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Brandybrookes · Nov 16, 2021 8:08 AM

I am for sure one of those individuals who sees something and things ohh they're cute I'll not spay/geld them I may use them. 800 stallions later @-) not including the collection of mares I kept although not fitting my breeding program. Today I managed to take one step forward. I sorted out my foals that were well over 300 and kept about 35 intact with only 5 of them being colts. My next goal is to test them all to there parent and spay/geld those not supirior to parent.

The real challenge will be the aged mares/stallions that arnt quite old enough to auction but have points.
Some old lines I no longer breed but feel they are deserving of a breeding line and some that have small flaws but are close to perfect but I know the stallions should be spot on for breeding guidlines.

How do you guys sort through your aged stallions and mares who you've used in your breeding program?
I have lines up to 7gen and thought a good rule of thumb would be that if a foal doesn't hit homozygous for the two main things I want by the 3ed gen foal then it should be a show pony.
Supirior testing takes a chunk of time and hbs so I'm thinking only doing this to the ones that meet all the other criterias to then help lower those numbers and then I'm not testing every horse .

Any advice? I finally got the 1,000 stall barn for show horses so they'res plenty of room for them to be show ponys.

annismyrph · Nov 16, 2021 3:21 PM

i only breed for 2 colors in my "main" lines ; ( I dont open the pictures until I ve done the first 3 culls, so I dont tempt myself ) 1 is blue roan appy and the other is liver anything ; my first "cull" is BA /SBA ; obviously anything that doesnt pass goes in the show barn. Next is Genetics, becuase i only breed for those 2 colors ; anything that Isn't gts snipped and shown( I use the search 100 horses to a page so i can go through them quickly ) . 3rd is paper levels ; All boys must be A papered on 2g and Star on 5g , Fillies Red on 2g Blue on 3g and gold on 6g.( most 2g's i leave intact and toss in auction, otherwise snip and show ) Then and only then do i open their pages and see if i like how they look, if not snip and show ; if so Comp test them ^_^ hope this helps :)

Humboldt · Nov 16, 2021 4:16 PM

All my retired breeders go to a show barn. They get auctioned once they are 10 and if they are out of the money at their peak.

Silverstar · Nov 16, 2021 4:55 PM

I try to keep only 1-4 stallions per generation per line. I tend to think along the lines of if this was a RL barn would I keep that colt a stud or geld him. If I really like a new colt he is going to replace a current stallion, so he has to be perfect. I keep all of my stallions in a 30 stall barn. Also if I haven't used the stud by the time he’s 6, he gets snipped.

Forestshadow · Nov 17, 2021 1:19 PM

I have one stallion per sire line per generation and I try to keep a max of 9 stallions total per generation. Retirees stay in my barns and show until they age out of the game after I geld them. Mares get retired by getting yummed at age 20 with their names intact.

ConfluenceStable · Nov 17, 2021 3:17 PM

The ABSOLUTE, most ESSENTIAL thing is to NOT look at the pictures before you test. I keep my zoom in close enough that I can see the tabs but not the pictures. (It has nothing, whatsoever, to do with my pathetic, aging eyesight! Nothing at all! Nope.)

Brandybrookes · Nov 17, 2021 3:30 PM

:)) yes I'm guilty as charged for looking at the pictures then not wanting to spay/geld them.

ElementalStables · Nov 18, 2021 10:51 AM

I BA, PT, Paper and Gene test all my foals from the get go, and only keep ones that pass BA, are consistent, paper appropriate to their generation (2g red, 3g Blue, 5g Gold). Then I comp test everything and only keep the ones that are superior. For mares I keep all regardless of colour because I breed for a little bit of everything. For stallions I look at the genes to see if they add anything new that my current studs don't have (for instance, I may already have a 2g stud with ice 9 and axiom blue, but if I have a colt with both those genes AND nacre, I'll keep him and geld the older stallion).

Forestshadow · Nov 18, 2021 4:12 PM

I mass test my foals using the barn page. For superior testing of foals that pass SBA, I go to the control panel tab before the pictures finish loading and comp test. Then I look. lol.

Lonestarstables · Nov 18, 2021 6:45 PM

I definitely found it easier to cull once I stopped looking at the pictures.

First I run Genetic testing, PT, and SBA. Anything that fails SBA goes in the show barn. Then I look at the genes in search. If they are missing the genes I'm looking for(mushroom, satin, phantom, ice, and DP/STY), they snip and go in a show barn. Then I test for papers. If they don't meet my paper standards and PT score standards, snip snip and a show barn. Then I go from there based on what I already have, what's about to age out in the next few years, etc.

I need to get better about comp testing.

Wldmstnglvr · Nov 27, 2021 3:24 AM

All foals are SBA tested, regardless of how cute. If they are auto-snipped they have to have a performance test of at least 10.5 or auctioned, unless I think they are super cute and then I will keep as a show pony. Horses that pass as breeding stock, stallions must be superior to sire or I sell them, auction or private. Mares must have improvements, but don't always test for superiority, gets crazy expensive. If mares produce well for me they are kept and then retired. If after 2 foals they are not producing what I want they go to auction or private sale.
I know I need to go in and do a hard cull on my breeding stock, to make room for new young stock, but some of my older stock I am ridiculously attached to.

Brandybrookes · Nov 27, 2021 5:38 AM

Right now I'm stuck with my aged mares. I'm attached to them as well. Some have been good producers but they either don't match my breeding program anymore or are not supirior or pt isn't to standard.

Taridan · Nov 27, 2021 6:48 AM

My problem is I'm not breeding my collectable ponies for any specific color so I ended up turning a bunch of my C stallions into mares and tossing them back in the pasture lol

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