How do I breed horses?

First, change its status to breeder using the Horse Updates form. For stallions, you should also set a stud price each mare's owner will have to pay you. If you have a breeding mare, you'll get a special form with your normal email notifications.

When and how do I find out if my mare foals?

Breeding takes place at the end of each year. The year-end report will tell you if you have a new foal.

What value does my new foal have?

Each horse has a series of genes, two of each type, either of which can be passed to the offspring. These determine the genetic value of the foal. The offline horse viewer lets you examine the genes of all horses.

The year-end report said that I had an infertile match, why was that?

An infertile match can occur with any pair of horses. Each horse has a fertility gene that determines chances of a successful foaling. The inbreeding factor, IBF, shows that there are closely related horses in the proposed match. This increases the chance of producing progeny with lower values for the fertility gene.

If I ignore the IBF will that cause the foals to be mutant? If so, is there a chance of evolving a super horse?

Not really, the only gene affected by inbreeding is the fertility gene which is only lowered by inbreeding. In summary, inbreeding today leads to infertile matches tomorrow.

There is a small chance of a gene improving though, based on the Prepotence gene.

Should I put my stallions for a reasonable stud fee- does it make money?

A low stud fee may attract more outsiders.  the bank looks for the best cost/rating match it can make, so it used to be a good strategy to price really low.  However, the bank now holds only about 5% of the total horses (down from about 70% at one time), so it's less of a factor.

   Progeny can bring you HIGH prestige returns -- just ask Chucky!  You get points whenever one of your horse's progeny earns money or racepoints.  This can help you get and keep a faction position.

How far back does the game keep track of inbreeding?

The game goes back two generations.

What determines the sex of foal?

The sex is random. You know the XY gene thing.

How do I name my new foal?

New horses are automatically assigned a temporary name of "HORSE XX" where XX is their ID number. The owner can then rename them using the Names form.

Is age a factor in breeding horses?

Only in that breeding causes stress and stress is a factor in death. Horses must be at least 3 years old to breed.

What happens when I buy a stallion or mare? Do I get the year's offspring and stud fees?

Breeding and foaling is a one turn proposition. The stud orders that are made are queued for the year-end turn and which is when the breeding and foaling both take place. Instantaneous gestation is slightly unrealistic, but the way it is at this time.

What happens when I buy a stallion or mare on the year-end turn?

Breeding takes place before trading, so at year-end, a mare can give birth, and then be sold, leaving the foal behind.

Does that mean that I'm stuck with my new mare's stud orders placed by the previous owner?

No, when a mare is sold, any stud orders are cancelled.