HGG Community Forums

Some people add to the price of a horse any testing they have done, or any genetic modification.

As far as the testing goes; you will probably never get that money back on a sale price, especially on a foundation horse. I occasionally add $500 if I have both PT and color tested, even though the cost for the two tests is $2500. (ETA: Price of color testing changed in August 2016)

Some people will add in the cost of a gene mod. It makes the horse INCREDIBLY over priced. Gene mods in game cash are hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most people would rather pay $5 real life cash for a gene mod token (GMT) than fork over the hb's. However, a horse with a gene mod could well be worth a couple thousand hbs more than it would be otherwise, depending on which gene was added/changed.

Then you have the DHH and Rank Special horses; Higher rank DHH horses may be worth $1000 more than a regular create (these are all foundation horses). Rank specials are going to be worth several hundred thousand, again, depending on just HOW rare the rank is.

I add a couple hundred for a high PT score/low generation horse, generally more for a high papered/low generation stallion (again, fancy color genes would be added on top of that).

A mare with a high Average Foal PT is going to be eligible to paper higher, and will be worth more.

A neutered/show horse with LOTS of all time points is going to be worth more, the younger the better because s/he will be able to add to that for 'years' to come.

Then, of course, there are fads. Whatever the color du jour is will be the most expensive.

Brindle is fairly rare, therefore more expensive.

I'm sure I will think of more later, and others will have different opinions, but that's what I've got for now!

I don't even start trying to sell my horses for profit until 3G or 4G. Even then, you aren't going to make a living selling horses; you need to get your show barn jam packed full of high pointed show ponies.

I just mark them as mixed. I used to do the 3/5 thing, but lower level mixed gens are just so unpopular (no matter how often we are told that its not a crime to make them) that it really isn't worth it to me to fuss with more than the general 'mixed' label. I have a special tattoo for mixed gens.

I do close to like what CF used to do. I put in the horse's notes, 3/5g, uneven. It is more to remind me at breeding season. Since some players prefer evenly bred horses, I have tried to add a 'U' in the front of the name. Especially, on my most popular uneven bred stallions, that the public like to breed to as 'show horses.'

Examples: An intact uneven pedigree of the one above would be: 3U Horse Name. A spayed would be : SU Horse Name. A gelding would be: GU Horse Name.

As for pricing, I am with Cheers on that. I am terrible on figuring prices. I usually try for $2500 to $5000 for a foundation, depending on the genes, and how much paid testing I have done. If it is one of Ammit's Special HH's then I usually Auction. Other Special HH, I usually ask between $5500 to $10,000, and sometimes up to $12,000, again depending on the rare genes.

I just started over here in March. I have at least 5 foundation stallions, and I had about 4 more that I tried out, but didn't like, and gelded and/or Yummed.

I think it's odd, too, that people don't mind in/line breeding, but can't stand mixed lines. You are very right in that you can get quality SHOW horses (ie. high PT scores) much faster when you mix generations. Even Ammit has said that it makes more sense in some situations. I think it's just one of those herd mentality things. You CAN breed them. You will have problems selling them.

Personally, once they've reached 4th generation and higher I don't worry too much about it.

I will say that it is easier to compare equal gens to equal gens. MUCH harder to make any comparison if the generations are mixed.

All in all, I think that, at one time....WAY back in the beginning, Ammit expressed a personal opinion that she did not like mixed generation horses. People took it as law and that was that. Back in the day, when Ammit actively played the game, if she put a horse up for auction, even a crummy scored, ugly colored foundation, EVERYONE would bid on it....MILLIONS of hbs, just because it was an Ammit horse. What I find funny is that, at about the same time she expressed the fact that she doesn't like horses with numbers and symbols instead of names, but that didn't sway people!

Actually, phantom, one of the big issues with breeding horses with very different ability levels is that many fewer of them will pass the free testing. If you breed a foundation mare to a Star papered gen 8 stallion, you can assume that all of the colts from that pairing will be snipped because they will all be "much worse than" their sire. That makes sense. But now you have a couple of intact fillies, right, and who are you going to breed them to? A gen 4 stallion? Gen 2? Gen 6? That is a major reason why people don't breed unevenly for their breeding lines--it is really difficult to get intact foals from those lines.

That is also the reason most people tend to not care as much by gen 4-5. By then your mare quality may be lagging a full generation or more behind your stallions, since it's easier to paper and compare your stallions early on but the only way to really assess the quality of a mare who passes free testing is to assess the quality of her foals...

So, here's another pricing question; how do you all price stallions for breeding? Also, I've seen lots of notes in the public breeding studs, are those enforceable? I personally am currently finding more satisfaction in using my own studs, but I assume once I hit a higher level, I'll be interested in looking at breeding to the studs of other farms.

I generally put my foundation studs with common colors and patterns up for 1 hb, when I do this. I don't always have time in a busy schedule with frequently limited Internet time to do this, but that is my default price.

Moderately rare colors like silver or patterns like W3 and W4 or Sb 3, get put up for 250 hbs.

Common 2nd gens might be up for 250 hbs. Higher gens, I generally keep in house, but will accepst requests for straws.

Very rare colors and patterns I keep in house.

However, I have a large stable, with thousands of horses, that give me a very nice showing bonus, so I don't have to make money with breeding fees.

What do you mean by crosses? You mean something like foal with a draft dad and a warmblood mom? It certainly makes no difference to me! I mix and match most everything, breeding for quality first and color second and bone/size pretty much not at all--I have a little bit of everything! But I know other people have specific height/bone goals and they might be pickier about that but not as picky about color.

Cool, Cheers, that was the kind of answer I was looking for haha. I'm trying to be as detailed with my questions as I can, but sometimes they just don't turn out right. This thread has been super helpful for me!

It really depends on the individual buyer, I think. Different people have different likes and dislikes, of course, so it's completely possible that no matter what you breed, someone will buy. That sounds like a pretty cool combination, so if you enjoy seeing the products, keep breeding, by all means. I know you're looking for an objective answer, but I really can't tell you what to breed or not. All I can say is, people are more likely to buy when pedigrees are even and testing is done, which I'm sure you've heard before, if you've been reading the back-logs of the forum. :) That's the least nonsubjective part of the whole business. :P
And as with any kind of business, advertising is key. ;) Write a simple forum post and attach a search link of horses you wish to sell, and they'll be gone sooner than just putting them up and leaving it at that. :)