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PurpleSage · Aug 27, 2014 9:14 PM

I have asked around to get other players opinion and now I am posting here. I have used my pastures for 2 seasons now (I skipped the 2nd season they were available) and have yet to get any foals that have really blown me away.

As of now, I have a pasture of foundations mares, a pasture of 2g mares and a pasture of 4g mares. He foundation and 2g mares have all been in there from day one and I put the 4g mares in there in the middle of last season.

My foundation group has yielded me some nice superior (high B) colts, but this season, only 15 of the 30 foals remained intact after testing. I have 11 fillies and 4 stallions with only one confirmed superior colt at the moment (the others were from the first season).

My 2g and 4g have both given me less than desirable results for the most part. So far, I have yet to get a superior son from either group. The PT scores from the 4g group are what I expected, but the 2g bunch had pretty poor PT scores, in my opinion.

Then I get to my "best of the bunch" foal. It was a filly this season, so I took a chance and GMT'ed her to a colt hoping to be a fortunate as Kintara. Not only did he paper A, he comparison tested only about as good as his sire. If that was the best of the bunch and is only as good as the sire, what does that say about the rest in that pasture?

Please don't misunderstand this as complaining. I really like the pastures. I am just trying to figure out if this is all just my bad luck or if I am doing something wrong. All of the above was me trying to give you as much detailed information as possible. :)

kintara · Aug 28, 2014 1:39 AM

The first foals I got from pastures were really good, obviously a step up in quality. But the foals I have gotten the last two years (from mares put into pasture two HJ years ago) have been no better than normal breeding, and actually all bar one superior colt I think were from normal breeding not pasture breeding. So yes it had wondering if the mare boosts were still active as well. I was seeing no real difference

Ammit · Aug 28, 2014 5:22 AM

I am shocked to hear you say this. I watch the numbers come in every year and they are so much better then what you can get from straight breeding. I was stunned at how good the numbers where going through foals this year. I was seeing numbers routinely I would see maybe once ever 3 or 4 real life breeding years. It sounds like your breeding program has an issue. Most likley you are using stallions that are to high above your mares in quality. This is a very common problem. Most of the time when a stud is not out producing himself the mares are to blame.

PurpleSage · Aug 28, 2014 8:32 AM

OK, that's the answer that I was leaning towards. I just wanted to see if anyone else was experiencing the same issues and if that was the general consensus.

I have a very small breeding program over here, so it's a bit easier to weed out the bad ones.

Looks like momma's going to clean house! lol

Thanks Ammit! :D

Ammit · Aug 28, 2014 12:16 PM

Many people try and keep 5 mares per every 1 stud they keep. You don't get anymore nice mares then you get nice studs so if you do this all the time you are going to have a bloat of so so mares that can't keep up with the stallions.

PurpleSage · Aug 28, 2014 1:57 PM

Thanks Ammit! I really like the idea and will help me keep my numbers manageable. :D

SandycreekFarm · Aug 28, 2014 3:12 PM

Hmm. That certainly explains things, Ammit. I probably should take a look at my mare/stallion ratio. I think I may have even more than 5-1.

PurpleSage · Aug 28, 2014 3:49 PM

I know with my foundies, I definitely have more than a 5:1 ratio. lol In my primary pasture, I had a 30:2 ratio. Of course I reduce my numbers drastically with my lined horses. Especially when my mares start coming of age.

kintara · Aug 28, 2014 5:40 PM

Well maybe third times the charm and the mares will have enough boosts next season to notice the difference!

PurpleSage · Aug 28, 2014 6:21 PM

I have gone through and culled a bunch of my 3g and 4g mares and have realized, I need way more 2g girls. lol

kintara · Aug 28, 2014 9:23 PM

My comments were in no way to be personal Ammit or putting shit on the pastures, I love them! But yes definitely not as good a foals from newer pastures. Hajinc1 foals have been awesome and I keep way more subpar mares there as I cull so few. I wondered if it was because of the shorter timeframe for mare boosts to build up compared to hajinc?

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