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Painted Dreams · Jan 9, 2020 3:33 AM

I decided this year one of my projects is to start a bootstrap line, something I haven't done in my many years of playing. So I have a couple of good stallions and about 35 gold mares with high PTs that I won in a recent auction. My question lies in how to whittle down the number of fillies I keep each season. I have 19 fillies and I just don't have the space to keep 10+ mares each breeding season. With my other lines obviously I keep only those that pass sba and test superior to sire/dam but how do you decide which bootstrap foals to keep? Do you ones that test superior to dam or ones with the highest PT scores? Looking for any guidance someone experienced with bootstrap lines can give me. Thanks in advance! :D

ChrystalBlues · Jan 9, 2020 3:41 AM

Highest PT score and only consistent.

Haltanny · Jan 9, 2020 3:20 PM

I decide first what I want the line to look like and how many mares I want. For example, I'm trying to increase my snowflake bootstraps and I want 100 mares. I keep all fillies that paper gold and have a chance at being at least het snowflake. Once I get 100 mares that have a chance at het snowflake, I'll start keeping only those that are proven at least het. Once I'm getting all snowflakes, I'll be keeping only superior to dam.

Lallyhop · Jan 9, 2020 3:30 PM

As Haltanny is saying, it’s a combination of genes and quality, just like any other line - you just use other methods besides BA/SBA to determine breeding quality :)

If you’re consistently using one stallion across the same mares, AFPT is also a good culling point.

Painted Dreams · Jan 10, 2020 1:51 AM

Thanks for the help y'all! Since I'm just starting I think I'm going to go mainly off of PT score (and consistency) with a slight preference toward foals with satin. As my herd gets bigger I'll start weeding out based on some of the other criteria y'all listed. :)

Wildland Acres · Jan 10, 2020 3:32 AM

First test he colts. Did any of them pass? If any did then you can regular test the foals and that way keep only the top fillies that way. It is always something I try to refine every year determined by my specific situation.

DinaChill · Jan 13, 2020 11:02 AM

I now use BA on all my bootstrap mares that are 5th gen or above - but I have a lot of breeding mares so it keeps it down (I get about a 5% pass rate). I test every mare that passes against a benchmark girl who I know is pretty good and that way I keep only the best at the higher end. I am also trying to breed smaller so I have cut off heights. It seems to work well. :)

Williams005 · Jan 13, 2020 2:50 PM

@Painted Dreams if you need any horses you can message me :D

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