The Case For (Temporarily) Ignoring Stat Gain

It's not an average, at least, not all of the time.  You have to mismatch two or three of the ns stats, even to odd, to make the foal's stats a point or two lower than the average of its parents.

For example, say your mare's ns stats are 10 10 10 and your stallion's ns stats are 9 9 12.  Both have a total of 30 ns stats, so the average would also be 30.  But, because the mare is even, even, even, and the stallion is odd, odd, even, the foal should have 29 ns stats (assuming that neither of the parents have gained significant ns stats over their lifetimes.)

You have to have at least two mismatches, though, to get a foal with ns stats lower than the average of its parents.

i’m intrigued and am going to try a variation of this. i’ve been away from EV for a bit because it was getting stale and the competition was gone once i’d reached a level where my ~55 non-spec dressage arabians only had the ~10-15 spec dessage andalusians to compete against :p

i have plenty of arabian foundies, so i’m pairing those with the lowest non-spec stats to my 2nd and 3rd gen herds, who i’ve pretty much ignored non-spec stats on. counting out evens/odds will be fun, but i have a week or so before they’re all old enough to get it done. 

this way i can keep the stats high when i breed for my 3rd and 4th gen herds, but i’ll also have a side herd that is made of their half-siblings with lower non-spec stats.

Thanks so much! Just went back and did the math, and my horses are slowly losing nss!!

One more question, if you don't mind. The stat calculator makes it seem like the ns stats are an average. What am I getting wrong? That it isn't an average?

This horse lost 3 nss. (Base stat in name). Parents are 57 + 39. That average is 48, and he's got 45!

I feel like I have to make a spreadsheet now lol

Last edited on 2019-02-07 at 17:16:22 by marigold sunshine

Sometimes the foal will lose "extra" stats if the parents base nd stats do not match their current nd stats.  I can't tell for sure with your example because I can't see the base stats of the parents, but I have seen that happen with my own foals on occasion, and that is the cause for me.  I'm not sure how to calculate or predict this (other than the foal stat generator) but I do know that gained stats (or birth stats that differ from the base stats) have an effect on the foal's results.  

The foal's nd stats are determined by an average, but the principle of the mismatched odds and evens works because, with every mismatch, the average ends up ending in .5.  Stats are always whole numbers, so that has to be rounded somehow.  From what I've seen (and if someone knows better, please correct me) it seems like it works something like this:

With no mismatches, there are no .5s, and therefore no rounding down.  The foal will be a straight average of its parents.

With one mismatch, the foal will have one .5, and will need to be rounded down from there.  It will lose .5 from the total average.  So a 50 stallion matched to a 53 mare, with one mismatch, will have a foal with 51 nd stats, even though the average is 51.5.  

With two mismatchs, the foal has two .5s, which totals a full stat.  A 50 stallion matched to a 52 mare, with two mismatches, will have a foal with 50 nd stats, even though the average is 51.  The fractional stat had to be rounded down twice.  This means that a 50 stallion matched to a 50 mare would have a 49 nd stat foal, bringing its nd stats lower than either of its parents.

With three mismatches, the foal has three .5s, which totals 1.5 stats.  A 50 stallion matched to a 53 mare with three mismatches will have a foal with 50 nd stats, even though the average is 51.5.  A 50 stallion and a 51 mare would have a foal with 49 nd stats.

This is how you bring a foals nd stats below both of the parents - you must have two or three mismatches on parents that are only one total nd stat apart.  Having only one mismatch will bring you below the average, but you will never get any lower than the lowest parent.

I know this may be hard to follow.  I am happy to provide any clarification necessary.

Thanks. I think I follow along.
 In my example their base is the same as current for nss.

That is really odd, then.  The parents have two mismatches which should have given him a 47 total.  I'll have to keep an eye on my foals to see if any of them throw anything surprising.  I haven't noticed any unexpected foal totals except in breeds where I know a few of mine have gained some extra stats along the way, but I'll have to be more attentive.