More Questions About Starting My Own Lines

So after much consternation (and in an effort to distract myself from how empty our home feels since our dog, Piper, passed on the 18th) I finally created EC Mustangs to start my own line. Based on the extremely helpful guidelines of the wonderful Sabriel, I’ve purchased 6 Mustangs. Now, however, I have a few things I could really use advice on as I’ve never started my own lines before. (I know some of these questions may seem dumb - just bare with me.) Thank you!

Specialties
Normally I would assign a horse’s specialty based on their highest two stats. I would also normally pair up horses of the the same specialty. These 6 are all over - no one stallion could be paired with one mare as far as specialties. Is it possible to just assign them all the same specialty - say Endurance - and just focus on the stats needed for Endurance?

Conformation
I’m a stat breeder so I’ve never really focused on conformation. These 6 store horses are all various degrees of Average. Is there a way to bring the Confo up through breeding? If I ever bring in new blood from other breeders what should I look for in confo?

Colors/Markings
So the only color info I know is chestnut - ee, possible chestnut - Ee. (This is due to my chestnut Clydesdale obsession.) I’ve read the very informative and very helpful genetics guides on here - twice. I still can’t grasp how it works. It’s like my brain just has a block against learning genetics. I’m also not sure which colors are more common or rare. I’d like to see if I can breed any interesting colors/markings but don’t know which horses to pair up to do so. I’m going to list each horses color/markings and geno. If there are any rarer colors I’d love to know & any suggestions on pairing them up would be greatly appreciated.

Stallion 1 - Color: Bay, Markings: None, Geno: Ee AA gg crcr dd chch FF zz pp stysty rbrb ++ oo spsp lplp patn1patn1 patn2patn2

Stallion 2 - Color: Black, Markings: Splash, Geno: Ee aa gg crcr dd chch FF zz pp stysty rbrb ++ oo Spsp lplp patn1patn1 patn2patn2

Stallion 3 - Color: Black, Markings: None, Geno: Ee aa gg crcr dd chch FF zz pp stysty rbrb ++ oo spsp lplp patn1patn1 patn2patn2

Mare 1 - Color: Wild Bay, Markings: None, Geno: EE AA+ gg crcr dd chch FF zz pp stysty rbrb ++ oo spsp lplp patn1patn1 patn2patn2

Mare 2 - Color: Black, Markings: None, Geno: Ee aa gg crcr dd chch FF zz pp stysty rbrb ++ oo spsp lplp patn1patn1 patn2patn2

Mare 3 - Color: Chestnut, Markings: None, Geno: ee Aa gg crcr dd chch FF zz pp stysty rbrb ++ oo spsp lplp patn1patn1 patn2patn2

To check out Sabriel’s guidelines for yourself, please click HERE.

Thanks again!

Hi there Valzed! Welcome to the Mustang gang c: I've got some advice for you as a longtime breeder of mustangs.

SPECIALTY
I have all mustangs set to endurance. This is the most popular discipline, and makes resale easy. you can set your specialty to something else, feed peppermints or hay cubes, then pay the $10,000 to change specialty.

CONFORMATION
I have a rule across all breeds that i try to only have store horses with 55 confo or higher. I try to breed a lower to higher every breeding instead of equal confirmations.

COLOR
you got a wild bay!!! i'm so jealous ;u; generally, everyone tries to avoid paint patterns in the stangs except for splash, roan, and rabicano. double creams, champagnes, silvers, and flaxens are ~rare~ for mustangs, but i love all of the colors on the stangs.

good luck! i can't wait to see what you produce!

Congrats!!!

Got lots of Mustangs for sale on my Mustang account; if you're interested. :)
Many are out of several years of work and all (that I know of) are in Endurance.

And, got a handsome little guy with 89.31 conformation if you are interested. :)

Last edited on 2016-11-23 at 11:19:23 by ♥ Feathered Gold ♥

Speciality: To save yourself the hassle, just make them all endurance. It's far and away the most popular discipline for mustangs on EV, which makes it easier to sell extras. You might have a tiny bit more difficulty getting them to show well, but i've yet to notice a difference.

Conformation: If good conformation is a goal (even if it's not your primary goal) then you'll want to make your pairs based on conformation. Take a look at your herd, and make a not of what 'poors' each has. Pair them only with another horse that has a 'good' trait where the other has a 'poor'. this doesn't guarantee a 'good' trait in the foal (though odds are it will), but it will never make an awful, which is what you really want to avoid!

Color: Elegant is spot-on with the markings. Overo, tobiano, and sabino are terribly unattractive on the new breed art. Splash, Roan, and Rabicano are very desirable, as are all dilutions. Anything brown based is desirable, as is wild bay. Plain bays, chestnuts, grays, and blacks are the least desirable since that's what the EC spits out the most often.

Based on the colors you've got and assuming you want more variety, your best bet is to either use credit items on them, or to breed in color using outside lines.

I've been breeding Mustangs since I joined EV but I started off with Mustangs a friend gifted to me when she was leaving EV. These are my first all on my own Mustangs.

@Elegant = I'm guessing a wild bay is good? Should I pair the wild bay mare with the regular bay stally then?

@Feathered - I'd like to keep these 6 straight foundation, but I'm always looking for good Mustangs for my main Mustang herd.

I know nothing about Mustang breeding, but I wouldn't breed the wild bay and the regular bay if I were you. That is, if you only plan on breeding each pair once. If the foal turns out plain bay, you'll have lost the chance to get a rare horse. I personally would breed her with another rare color to assure a good outcome, but that's just me. I once bred a wild bay and a seal brown and got a chestnut, so my tactic doesn't always work either.

Wild Bay is pretty rare considering it's brand new to the game with the recode! I usually breed twice for the best possible outcome of either foal, not just once, so you could breed her to the Bay twice, or breed her to the buckskin or black with the hopes that the A+ will pass! If you consider offering her for brood, I'd love to buy a spot as well ;u;

I'll breed my horses however many times seem fit for the stat, color, or confo. I personally don't mind a horse being bred a few times so long as it isn't like 15-20 times :P