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ApollosLegacy · Aug 15, 2019 5:21 PM

Since the dam comparison testing went live, how many people are completely overhauling their pastures and foals? I went through my 3 year olds fillies and my new foals and have a few favorites that tested as good as their dams, and I'm hesitant to get rid of them because of their stats and colors but at the same time, I want to have the best stock possible and I know that keeping superior foals only would be the best way to accomplish that. I dont know what to do, should I keep my favorites just because, or bite the bullet, and sell them in hopes that I'll get more superior foals next season? Please help lol!

Ultraviolet · Aug 15, 2019 5:45 PM

You could always keep those about as good as fillies and hope that the "about" means that they are slightly better than their dams. Breed those girls a few times and see what the foal quality is like by looking at AFPT. I'm doing that on server 1 and just putting in their notes that 1. the filly only tested AAGA dam, 2. that the line might progress slowly because of this, 3. that I should check on that mare's foals after a few seasons to see if she is out producing herself or if the line is stagnant or getting worse, and 4. that I should check for half siblings in the future that might have tested better. I am only doing this for those girls that I really love and would be extremely difficult for me to replace. But if you want to be ruthless and have a quickly progressing line, spay and enjoy them as show ponies! That's what I'm doing on this server since my line of in-house grays has been going for several RL years and I still can't break that star/gold barrier.

Maribo · Aug 15, 2019 5:55 PM

I have done all my mares here. Funds are a little tighter on server 1, though, and I also have alot more mares there, so I will have to do them in intervalls :P

I am being very strict with only keeping those who are superior, or else I would have used double the time, and I would not have been happy with the quality down the line. Only keeping the cream of the cream :)

Looper · Aug 15, 2019 6:40 PM

Now that I'm getting A/Blue papered foals in pasture I'm going to be tighter on B/Red Papered. I will hold a color or a fun gene until I get an A/Blue Gen 2 and then reevaluate anyone papering less. For example Second Star's line already threw A/Blue papered foals with all the best stuff from their sire so any B/Red papered foals under 17 hands or missing something from him are for sale or will be snipped.

FeldingFields · Aug 15, 2019 7:17 PM

I still can't really afford to comparison test everyone on a routine basis, so I'm business as usual.

HunterUnderSaddleGirl · Aug 15, 2019 8:05 PM

I haven’t done anything yet. Not sure what I want to do. Got rid of all of my 3G reds. Want to cut down on the 2Gs, but that’s a LOT of mares to test. And not sure how I would go about it. Ideally I would want a mare to test against that was 103-104% so I make sure they test superior to her.

Seaswell · Aug 15, 2019 8:25 PM

I haven't decided how mare testing is going to fit in my budget. I only occasionally test studs and that's to replace gene mixes... So I have way to many intact boys. I've been culling almost daily for a month now due to mixing my accounts, and I still have at least twice as many mares as I really need.

Dinascar · Aug 15, 2019 8:27 PM

I have far too many 2nd gen mares but they are going to test superior anyway as they are red and most of my foundies are yellow. I have some 3rd gen reds that I should get rid of anyway (testing or not testing!). It's my blues/golds I might have a look at, as they live in pastures and pasture space is limited so they will have to test superior to dams from now on. I will start with my 3 and 2 year olds. Well.. soon...

Spectrum · Aug 15, 2019 9:41 PM

@FeldingFields Tell me about it...

I have roughly ~600 mares that are gen 2+. If I were to test all of them, it'd be about 4.9 million hbs.

Also I desperately need a new barn and have two foals this year that still need GMTs. So until that gets done, business as usual!

(I am excited for this feature, though. Just realistically I won't get to use it for a little while ;) )

RoseFlute · Aug 15, 2019 10:45 PM

Yes! I was already culling a lot. Call me Edward. :P I've spent over a million in the past two days just on two or three generations. :P

pfrsue · Aug 15, 2019 10:53 PM

I'm mostly testing my higher bootstrap mares right now. My snowflakes, onyx, and other 'specials' are next on the list.

BellaVoce · Aug 15, 2019 11:00 PM

I mean, I am pretty strict as it is as far as culling goes (even my color herds have to paper better than both parents, so it’s slow-going but I have a solid stock). I’ve been using the comparison testing Against my best gold* mares though, to make it easier to keep high PT/paper mares for my bootstrap herd.

BlueValley · Aug 16, 2019 12:45 AM

I'm working towards testing everyone, but it's going to take a while. So far I've only kept two mares intact that tested as good as, I haven't made up my mind on them just yet. Everyone else that got AGA has been spayed. I've got too many lines going on to not shoot for superior.

NowandForever · Aug 16, 2019 12:59 AM

I'm testing my young Gold bootstrap fillies that are from super high studs out of Gold dams and spaying those that test worse. Then I will move on to the older girls because I have run out of barn and pasture space.

Bandit1119 · Aug 16, 2019 1:48 AM

I’m about 7 months behind on sorting foals on HJ2 :O as I’ve been spending a ton of time trying to sort, tattoo and sell off show horses on HJ1. (With 900 foals a month now that it’s gone down to 1 month breeding seasons it’s a never ending chore) so I need to go through and sort my unnamed horses but will most likely be implementing mare comparison testing when I do.

But I’ve started to use it on hj1 starting. With my oldest mares (figuring it would eliminate more as I’ve tightened up my standards since they were born) but surprisingly I haven’t had that many culls in each age bracket I’ve run through so far (16-19 year olds done) I had 7 of 47 - 16 year olds test AGA

AHayesHorses · Aug 16, 2019 2:20 AM

I'm doing a mass cull on my girls now :) I'm going through by pasture first and spaying EVERYTHING that tests AGA. I will only keep superior foals from here on out.

RipshinCreekFarm · Aug 16, 2019 2:43 AM

I am holding off for now, mainly because it seems overwhelming (and exspensive). I have been pretty strict anyway, and have been getting star/gold at 4g from exceptional foundation stock, so I don't want to mess with a good thing. Maybe next month I will pick a line and just do it.

ApollosLegacy · Aug 17, 2019 12:09 AM

Thanks for all your opinions everyone! I appreciate it

SummertreeFarms · Aug 17, 2019 4:02 PM

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I only had to cull 10-12 mares total. Then again, papering kind of negates the mare comparison. I think I will use it most on my gold papered mares, since once the line reaches gold there really isn't any way, besides PT, to tell if they are better.

DragonRun · Aug 17, 2019 7:37 PM

I am currently testing my Blue mares against their dams and against each other. I now have a benchmark mare at G2 Blue and G3 Blue, but so much testing left to do. I may try and do 1 generation per season.

ApollosLegacy · Aug 18, 2019 4:55 AM

I ended up culling 60 mares total between 6 pastures and 4 barns. Makes me feel better cleaning out the herds a bit. I like know that I can be as strict with the girls as the boys as I've only kept STS stallions

Ammit · Aug 18, 2019 11:49 AM

Sound the culling drums! We make ready for the grate spay!

Tiranym · Aug 18, 2019 11:49 PM

I'm culling like crazy too. That new test is awesome.

HTRanch · Aug 22, 2019 2:51 AM

I'm just as excited as the next person that mare testing is available. All I'm saying is, we have to come up with a different acronym for "Superior To Dam." :P

Justa · Aug 22, 2019 2:56 AM

=))

ApollosLegacy · Aug 22, 2019 3:03 AM

=)) :-))

ObsidianKitsune · Aug 22, 2019 3:03 AM

I laughed so hard I had a coughing fit xD

Seaswell · Aug 22, 2019 3:33 AM

:))

Maribo · Aug 22, 2019 5:53 AM

@HTRanch Haha, thats funny. Although I think most people use SUP as an acronym for superior to sire, so it would make sense to use that for superior to dam too :)

Seaswell · Aug 22, 2019 2:33 PM

So I have only run one mare test, but last night I cleaned up my Gen 3 mares and dumped 90 horses in the show barn. This sounds impressive till you notice I still have 600 mares. I think I need to make a few more babies before I give G4 the treatment.

HomeSweetHome · Aug 22, 2019 2:40 PM

My WTC mare isn't a good producer, but I love her too much to spay her. Am I weird for that?

Bandit1119 · Aug 22, 2019 5:08 PM

How many foals has she had?

If she’s a foundation stick her in a pasture for a month before breeding her and her foals will be better quality than if you just have breed her or use straws.

For me this testing will help cull the higher gens more than the lower 1-2 gens. Those I’ve always been more lenient on mainly since I have so many to try to boost my numbers in the higher generations that pass my regular and stricter sorting and culling practices

HomeSweetHome · Aug 22, 2019 5:15 PM

IR RS WTC Mushroom Lady

I'm going to put her back. I had to switch horses trying to show them all.

Maribo · Aug 22, 2019 6:45 PM

She is a Brindle Breakout though, so you know her breeding ability is good, even if she haven't given you what you want. All rank specials are at minimum Perfect Foundations.

Dinascar · Aug 22, 2019 8:04 PM

Lol @HTRanch - never thought of that!

NowandForever · Aug 22, 2019 9:41 PM

@Indiana, I'm not sure why you think she isn't a good producer. The 2 foals that are listed for her were all sired by B stallions while she is a Yellow so having only 1 of 3 spelded is good. She also managed to pass on at least 1 of her closed genes each time which considering she's only het for each of them is fantastic. If it is the purple/blue color on the Watercolors you could try rerolling them to see if you can get a different color. If you can afford it stop pulling her from the pasture to show so she can get a larger pasture bonus and breed to a C stallion.

HomeSweetHome · Aug 22, 2019 9:43 PM

Ok!

OndowaStables · Aug 22, 2019 10:29 PM

@HTRanch, I had the exact same thought about the acronym.

The great spay is happening in my herd as well. I am very happy to have mare comparison! Most of my lined pasture mares have been compared to their dams (except for blue papered 2nd gens) and spayed if not superior, and I am working on the mares in the barns by generation. I haven't been keeping track of how may I have spayed in the barns, but it looks like I spayed about 180 from the pastures.

Beadingterri · Aug 24, 2019 8:22 PM

I m going to spay a lot of horses in the next few weeks. I am going through mine and checking paper changes first and then what every papers the same as the parent is probably going to get snipped. Everything that papers less is going to get snipped. Since I have started cracking down on my breeding program, I am seeing an improvement

RoseFlute · Aug 24, 2019 9:19 PM

Of the mares and fillies I have intact, I got about 175 total that I intend to keep for pastures. :D I haven't gone for the knife that often yet...maybe if I get lined straws I'll have a use for them now. :P

Crystal93 · Aug 24, 2019 9:38 PM

I’ve done all my pasture mares minus my showbred line.

Surprisingly most of my gen 2’s were superior. It was my gen 4 that’s had the biggest hit from memory!

I did keep some that tested aga. But I’ve put in their notes so when my pastures get full they can be the first to go.

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