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[evilchicken]

Does build type affect the horse?

How can I breed a change in build type? My Percherons are pony type. Is there a way to get them to horse or draft type, does it matter?

[Emlyn]

Does build type affect the horse?

How can I breed a change in build type? My Percherons are pony type. Is there a way to get them to horse or draft type, does it matter?

Hey there!

Pony type- heavy is draft type!
This type does matter if you are looking into competing your horse!
Here is what I go by when breeding!

If you look there are certain types for certain events! Such as heavy draft events, log pull, they require you to have Pony type- heavy vs racing which are horse type- light!

[BlackOak2]

Does build type affect the horse?

How can I breed a change in build type? My Percherons are pony type. Is there a way to get them to horse or draft type, does it matter?

There is one way to breed your way out-of or into something you want or don't want in your herd. Cull out the foals that don't have it.

In your specific problem, you have two basic options. The quick way, is to find a horse that has the build you want and breed to that horse. Favor the foals that pop that are lighter than their percheron parent and repeat. Using the same out-breed horse will help create your ideal faster. It will double over on the genes you want, raise your COI, but ensure that the genes build up for your ideal at an increasingly fast rate. Then, just breed back to purebred. If using purebred percherons, it'll take about four generations.
The other option is to favor those of your own herd that are popped less-than builds than their respective parents. You can use the build that we can see that's under the weight (below the breed of the horse), or you can use the build in the evaluation that incorporates both the body size and type. In this instance, using the evaluation, you don't need to use the percheron book, any book will work, you're only keeping points on the body size and type itself and favoring those foals that have shrinking numbers.
Using this second option may take you ten or more generations before you start to see significant changes. But you'll have a handle on the COI and you won't need to worry about breeding back to purebred.