Breeding lines

[Dreamer98]

How do you begin to create a good line, like what aspect do you focus on? There seems to be so many different traits that need to be improved or at least held in check and I'm not sure how to keep everything even while actually improving my horses. I want to increase the stats in my horses, but at the same time I want them to look good and have the right colors for the breed etc. etc.

So how do you keep it all together?

[Bitapetrone]

I recently returned from a long break invoked by life, so I'm a bit behind where I would like to be. However, I did set several goals for my program spanning multiple areas. Perhaps my experience is applicable.

Goals (in no particular order):
- Black coat
- Tiger eyes
- Turkmene shine
- Thick, short -> medium length, upright mane
- Thick short -> medium length tail
- Excellence in Working Ranch (I do not care about any other discipline)
- Baroque/stock-type build**

** The build of my stock and my chosen discipline go hand-in-hand. I have an aesthetic I want to go for, but I need to make compromises for performance, and winning in my chosen discipline is a priority.

** Note that when I say 'build' I am taking the conformation report into heavy consideration. Describing my entire process for deciding who to keep/cull would be excessive and, I think, unnecessary to the general process. I feel this particular method is going to vary from person to person.

Before I begin I'm going to throw out there that I do not care about COI. Until it has an adverse effect on my critters and/or my scores, I'll be ignoring it. I've got a serious case of 'The Hills Have Horses' going on at my ranch.

I didn't directly focus or ignore any single goal out of the gate, but I did focus on some more than others at times. When I first began, I had my eyes primarily on build and aesthetic (when I say aesthetic I am referring to aspects that have zero impact on anything meaningful ie: coloration, mane type, tail length, whatever).

I focused on collecting horses that could begin to give me the traits I sought. I went for the black base coat first, doing my best to utilize horses heading towards the build I wanted. I did a lot of NAB/Tarpan/Shetland crosses. I ended up with black base coats, a thick mane and tail, a push towards the build I wanted as well as tiger eyes. I went through several generations to 'set' this type as it were. I strove for uphill builds because I knew that, later on, I'd be incorporating a lot of Turkmene blood to get their shine and it would diminish this trait.

I began adding PRZ critters in to get the shorter mane/tail while cementing the upright mane. Being a recessive trait, this took several generations to get in place WHILE maintaining the other goals I already had in place. I did lose some of the 'build' I was seeking during this process. It's inevitable. Any time a new trait needs to be cemented in, something else is going to fade a bit, even if it's just a little. This is the primary reason that I put forth the effort to maintain the build, and at least average reports in the skills I cared about up to this point. It made it take way longer to get the aesthetic, but I also didn't have to worry about cementing things I'd regret later on. I do a lot of line-breeding. Color is easy to fix. A Working Ranch horse with generations of horrible agility and intelligence is not so simple to change. A build that has been cemented for multiple generations is not so easy to change. I recommend that you keep these things in mind as you progress, and remember to balance your goals.

Eventually, I had upright manes; short/medium length, full tails; tiger eyes and a black coat. From here I focused on incorporating the Turkmene shine (again, while maintaining, to the best of my ability, a visage of the build I eventually sought). I focused on the shine alone because I knew that the Turkmene blood was going to screw with my sought after build the most. The Turkmene horse is almost exactly the opposite of what I want to go for build-wise. By only focusing on this one alteration (adding the shiny coat), I was able to make more aggressive culls because I was only seeking to add ONE more thing into the mix; fewer stars had to align.

Once I had the shiny coat mixed in decently, I was able to once again focus primarily on performance. Scores are what I look at. I don't care what champ rank my horses get to. I don't care what level they compete at. I don't care how many times they've won. I care only about what scores they can get.

This is where I am at now. I still have quite a few remnants making the Turkmene blood obvious, but my focus has switched to scores, getting a more forward set stifle and maintaining a balanced to uphill build (it's so nice to only have to worry about a few things now LOL). So far my top Working Ranch score is just shy of 59, which according to the World Records section, is getting pretty darn close to the top of the pyramid. Link to the aforementioned critter: http://www.horseworldonline.net/horse/profile/528696

Since I've accomplished most of my goals, I can now focus almost exclusively on one: excellence in Working Ranch. It took a long freaking time and many game years to get here, and I'm not even close to being finished (excellence in a discipline encompasses a lot of different aspects imo). It's been a blast, and seeing the horses I was going for in the pixel-flesh has made it all worth it.

TLDR: Decide on the traits you desire ahead of time and FOCUS.

[Dreamer98]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer, that was really helpful.

[Bitapetrone]

Nu problem. I'm happy it was useful to you.