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Hello!
Back in August 2021 I was getting a little bored with my main breeding projects that are focused on quality above all else and which are very strict on testing. I wanted something new and fun, and with easy and quick progress. Thus, Project Growth was born, which has been my side breeding project for the past two years. I read a post once about someone else doing something like this--I'm sure lots of people do--but I still wanted to share this with anyone who maybe wants some inspiration.
As the name implies, Project Growth is focused solely on breeding bigger. As I'm a draft lover, I started with the smallest creatable ponies so I could look forward to one day breeding my first draft, which I did in June 2023, with the 9th generation of Project Growth.

Goals
In the beginning I calculated how quickly I could hope to reach the goals I'd set out, based on the range of height and bone two horses can produce.
-16.2hh (tallest creatable) by Gen 5 (May-July 2022)
-18.0hh (tallest (at the time) breedable) by Gen 7 (Nov 22-Jan 23)
-2.50 bone (draft) by Gen 8 (Feb-April 2023)
-3.25 bone (heaviest creatable) by Gen 11 (Nov 23-Jan 24)
-3.50 bone (what I thought was heaviest creatable) by Gen 12 (Feb-April 2024)

I did reach the 16.2hh goal by Gen 5, but 18.0hh one gen late by Gen 8. I reached 2.50 bone by Gen 9, also one gen late. I only just bred my first Gen 10s this month, but I don't think I'll continue this project after this generation. I've got my drafts now which was the main goal.

Breeding
I started with one stallion and five mares, all 13.2hh and 0.75 bone (I used one GMT for each of them for the bone weight). They were all from the foundation rescue but I haven't cared about breeding quality/papers/PT at all. The only testing I have done is gene testing, and for spelds, PT, to check if I should auction or keep them. Most of my foals, even now at Gen 10, have an average PT of 9.x. I only keep 10+ PTs for showing and auction the rest so I can't get the actual average but every month there's usually a few with a PT below 9 and a few with above 10.
I've bred each generation for three in-game years, after which point the first mares of a new generation turn four and are ready to breed. Each year I breed the five best (tallest and heaviest) mares to the (one) best stallion that are of age.
I used the lab for all breeding: mass flushed mares, pulled straws, made embryos and implanted them into surrogate mares.

Numbers and costs
Now, for those of you who are into numbers or might want to do this for themselves and are looking for the costs, here's some stats from August 2021 to August 2023. I've bred one stallion to five mares each month (25 months).
Average # of eggs/month: 53.8
Lowest # of eggs: 44 (February 2023)
Highest # of eggs: 65 (July 2022)
Total # of eggs/embryos/foals: 1345
# of stallions used: 13
# of mares used: 82

Money spent:
6 GMTs (for first gen): 750,000 hbs
Straws (1345): 672,500 hbs
Eggs (125 mass egg flushes): 3,750,000 hbs
Embryo creation (1345): 2,690,000 hbs
Embryo implantation (1345): 5,380,000 hbs
Gene tests (1345): 134,500 hbs
PT tests (didn't test everyone): about 623,000 hbs
Average monthly cost: 530,000 hbs
Total money spent: 14,000,000 hbs

If you don't have or think you'll have an extra 14 million hbs to spend on a side, or even main, project (I'm lucky to have a large daily bonus), there are ways you could do this cheaper, for example by looking through the sales for the horses closest to the height/bone you want to start with (e.g. I GMT'd one of my starter horses from 0.76 bone to 0.75, you could choose to save the 125,000 hbs cost of that). You could put a stallion in a pasture with as many mares as you want and then choose the best foals from that, instead of doing it in the lab (for which you also need a premium upgrade). And of course, you can auction any foals you end up not using for breeding.

Is there anyone else who's doing, or planning to do, something similar to this? I'd love to hear about it!
Thanks for reading my essay, and feel free to ask any questions you have :)


The foundation stallion

PR1 Mesaoud 132 075

The first warmblood stallion, Gen 5

PR5 Kontestro 161 164

The first draft stallion, Gen 9, my main goal reached after almost two years. He's got a paper score of C, and a PT of 9.70, which is apparently what happens when you don't care about quality!

PR9 Goal 180 251