Have you started?

[Talia Ichinari]

I don't breed most of my barn till after week 16 when new studs start. I've bred maybe 5-10% of my barn though.

[Melissa Mae]

I HATE breeding my paints because of the lack of outcrosses so it will be a relief to get them done.

I just finished all of my non paint mares, and i have to agree with this, it's getting ridiculous. I love breeding, but paints are becoming more of a chore than fun, this alone is kinda making me think retiring Boone would be a good idea.

I have some mares planned for him this year so he'd get my support. Even with the Belleview, he's enough of an outcross that I'll support him heavily over the coming years.

[Melissa Mae]

I HATE breeding my paints because of the lack of outcrosses so it will be a relief to get them done.

I just finished all of my non paint mares, and i have to agree with this, it's getting ridiculous. I love breeding, but paints are becoming more of a chore than fun, this alone is kinda making me think retiring Boone would be a good idea. It seems EVERY 400yd paint has Splash Works in the first few generations and for sprinters it's Buckeye, Days of Gold and Shockfly. QHs have Goldmine (mid) and Ghostfreak (sprint) all over the place, but at least they have many outcrosses that are just as good as the others, but for paints if you go with an outcross it you have very little chance of having a successful racehorse.

Try Tashunca Uitco and Pontiac Chieftain in sprints. For mids Streak of Rock, and if you have the GPs, CRM Livewire. All nick well in my books and I've been using them successfully.

I bred multiple mares to all three non-GP stallions but still run into inbreeding problems (especially with Tashunca Uitco since I owned Austin). I wish there was a way to get the outcross sires without paying GPs since I have a lot of mares I'd like to send to those types but don't want to spend GPs to breed all of those mares and don't want to go to their sons who were just retired to provide sons of theirs.

I don't pay attention to other mix breeds so I don't know if a lack of outcrosses is an issue for them but it really seems like we've backed into a corner with paints and need some outside help. I'm sure the great mixer dispersal thing we had a few years ago will help a little bit in a few generations but it doesn't seem like it will have as big of an impact as may have been hoped when it was planned.

[Kyasuriin Matsumoto]

I bred multiple mares to all three non-GP stallions but still run into inbreeding problems (especially with Tashunca Uitco since I owned Austin). I wish there was a way to get the outcross sires without paying GPs since I have a lot of mares I'd like to send to those types but don't want to spend GPs to breed all of those mares and don't want to go to their sons who were just retired to provide sons of theirs.

I don't pay attention to other mix breeds so I don't know if a lack of outcrosses is an issue for them but it really seems like we've backed into a corner with paints and need some outside help. I'm sure the great mixer dispersal thing we had a few years ago will help a little bit in a few generations but it doesn't seem like it will have as big of an impact as may have been hoped when it was planned.

The problem is definitely in all Mixers. I would actually call Pacers the worst overall. They are usually the cause of many headaches. I have been working on outcrosses in my own barns, but yes, it is a slow process. Not only do they have to race well, but then they have to be good sires in order for anybody to use them, and that can be difficult even when not trying to make the horse an outcross as well. It's just going to take time and patience.

I have considered making an all outcross foal auction soon (i.e. cams crossed with GP studs). I had thought I would do it this year, but I ended up getting rid of all my TBs at auction instead, so it might be next year. Plus I need to make some more CAMs.

[Laura Cameron]

I would actually call Pacers the worst overall.

Yessssss. I've decided to breed all of my IGM/WTD-free mares to only IGM/WTD-free stallions, and it's incredibly hard going. I think there are only about 6-8 non-GP stallions without those two in their pedigrees, and not all of them are worth breeding to. On the bright side I do have a surprisingly large number of IGM/WTD-free mares, so surely I'll strike gold eventually! I'd like to send a lot more mares to the GP stallions, but it gets too expensive too quickly for me. I'm sending two mares to each Pacer GP stallion this year and that's about my limit.

[Louise Bayou]

I've been using a LOT of GP studs the last few years. It may take me a few years to have it pay off but I am willing to wait. It should really help me down the line and broaden the bloodlines for my broodmare barn.

[Lori Hamill]

One of the problems is that when you get colts with no inbreeding they run horrible and never even come close to being "stud worthy". We can try and breed to get away from all of the Goldmine, Buckeye, Igetmoney, Writethisdown, etc. etc. But if the colts don't do their part we end up going back to the inbreeding. We can't diversify if we can't get good producing studs with no inbreeding. We all need cash to keep our stables afloat so we end up going back to the money makers.

[Jo Ferris]

There are a few 400yd paint outcross stallions that i've had success with producing decent broodmares which helps a little when breeding for future stallions, but to do that you have to go back to the common bloodlines for anyone to breed to them since they normally don't race as well.

[440 Racing Barn]

if you are looking at out crosses in qh look at moonlight fire he is nicking awesome and that is both sprint and mid plus the babys will be texas bred

[Patrick O'Malley]

Tashunca Uitco and Pontiac Chieftain are pretty good. For my 400yd mares almost all have seen Streak of Rock before or have Streak of Rock in their bloodline, unfortunately i can't afford GPs but i love CRM Livewire, i just can't afford him.

Fred Flintstone is retiring, for your mares that liked Streak of Rock.

You ought to listen to Kya. Also there are lots of none-Streak options for those asking for such. If all else fails, CRM Livewire (or in a couple of years, Sonic Screwdriver. No Splash, no streak, all heart.)

Now, as for pacers and app routers, *sigh*. I'll get back to you.

Also, yes, I've started.

[Lori Hamill]

Tashunca Uitco and Pontiac Chieftain are pretty good. For my 400yd mares almost all have seen Streak of Rock before or have Streak of Rock in their bloodline, unfortunately i can't afford GPs but i love CRM Livewire, i just can't afford him.

Fred Flintstone is retiring, for your mares that liked Streak of Rock.

You ought to listen to Kya. Also there are lots of none-Streak options for those asking for such. If all else fails, CRM Livewire (or in a couple of years, Sonic Screwdriver. No Splash, no streak, all heart.)

Now, as for pacers and app routers, *sigh*. I'll get back to you.

Also, yes, I've started.

There is a reason why there is so much inbreeding. They are the nicks that produce the best and most winners. Unless out crosses start producing just as well we'll continue to have inbreeding. If you have an A+ cross with inbreeding and a B+ cross without - most people are going with the A+ - especially since the out cross breedings have not shown that they can produce as well - at least not with colts.

We need out cross colts to do well enough to stand at stud and produce well. Pontiac Chieftain seems to do well with fillies, but where are his out cross sons? Aside from Sonic Screwdriver (high hopes for this guy - he looks good), the same is true of CRM Livewire. We can work at getting decent out cross broodmares but if we only have the same high nicking studs to send them to I think the problem remains. I think this is true with all of the mixer breeds.

Pacers - where inbreeding is the absolute worse - Igetmoney/Writethisdown produces the best foals so far. I think all of us who race and breed pacers have struggled to do some out cross breeding each SIM year. And it is a struggle, there are very few mares without one or the other in their lines and almost all of the studs do.. So far nothing has produced as well as the Igetmoney/Writethisdown lines. Out of the GP sires only Laura Cameron's Illawarra (Heston Blue Chip) looks like he will make a good stud in a few years time. Hopefully he will also produce well with high nicks.

Just my 2 cents.

[Kyasuriin Matsumoto]

I believe that it has been mentioned by The Steward that the new SIM upgrade will include being able to breed Thoroughbreds into some Mixer lines like in real life. Although I am not thrilled about the concept of trying to figure out all those lines (that's going to take a lot of time), it would help inbreeding.

[Nena Olson]

I think that is only for breeds that usually out cross to TBs though.. Paints and Quarter Horses. Pacers/Trotters don't breed to TBs, from what I know... but maybe I am wrong.

[Kyasuriin Matsumoto]

I think that is only for breeds that usually out cross to TBs though.. Paints and Quarter Horses. Pacers/Trotters don't breed to TBs, from what I know... but maybe I am wrong.

That's why I said "some", meaning Appys, Paints and QHs. But I'm not sure if all those three are getting it or just, for example, QHs are as a test run or something.

[Melissa Mae]

I believe that it has been mentioned by The Steward that the new SIM upgrade will include being able to breed Thoroughbreds into some Mixer lines like in real life. Although I am not thrilled about the concept of trying to figure out all those lines (that's going to take a lot of time), it would help inbreeding.

I've been waiting to be able to breed Paints to QHs since we first got mixers. Adding Thoroughbreds is the next best thing.