HGG Community Forums

If you search the back discussions for "culling," you may find some players who have shared their parameters for culling horses. Most of them follow their own very strict rules. I suppose you might call their lines "better," but I can't stress highly enough that it's most important that you play to your own goals. Some players will sell quality horses to new players to help them get a good start. Otherwise, you can check out those strict culling rules, adopt a version of them for your own stable and start creating your own "better bloodline."

Remember that it is showing that makes you money in this game, much more than selling or offering horses for breeding, and any horse may become a great money maker (i.e. high point holder) if it's lucky. My 14th highest point holder is a 14 year old spayed mare with a PT of 10.2 She has 1,684 points this morning, brings in about 1,263 hbs per week and will keep on adding points for another 3 game years at least, maybe longer. Some players with very strict standards for their own barns would have culled her (and not just by spaying, but by auctioning) because they don't keep 3rd generation horses with PT's that low. Myself, I keep and show almost everything so that I have enough game cash so that I can help out newer players from time to time without worrying.

Bone density is the determining factor for whether a horse is Draft/Cob, Warmblood/Sport Pony, Riding Horse/Riding Pony. Light horses have bone densities up to 1.49. Warmbloods range from 1.50 to 2.49, Drafts range from 2.50 on up. I'm not sure what the cap is at the heavy end. I have some Light horses with bone weights less than 1. Once again, there is no ideal number. Please yourself and work toward your own goal. If you are experimenting with breeding warmbloods into drafts, for example, you might want to use only those with bone densities close to the dividing line between the two, because there will be a chance of producing some draft offspring from the cross.

I have favorite bloodlines, but mine are for color that I mostly started from foundation horses I created. As for my lines being 'better' than someone else's, they aren't. It is just my personal preference on how I want to play the game. Each person plays they way they want. Some play for high quality breeders, others play for the maximum number of show horses. I also sell some on my stallions from time to time, that have some good points going, but they just don't fit into my breeding program anymore. I check on them from time to time, and most of them seem to do OK for their new owners.

My preference is, I never cull, I just show everything I have. That is where I make money for my stable to keep it going. While trying to build up more show horses in my favorite colors.

Bone density is also preference, it just depends on which type of horses you like. Some people like to breed for just Riding Horses, just Sport Ponies, just Warmbloods, just Drafts, or just Cobs. I prefer Warmbloods and Sport Ponies. It doesn't seem to make a difference in showing the different type bone densities between my Sport Ponies and Warmbloods. But some one else may notice a difference.

Yes a huge part of the game is personal preference.

A lot of us start our own bloodlines and build them up to the best we can make them. There are genes in the game that are more expensive because they cost real money to put on horses those genes are any of the Limited Edition genes (ice, nexus, snowflake) and then others that you can GMT on KP (Kit Promoter), GP (Gulastra Plume), Satin, Sooty+, White10, White3, White4, Sabino2, sabino3, etc.

Just figure out what YOU like and go from there!