HGG Community Forums

Congrats on getting a Rank Special! Vault of Stars is one of my favourites.

This is a loaded question!

First off, avoid any mares with "Frame" in the colour name, and O^lw in the genetic code. Your stallion is Frame as well, and two copies is 100% lethal to a foal (you may see some horses with two copies - these are Freaky Friday Rank specials).

If you want to be super cautious, breeding to mares with no white factor and no Kit traits (Tobiano, white 1/2/etc). Introducing Appaloosa is a way to get some fun colour without worrying about kit lethality!

I'll let others chime in on safe Kit genes. It's always a gamble, but some are "safer" than others.

Nope! Appaloosa doesn't add to white factor. You don't need to stick with "plain" mares per se. Do you have any mares you would be interested in crossing with him? If you do, post a link and maybe we can help you assess the risk!

Most of my mares ane solid colors, since my old breeding program was for black and roan. I don’t think I should breed them to this girl.

Fresha TS

Would roan cause problems?

Gods Golden Glory

http://hj2.huntandjump.com/forum/discussion/13757/new-kit-lethality-and-kit-mutation-load-explained#Item_11


This link shows some of the lethal combinations and how risky they are.

BreezyCreek, thank you so much for offering some saffer mares I’d love to see them. My only reservation is I am short on cash right now.

Im going to sell Flatora since she wodn’t be a good match for these boys, and she’d probably fit someone else’s program better.

Roan and Tobiano are really safe with most every Kit combination. I don’t worry about either of those genes in my KP herd. Your roan mares will be perfectly safe with these two stallions unless they also carry Frame, which the earlier posters have pointed out for you.

Honestly, with Black Star Fire, the only thing I would avoid is horses with Frame. You have a very slight risk of a lethal foal if you breed to mares with high risk White 1 or White 2 and Splash and high White factor, but it’s a pretty small risk and one I would be willing to take unless you’re doing lab breeding with really expensive eggs. I would be comfortable crossing him with Fresha and Faltora.

Vaulted Star is a more risky sire. His tobiano and appy are both really safe, but he has Frame, Splash and W2. I would avoid mares with W1, W2, W20, Splash and Frame for him. Appy, Rabicano, Tobiano, roan, and Sabino are all pretty safe. The other white spotting genes (3, 8, 10 and M) are all a little more risky for him so probably if you have mares with those genes I would cross them to Black Star Fire and not Vaulted Star.

If you’re going to be crossing these guys to maximum mares in a season (50 mares each) then I’m less concerned about the small risks of having a few mares with dangerous genes in the pasture. If you’re hand breeding to smaller batches though, I’d definitely mitigate your risks.

An add on to what everyone has said about kit lethalities:

They are based on the WF, or White Factor, that a foal gets. If it is above a certain amount, a foal dies. Splash and frame increases WF on a horse, so your boy Vaulted Star could produce foals with high WF.

HOWEVER

He himself has a WF of minimal. If you bred him to mares with Minimal or None as their WF, who has w2 and no splash or frame, you may very well end up with a live foal.

If you think a cross might be lethal, first bring up the chart. Then look at the horses WF and think if you want to risk it, with a quick look for any splash, frame, or W20.

Rabicano is safe with everything. Remember, it isn't a kit gene, it's on it's own location. The only thing that causes lethal foals are frame, Splash 2, Splash 3, and kit genes.