Breed Development - Essentials For Success

[Retsi]

Incomplete - still adding

Retsi's Breeder Handbook

Volume I - Developing Your Herd For Excellence

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Introduction

Hello, I am Retsi. I have playing and breeding racehorses since 2016. Up until recently, I loosely bred my horses and didn't really work on developing them, though I knew how, I had no desire to put effort into the Thoroughbred. The idea struck me to develop a rare breed for racing, so that's what I did. I am now breeding National Show Horses and NSH mixes that perform exceedingly well, my current fastest running 1:59.04

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Getting Started

The key to success is setting a goal or goals, and following them through. You need to determine what characteristics you want your horses to have. A certain color? A certain conformation? Start small if you are inexperienced. Set a simple goal, and meet it. Gradually build your experience, and better your herd in the process.

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Evaluating Your Horse

Discipline Summary - viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1235 learn which stats are evaluated for each specific competition type
All Breeders Reports Comments - viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7149&hilit=Breeders+report view breeder's report comments to evaluate the natural skillset of your horse, from best to worst
Breeder's Report and Conformation - viewtopic.php?f=12&t=4620&hilit=Conformation a look at how conformations and breeder's reports are connected

Understanding Basic Comformation & Common Terminology

▪︎WPS - wins/places/shows, this refers to the competition record of the horse in question. If a horse has a high percentage of wins, and more than 40 entries, we can assume this horse is talented or has good genetics. Horses with a low percentage, doing poorly, may have poor genetics. However, it is important to note that just because a horse does well in Sprinting, for example, it may not do as well in Steeplechase. It is also important that the horse is well trained so that it will perform to the best of it's abilities (over 99%).
▪︎HGP - horses genetic potential. You can find the genetic potential of your horse listed below the breeders report. The genetic potential of your horse determines how well it will do in competition and breeding. Genetic potentials begin in the low 20,000s with Adoption Center horses and range to almost 80,000 with some Arabians. The average range for competitive horses is 59,000 & higher.
▪︎COI - percentage of inbreeding, you can find this percentage when viewing your horses pedigree. Horses with 0% inbreeding, usually adoption center, are very poor genetically. Inbreeding helps develop your herd, more specifically, using a stallion or stallions with desired traits over several tightly knit generations, may reflect those traits or show improvement.
▪︎Progeny - the offspring of your horse


"Poor conformation can turn a horse with the best stats into a useless mess. Learn how your horses conformation affects the genetic stats"

Head & Neck Conformation

Face Profile (Convex/Roman ↔ Concave/Dished)
The ideal face profile is about mediam however a heavy head can inhibit speed, stamina, agility, and tempo while being advantageous to strength.
Face Length (Short ↔ Long)
A slightly shorter face can enhance agility while a slightly longer face can be advantageous to balance. Stamina is enhanced with a long face.
Jowl (Shallow ↔ Thick)
A thick jowl can hinder movement by restricting flexion at the poll. A heavier head, influenced by a thick jowl, can be advantageous to agility.
Neck Length (Short ↔ Long)
A longer neck can enhance speed, while a shorter neck can ehnance strength. A medium neck is ideal for agility and balance.

Shoulder & Barrel Conformation

Withers/Shoulder Angle (Upright ↔ Sloped)
Sloping shoulders increase a horses range of motion which is advantageous to movement and, to a lesser degree, tempo.
Point of Shoulder (Low ↔ High)
The point of shoulder helps determine the slope of the shoulders in combination with the withers. A lower point of shoulder increase the overall slope of the shoulder which is ideal for tempo, stamin and movement.
Rib Cage (Shallow ↔ Deep)
Well sprung ribs are ideal for stamina as it can help increase a horses lung capacity by allowing more room for the lungs to expand.
Depth of Flank (Shallow ↔ Deep)
A deep flank is ideal for stamina as it helps to increase the lung capacity while a shallow flank can be better for speed.

Back, Haunches & Legs Conformation

Hip Angle (Sloped ↔ Flat)
Flatter haunches enhances movement and to a lesser degree, balance. A sloping haunch enhances strength and balance.
Hip Length (Long ↔ Short)
A long hip is ideal for creating the power necessary for speed and strength.
Leg Thickness (Thin ↔ Thick)
Thick legs are advantageous to strength and balance but could decrease speed.
Stifle Placement (Backward ↔ Forward)
A forward placed stifle is ideal for agility while a set back stifle is ideal for movement.
Back Length (Short ↔ Long)
A slightly longer back is advantageous for tempo and balance, while a slightly medium to slightly shorter back is ideal for strength and agility.
Croup Height (Uphill ↔ Downhill)
A downhill built is advantageous to speed while an uphill build is advantageous to strength and movement. A level build is ideal for agility and tempo.

"Roman" face

"Dished" face


Evaluating Your Horse
advanced points of evaluation for competition and breeding
▪︎ breeder's report - evaluate the natural potential of your horse, horses with a high comment are likely going to perform better whereas horses with a lower comment may perform average or poorly. If your horse has a high stat but a poor comment, your horse has poor genetics and likely no "heart".
▪︎ pedigree - check out those dams and sires (the grandparents as well). reading their stats and breeder's reports may help you determine whether your horse has poor genetics. If the sire has a competitive record, look at his WPS (win percentage). Is it high, is it low? Is it average?
▪︎ stat values - what is the highest stat? how does it affect the conformation of your horse? is your horse built for Racing (speed, stamina, agility) or is your horse built for English (intelligence, movement, balance)
▪︎ bodily conformation & temperament - a high strung horse is ready to fly while an even tempered horse wants to obey. A light horse will go the distance, a heavy horse will pull it's weight. Genetics play a role in determining whether your horse will be stuck bombproof, or born ranging from very light to very heavy

The natural talent of your horse is what makes it shine in competition. I have noticed that good bloodlines reflecting high WPS will out perform higher stat value horses, who may have less "heart". I feel it is more important to evaluate your horses based on pedigree and breeders report, rather than outright rehoming based on stat values alone, choosing stallions and mares that hail from high WPS will almost always give you a horse with consistency.

Bad Genetics

What makes a horse "poor" for breeding or showing? "Bad" genetics aren't really bad, they're just underdeveloped or sorta like the horses from the Adoption Center, they're the foundation of what you are trying to breed. You should choose good foundations if you expect a good foal but often, I have found that I do not see fruit from these "bad" horses until several generations later. It can be tiring work to develop your lines. It can take weeks, or months, depending on the pace and size of your project.

Q: What are some signs that I'm dealing with poor genetics?
A: The first thing I evaluate on a horse is it's breeders report. This tells me where the horse is when it comes to it's natural talent. Second, I evaluate the stats. Are they high? Low? Do they correlate with the breeders report? A high stat value should reflect a high gold breeders report comment. More advanced, is the conformation, I look at the face length, rib cage, back length, leg thickness, pretty much everything. If you have an idea of what you want your finished horse to look like, you should pay attention to the physical conformation of your horse. Especially if you are not inbreeding much, the conformation can wildly change if you are not monitoring it. I find that line breeding keeps my horses more consistent.
Q: Why are my foals being born with a random low stat when I breed two high stats. Ex. a 62 speed and a 60 speed have a 55 speed foal
A: The culprit again, is likely poor genetics. In my program, if I find a mare is giving me very random low foals, I pull her and retire her. The same with colts or stallions. With this sort of situation you may notice that one or both of the parents has faults. You may see a high stat, above 60, whereas the horses breeders report comment is average or low. I call these "false stats", I've seen others refer to them as "false high, fake high" stats. These horses will perform poorly in competition, you may see their WPS dip below 70. As a small time breeder, you do not need to dispose of your horses. Instead, try to improve them through breeding them to better horses! You can even them out over many generations.
Q: My horse is 65 speed, why is it performing poorly?
A: You are likely the victim of a random high stat. That's right, random highs and lows occur. If the breeders report does not reflect that your horse has one of the top speed comments, you can be almost certain your horse has low natural talent. It may do good but not great, you will also see a lot of issues arise from using a random high stat stallion for breeding. You may find random low foals, bad breeders reports, or a fault with the foals body types or temperament. Be wary! Test your stallions at the very least before you breed them.
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