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In the future I would be happy to take mares like that! I would even promise to alter all of her foals :D

Doorbell, the folks with 3rd gen mares papering *Gold are almost definitely using boosted or at least exceptional lines. I give my mares until 4th gen to paper Blue from most stock, but also take everything into account when considering this (lines, foals, stallions bred to, etc.).

Hi Doorbell,

I don't quite remember when you took your break from playing, but part of the reason you're bummed is probably that the mare papering scale changed while you were away. Red is the new blue: right now, red-papered mares are the equivalent of the blues we used to see pretty commonly. Blue is now the equivalent of the old *gold. *Gold is now pretty much the top of the benchmark, but it's harder to get. In general the scale has a lot more variety. (Incidentally, yellow now is what red used to be, which is why non-exceptional foundation mares are all basically yellow quality, even if they do often paper red.)

There's a pretty direct correlation with mare and stallion paper levels now, too. Yellow mares are the breeding equivalent of C papered stallions. Reds are the equivalent of Bs, blues are the equivalent of As, and *golds and *stars are the same. If you're not breeding 3rd generation stars, you're not going to be getting 3rd generation gold mares.

And yeah, I'll reiterate what was said above: about the only way to get them (barring one or two super overachievers now and then, but they're the exception and not the rule) is with boosting. I don't boost, and generally don't start my lines with A-quality foundations, so generally expect to see golds start cropping up in the 5th generation, though I don't require them until the 6th. I'm not as hard on my producers as some folks are, and based on a lot of breeding, generally expect a two generation lag between mare paper levels. (So two generations of reds before a blue, two generations of blue before a gold.)

Comparison is the thief of joy. The only papers anyone should be worried about is in their own barn. As long as they are progressing at a pace the owner is happy about that is all that maters.

And yes there is no such thing as a gold 3rd gen with out boosts it's not possible. Perfect foundations are high yellows. (Reds are just flukes and studs influencing things)