HGG Community Forums

I'm working on 3rd gens now. You're gonna need mares to breed to that boy, so start an 'outcross' line, maybe?

I stop breeding a generation when the mares have replaced themselves. So if I started with 50 foundation mares, I would stop breeding them when they gave me 50 intact second generation mares. These mares are usually spread out over 3-4 months, so my first few rounds of breeding second gen-ers I will still be breeding foundations.

Usually I will pick up 2-3 superior studs in that time frame as well.

dark star: Remember, if you only get 2-3 superior colts in the time you get 50 mares, then there will only be 2-3 mares that are superior to their dams too.

Currently I have 5 foundation studs and 24 foundation mares. I'm breeding one stud each season starting this season. Essentially by the end of the 5th season I'm hoping I'll have at least one intact foal from each mare. I'll probably have to cull the stallions at that point as I'm already overrun with superior colts and not enough fillies. And if I don't have enough fillies I'll just have to breed some more. Or buy some 2nd gen mares to fill out my ranks. I'll continue breeding my foundations and selling foals until all the 2nd gens are ready and by then I should have a second pasture. I'll start the same process with the 2nd gen horses breeding 2 studs at a time so that any mares related to the first stud will still be covered that season.

No idea what I'll do for gen 3 as that will take some serious planning.

I am by NO means an expert or seasoned vet here. I do feel that I have made some pretty drastic ground in a short amount of time by reaching out to a few key players for tips and using my own knowledge with breeding dairy cattle to make a protocol.

When I started out, I bought as many foundation mares as I could. Foals sell. Quick cash. I bought the best stud I could find (foundation stud). I ended up with several that were pleasing but only ONE stayed intact my first breeding season. Then I learned about pasture breeding and having your mares sit in the pasture and gain their pasture bonuses. Using that huge tip, I made several quite nice G2s of my own, but I also used the extra money from the junk foals to reach beyond and start finding mares of other generations to outcross and build from.

Now I'm going steady, and I actually just recently did a huge major herd reduction. I have two 30 horse pastures and three 10 horse pastures which I purchased with RL money. That sped things up for me pretty drastically. I was able to expand rapidly and bought a cash pack to help. I then sat on what I had for a month, utilized mares up for brood and kept pushing foals for cash flow. Before herd reduction, I had the 60 horse pasture, one 30 horse, and one 10 horse all filled with Foundation mares. I utilized Perfect Foundation and Top Notch Producer studs with 9.9PT. I made the cut to Red papered, 9.8+PT, Consistent Foundation mares. I was able to sell the quality mares back through public auction. I then chose where my next generations should be and set a cull-line. Anything under my cull-line is sold. I have also learned a few tips to save cash that otherwise was being spent carelessly on my part (like testing everything in every category-including altered horses). Now with foal batches, I start immediately with a Breeding Advice. If they pass, then they get Genetic Test, followed by Performance Inspection. If they look good in all categories, I then lastly test the Breeding Inspection to finalize. This saves me a load of cash that would be carelessly spent.

Still learning the game, and going with the flow. My best at the start are laughable now, but you have to start somewhere!

In my opinion, and I likely will KEEP retaining ALL generations around in various pastures. I like to keep open bloodlines going, and watching progress as well as toying around with new stock! I'm now working on my first batch of G5s. :D