HGG Community Forums

Welcome back Tenor67!

I'm still learning the ropes but I think I can give a basic answer for each of your questions. :)
1. I'm iffy on this one but I think this has something to do with inbreeding. As in having a single sire and a single dam produce offspring and those offspring produce together and so forth. Though I'm not sure and I hope another more experienced player can expand on this.
2. Breeding for colors is the fun part! The daily herd helpers help pin down specific foundations to build a line, for example dun. Otherwise, you can do random creates that generate random colors and sometimes patterns. You can also breed for color by looking at available studs and broodmares to produce foals.
3. I don't think there is a difference between show and breeding stock colors. Show stock is the way to build a steady income whereas breeding stock can show but the main goal is to continue a certain color and or pattern.

I hope this helps. :D

Your first question has been answered quite well. I'll add a bit to the other two topics.

The easiest way to breed for specific colors is to color test all or most of your breeding stock. This can be especially helpful if you are looking for a color or pattern that can be hidden. However, this can be quite expensive, so when starting out, you might want to breed for something that can be judged by eye--bay as opposed to chestnut, palominos and/or buckskins. Dun would be a good choice as well. Then, if you are able to start your lines with horses that are homozygous for the color you are looking for, it will be easy to get lines that are all that color. However, if you're working with heterozygous foundation stock, then learn the cues that indicate your target color and neuter any foals that don't fit, keeping as many of them as you have room for to build up your show string.

Generally speaking, in terms of breeding versus showing ability, the free testing--Gelding Advice, Mare Advice, and Showing Aptitude Test--will give you a start at telling one from the other. Gelding and Mare advice compare a horse's breeding score (hidden number) with its parent of the same gender and neuter those that are significantly worse for breeding than that parent. SAT compares the horse's showing and breeding scores and neuters the ones that are significantly worse for breeding than for showing. Quite often, the flashiest foals are the ones that end up neutered.