HGG Community Forums

One thing that makes even lines desirable is the pretty picture all those even generations make on the first page of the pedigree. *G* However, that can easily give a false impression.

If you start out with ordinary creates (C stallions and Yellow mares) and then breed offspring of similar pairs that paper B and Red in the second generation, and the best of those 2nd gens together for the third generation and so on, the theory (which can work out with careful culling) is that you can achieve more intact foals and better results in terms of steady improvement in the lines both in terms of paper level and PT scores. You can speed up the progression by starting with Exceptionally Perfect foundations or, to some extent if you use Exceptional Producers, although there is a small variability of breeding ability at that level. Starting out by breeding foundations with different paper levels may not work out as well.

There was a period in the game when even lines were excessively valued and stressed by a great many players. However, Ammit let us know in no uncertain terms that matching paper levels rather than generation levels can be as valid a way of seeking for improvement over the generations. She really put her foot down on too much stress on pretty pedigrees.

If you're wanting to sell the offspring of your horses, there will always be players that will be less interested if the lines are uneven. Generally speaking, once you get beyond the 5th or 6th generation, some players won't even be checking the full pedigree. What careful breeders will be looking for is an increase in the paper levels as generations progress. If I see a horse with a fairly long pedigree where the great-grandparent have papers that look like *Star/Blue...*Star/*Gold.... A/Blue...*Star/Red on the sire's line and no entry at all on the dam's line, I will probably not be interested in buying it for anything but a show horse.

Or if you're looking at a pedigree where most of the stallions have been A papered for more than a few generations, or where the papers of stallions or mares fluctuates erratically, then once again, you're looking at a stalled or unequal progression that will produce more show horses than intact breeders.

However, if you're mainly interested in breeding to please yourself and not to try selling foals, feel free to breed as you like in any way that satisfies you with the results. That's the great thing about this game. Every player is free to run their stable as they like, so long as they don't expect everyone to agree with what they're doing.