Year 20 Foals

Ronnie Dee · Post by **Ronnie Dee** » 16 years ago

On the home page, it says: "The SIM will be on break from September 16th - October 1st. During this time you can breed and ship, however, you will not be able to race or work your horses."

This sounds like I can start my Year 20 breeding on September 16. Is this correct?

Rob Canterbury · Post by **Rob Canterbury** » 16 years ago

Yes you can begin breeding... but keep in mind that by breeding this early you will have to pay board for the foal for the entire sim year.

most trainers wait until later in the sim year so they can take advantage of new stallions retiring and can see how new crops of offspring do before making a commitment.

The ONLY downfall that can occur from waiting is if the Stallion you like dies.... So if there is one stallion you are MUST breed and it is a little older than I guess it couldn't hurt. Otherwise if you want to save money wait...

Ronnie Dee · Post by **Ronnie Dee** » 16 years ago

Rob Kilbourn wrote:Yes you can begin breeding... but keep in mind that by breeding this early you will have to pay board for the foal for the entire sim year.

most trainers wait until later in the sim year so they can take advantage of new stallions retiring and can see how new crops of offspring do before making a commitment.

The ONLY downfall that can occur from waiting is if the Stallion you like dies.... So if there is one stallion you are MUST breed and it is a little older than I guess it couldn't hurt. Otherwise if you want to save money wait...

Rob:

Your reasons are very good financial ones but I have three reasons (not necessarily good ones) for breeding early.

1. I love picking horses' names so if I breed early, I will ensure that the names that I like are still available (without using Game Points to do so).

2. I will have already spent my breeding funds on horses that I want to breed to so I will not be caught short at the end of the year for breeding (and auctions). I have witnessed a number of even very experienced players in this position at the end of the year.

3. If you are breeding to new and promising stallions, the stud fee may be increased significantly by the end of the year.

As always, I appreciate and respect your advice.

Sarah Chase · Post by **Sarah Chase** » 16 years ago

Once you've got enough money it really comes down to personal preference. I'm somewhat notorious for breeding almost all my mares in the first 2 weeks of every year, as others procrastinate and cram at the end. Whatever floats your boat.

Steph Lonhro · Post by **Steph Lonhro** » 16 years ago

I basically breed the mares I want to send to my stallions near the beginning, after that the mares I know what stallion I want to send them too go next, then after that it varies

Scott Eiland · Post by **Scott Eiland** » 16 years ago

I have a much simpler method.

I breed when I'm really bored. And I save 15 till the end of the year for impending retirements.

Although I'm thinking I want to save everybody till the end. That's what Steph Wilder does. It sounds like fun having a massive breeding day.

"Massive Breeding" would be a great name for a band.

Laura Ferguson · Post by **Laura Ferguson** » 16 years ago

Trust me. Massive amounts of breedings at the end of the year are decidedly _not_ fun. But, sometimes it can't be helped.

Ara Davies · Post by **Ara Davies** » 16 years ago

I almost cried with relief when I finally finished all my foals yesterday. I think I had to breed about thirty of them this week.

Anna Leroux · Post by **Anna Leroux** » 16 years ago

i'm excited it's almost time to breed again! I've been wanting to breed some mares to the newer sires forever

EDIT: I have a question. If you own a stallion that you want to retire and breed but you don't want to offer him publicly right now are you able to breed your own mares to him?

Sarah Chase · Post by **Sarah Chase** » 16 years ago

Jade Leroux wrote: i'm excited it's almost time to breed again! I've been wanting to breed some mares to the newer sires forever

EDIT: I have a question. If you own a stallion that you want to retire and breed but you don't want to offer him publicly right now are you able to breed your own mares to him?

You could quietly put him up for stud, breed your mares to him, and then take him off stud duty by zeroing out the stud fee box.

Anna Leroux · Post by **Anna Leroux** » 16 years ago

ok thanks Sarah, I have a stud I want to try personally first (sorry not going to give his name) and it's more of a personal deal anyways then a want to make money from others at this time.

Ryen Hanna · Post by **Ryen Hanna** » 16 years ago

Sarah Chase wrote: Once you've got enough money it really comes down to personal preference. I'm somewhat notorious for breeding almost all my mares in the first 2 weeks of every year, as others procrastinate and cram at the end. Whatever floats your boat.

Me too. Mainly because as soon as I'm done breeding a mare for one year, I think of another breeding I want to do, so then I'm just way too excited to wait very long in the next year to do the new exciting cross!

Plus I typically don't breed to stallions the year they retire. But that's a personal preference.

Charles Bunbury · Post by **Charles Bunbury** » 16 years ago

I breed early, you never know when the computer is going to remove the mare or the desired stallion!

Carolyn Eaton · Post by **Carolyn Eaton** » 16 years ago

I tend to breed my oldest mares at the beginning of the year, otherwise, I generally don't breed until about week 8, then breed 10-15 a week. This keeps down the craziness.

Paul Heinrich · Post by **Paul Heinrich** » 16 years ago

Cost shouldn't be a huge issue for early breeding, unless the mare and foal are going to be staying at the Hilton. 50 foals staying 16 weeks at a farm with $20 board comes out to $16,000. And if your mares are already at one of the low cost farms, as they probably should be, it will be much less. In the grand scheme of things, $16,000 wouldn't be enough to deter me from breeding already-retired mares if I know where I want them to go, and I like the stud fee.

Retiring to breed is a whole other matter, of course. Definitely wait for the end of the year for that.