PSA: Articles on Breeding

[Wc Lee]

I have gotten questions about my Intermediate Breeding article asking how to acquire broodmares, how to pick stallions, etc.

In my opinion the best way to learn about Breeding in the SIM is to read the Feature News articles from Regina Moore and Cleo Patra. These articles may be old, but the information is still relevant:

SIM Tools for Breeding Vs Training Vs Racing Success
Let's Figure Out This Breeding Thing
Let's Figure Out This Breeding Thing - Summary
What I Love About Nicks
Confessions of a Veteran SIM Breeder
Cleo's Take on the Art and Science of Selecting Broodmares

These articles are a great resource and a must read for any prospective Breeder.

[Evelyne Cergerac]

Ah, thank you for finding those articles and share them with us!

[Gwen Morse]

While written by a newer player, this article on planning breeding for Transition Park is very good.

I'd like to call attention to one of W.C.'s suggestions:

"4) Don’t breed Dirt Routers unless you know what you are doing or want your head handed back to you on a plate. In my first breeding season, I had dreams of winning the Triple Crown and so I only bred Dirt Routers. Needless to say, my dreams quickly died on Festivus. Dirt Router is the most competitive division in the SIM. There are more Dirt Router horses than any other horse type. I have had a Stakes gallop Dirt Router horse struggle to win her first race. I have had a Freak gallop Dirt Router horse struggle to win a Stakes race."

I can't agree enough. DR is the most difficult division in the sim. I do some mentoring for new players and one of my standard phrases is "Dirt Routing is a trap". I've seen so many seasons of novice players come out of Trial Park with stars in their eyes and get absolutely crushed by trying to jump into dirt routing. If you think you might want to get into dirt routing in the future, my advice is to get started in other divisions and get profitable there. After you've bred up some competitive broodmares, do some swaps for DR mares.