Post by EquusAdmin on Feb 28, 2012 18:11:40 GMT -5
The world of Equus-Sims is full of many opportunities for our Sims to indulge in a purely equestrian lifestyle where the pleasure of owning and managing your own horse breeding operation can become a simulated reality.
For many, their real-life love of horses has fueled their enthusiasm for creating horses that they love and seeing the generations that come from them. In a virtual world such as the Sims, sometimes it is difficult to keep things realistic, especially with reference to time. The basis of this community is role-playing an equestrian experience where the emphasis on realism is key.
This breeding guide will act as a resource to keep everyone on the same page regarding breedings, foal crops, aging time, etc.
B R E E D I N G
There is nothing more exciting than expecting a new foal on your farm. They’re adorable and silly, and they always manage to make you smile. Even more so, they are miniature reflections of the horses that you have poured your heart and souls into. Something, however, that should be taken into account when breeding your horses is how often you should do it.
In real life, a typical broodmare might be expected to have between 12 and 16 foals in their lifetime. The gestation period for a horse foal is about 11 months (roughly 1 year), and so you can see that the effort and time involved in creating a quality foal is extensive. Not only that, because of the limited number of foals a mare can have, it is even more essential to find the highest quality stallions whom you can breed her to in order to achieve the best outcome.
Given this information, here are some guidelines to follow in order to keep your breeding program in sequence with everyone else's:
- Each mare should only have one (1) foal per month (real time month). With this guideline, one month is approximately equivalent with one Sim year. Farms that produce multiple foal crops per month should only produce foals from different mares from each crop. Under no circumstances should a single mare have more than one (1) foal per month.
- Before a mare should be considered eligible for breeding, they should be at the very least three (3) years old. This is the very minimum. If you plan to have a performance mare for competition, it is best for the purposes of our community role-play that they are not bred before they are finished with their competition years. Remember: One real-time month is equivalent to one Sim year. This means that a mare should not be bred for three real-time months.
- Although most breeders have more than one stallion on their farm, it is typical that only one (1) or two (2) of them are ever used for breeding at any single time. Even the largest horse breeding operations only use one or two of their own stallions for studs.
- Stallions used for competition are typically not bred until they are older. This is because typically, once a stallion has been used for breeding, their behavior changes drastically – they become more aggressive and more difficult to handle. Because of this, it is essential that any stallion you intend to breed has been thoroughly trained and has proven their ability to be handled, otherwise you risk “creating a monster”. It is vitally important that you do not breed a green colt. It is our recommendation that you wait at least 5 years (months in real-time) before you choose to breed a colt that you have purchased.
- For Stallions, it is important to think about how many foals you will let them produce. In reality, it isn't rare that a Stallion will produce over 50 foals. For the purposes of our RP, because we have such a small population (relatively) it is necessary to limit the numbers each stallion produces in order to avoid inbreeding. For example, ILA Balandro's Riddle was retired after producing 12 foals -- however, LEC Call Me Casanova will likely have about 26 before he is retired. This number is purely dependent on the owner of the horse and how popular his line is. It is also dependent on how large the owner wants their progeny's population to be. Remember, fewer foals means "rarer" blood lines which can -- if your stallion is valuable -- lead to more valuable foals. However, if your stallion is wildly popular, having any number of foals will make them equally valuable to rarer ones. Just something to think about.
- We would like to encourage all breeders to make sure that their foals are left to spend as much time with their mothers as possible. Not only is this the best option for them physically (mother’s milk is the best source of infant nutrition for any animal) but it also helps to create horses that are calm, obedient, and easily-handled.
- It is OK to modify your foals in CAS when they are born. True, this isn’t the most realistic option, but, we understand that EA genetics are a huge problem for maintaining realistic looking horses. In fact, we ENCOURAGE you to edit your foals so that they fit breed standards and carry on quality genes to their offspring.
Given this information, we’d like to emphasize that while breeding is an essential part of maintaining your horse farm operation, there are many other completely gratifying activities to do with your horses in the Sims in the time when you can’t breed them such as training, eventing, competing, and showing.
There are plenty of foals being bred every month by several breeders, so, perhaps instead of creating your own foundation horses, why not purchase one from one of your neighborhood affiliates? Purchasing horses from your neighbors will help to expand on existing bloodlines so that we can see new generations of beautiful horses.
Who doesn’t want to see their favorite horses’ grandbabies and great-grandbabies!
By following these guidelines, not only will you increase your satisfaction with the game, but you’ll help us to keep this community the most realistic role-playing equestrian experience with the Sims 3 possible.
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Written by: Brooke@Equus-Sims