better or what they did well. It will be essential for the best players to undergo an amount of training.

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