Locked Stallions

[Danny Derby]

I'm looking to breed some of my top mares this weekend. I've noticed a few stallions completely shut down that I had in mind for a few mares, so just a heads up that if you want me to use your stud, open their spots. Thanks!

[Erin Sanderson]

Or, since there are so few stallions actually locked down, you can either message the stallion owners or do what I usually do and book the mare and wait until they're open.

This wouldn't have ever been an issue if breeders didn't hammer the top stallions in certain divisions with dozens of mares, regardless of stud fees, and lock out other breeders or force the stallion owner to pay GPs to open more slots.

In the case of my own stallion that is currently closed, I will be opening slots slowly throughout the year (already have a schedule planned) and have doled out several privately to those who have messaged and asked.

[Danny Derby]

Or, since there are so few stallions actually locked down, you can either message the stallion owners or do what I usually do and book the mare and wait until they're open.

As a matter of personal preference I prefer not to have to jump through extra hoops to breed a mare, the game becomes less fun for me when I do. I also find it uncomfortable to have to do so. I figured a quick post here was an easy catch-all way to gently remind people to open spots if they want to. If they choose not to that's fine, I'll use other stallions.

[Dylan Christensen]

Or, since there are so few stallions actually locked down, you can either message the stallion owners or do what I usually do and book the mare and wait until they're open.

This wouldn't have ever been an issue if breeders didn't hammer the top stallions in certain divisions with dozens of mares, regardless of stud fees, and lock out other breeders or force the stallion owner to pay GPs to open more slots.

In the case of my own stallion that is currently closed, I will be opening slots slowly throughout the year (already have a schedule planned) and have doled out several privately to those who have messaged and asked.

The exchange exists, from a purely money making perspective it is in most owners best interest to not close their studs. Those that do typically do it because they think their stallion is getting too much use which will cause inbreeding down the line.

However, in my opinion. This line of thinking is counterintuitive. Those owners will just move on to the next best stud that isn’t locked down and hammer them if their train of thought is going to the best stud. This causes inbreeding even worse than if the studs had just stayed open.

[Carole Hanson]

I can now weigh in on this as I have a stud that filled up at 120, and then again at 150 slots with a 75k fee (Mahler), so I’d say he’s a stud that some could deem to be eligible for being locked up.

I personally believe if people want to send their mares to him for that price, let them. He stood for 75k and saw A LOT of really nice mares. I don’t think I ever saw a mare go to him and thought “yikes!” to myself. I think if a stallion is very good, and priced high enough, it will deter mass breeders. I didn’t mind his crop size last season, as I say he did see very good mares, but he has now warranted a price hike in my eyes so he’s going up. If he fills up again, perhaps he’ll go up even more. Rinse and repeat until he’s not filling up. You can even adjust the fee whenever you want rather than having it set in stone for the entire season.

I think pricing stallions too low initially is what kills their stats. If you price them high from the start, you won’t get people hammering them and you won’t get scared they’ll be overwhelmed with bad mares.

[Nicole Marie]

I also find it uncomfortable to have to do so.

I'm also extremely uncomfortable at the thought of having to do that, but I don't know how much of that is just me being intimidated by being a (relatively) inexperienced player. But I can't personally imagine a scenario where I'd feel comfortable asking.

(That said, I understand that people have the right to do what they want with their studs, and I also understand that I don't have a single mare that people would cross their fingers and hope I'd send the mare to their stallion. But even if I did, I still wouldn't ask.)

[Nick Gilmore]

Everyone has the right to play their own game. In the meantime, my boys are all open for business.

Here’s the link…The boys of Willow Downs

And please note Seth’s Resolve and Two Socks will be joining their ranks at year end, probably standing in Maryland to join the awesome program there!

[Andrew Chillin]

If joe blow, Xander zone or pete Bella want to send you 12 mares at 100-150k a pop why not let them? If Andrew didn’t get a chance to breed because they filled up too fast, better luck next time. No different then missing out on slots because they open 20 a time and another player is more diligent about checking or has a macro setup that alerts their browsers and opens the breeding page as soon as the slots become available.

I’m not afraid to message someone for breeding or anything else. If I’m feeling froggy, I’ll jump. Yeah. I don’t care anymore. It is what it be. Ima just keep on keepin on. We all play our own way and I respek dat. You know. Stay fresh

[Ren Marston]

theres always astro

[Eric Gray]

First, let me say that I’ve never had a stallion that people beat the door down to get to (although So Gangster is a low priced alternative). However, I can see both sides of this issue. If I had a top of the line sire, I wouldn’t necessarily want everyone throwing everything at him, especially early. But I also feel if you price appropriately, that does deter a lot of indiscriminate breeding. I would like to say, though, that I have previously reached out to some owners of closed studs like Jon X, Erin, and others and never been turned down. Even when I was brand new and throwing some real trash at them. I realize not everyone feels comfortable doing that, and I most definitely believe everyone has the right to run their breeding system the way they feel. Both supplier and demander. Just my 0.02.

[Aaron Tonning]

Everyone has the right to play their own game. In the meantime, my boys are all open for business.

Here’s the link…The boys of Willow Downs

And please note Seth’s Resolve and Two Socks will be joining their ranks at year end, probably standing in Maryland to join the awesome program there!

I will be saving some mares for these future Maryland Stallions.

[J.P Dogood]

I just had an article posted about this in reference to the DR division becoming increasingly populated with top stallions who are priced very high.

In my opinion locking down some top studs is actually beneficial for the newer players and smaller barns. I typically have just under 200 horses with roughly a third in each of breeding/training/racing. My cash usually floats around the million dollar mark. As it is, it’s very hard to breed horses who can compete with the long established barns (and to an extent, rightfully so).

I’m all for messaging people or people getting creative. I know Jon ran a promotion once where he didn’t state it but if you bred to his lower stallions you ended up getting a reduced price DMB slot which I thought was really cool.

[Danny Derby]

I just had an article posted about this in reference to the DR division becoming increasingly populated with top stallions who are priced very high.

For what if’s worth and because you wanted feedback, I fundamentally disagree with just about everything in your article.

I also don’t think your article touched on the issues this thread was discussing (restricting stallion access vs. DR stallion pricing).

[J.P Dogood]

For what if’s worth and because you wanted feedback, I fundamentally disagree with just about everything in your article.

I also don’t think your article touched on the issues this thread was discussing (restricting stallion access vs. DR stallion pricing).

Hahahah that’s perfectly fine and I do see what you mean but it’s only the expensive boys being locked out and TYPICALLY only the top players getting access (though not always). Nonetheless, someone said it great earlier. Guess we all just need to play the game in a way that makes it fun for us

[Xander Zone]

I was going to reply to your write up as well JP .
For me studs are a bit of a shiny new toy thing if they don’t make it in the first couple years they disappear so sometimes to catch a players eye owners price them high and the sim goes inf they must be amazing to be demanding X price . Boom the demand is created .

A few sim seasons ago maybe like 10 I decide to try to price all my studs at 50k or lower to make them easy for everyone I ha w some really nice studs but besides a core group of my in game friends they don’t get the support they deserve like a Featgers Shadow or Best revenge or even say Buildyouanempire I always use the strat I will lease them out to try to expand the awareness .
A stud like Danny got last year I believe Wilderness hypos as good as any DR in game and was forgotten Danny grabbed him .

I guess what I am saying in a wide circle way is tones of studs out there don’t be using the price as the sole reason for them .