HGG Community Forums

It's a numbers game. The more foals, the better, whether it's foundation mares or high-PT high-paper mares. I use foundation mares with others' Star+ studs all the time. I also snip almost everything, since the goal here is to get the best show scores. Altering a horse gives it a training boost, which helps to increase its show scores. I keep no colts from futurity pairings, and very few mares.

I don't think there is a big difference between using a foundation mare or one of a higher paper level. Now if you are breeding very poor quality foundations to a stallion and getting foals with very low PT scores then I imagine that would have an impact. What matters most is that foal are shown every week.

Mares can not be on the Futurity boards, they are only for stallions.

We started a new era in December, the next new era will be June. Each month is the beginning of a new year. For the futurities a foundation can still do well if their foals accumulate enough points. Stallion quality is a factor for the other boards where a foundation would not be the champion of a later era board against a *Star stallion.

I am not picky about futurity stallions. My futurity mares and foals are separate from my other programs and all I really focus on is era. I am a member of the breeding circle so I just tend to go through and use whatever stallions are available and need more foals to qualify. Color, size, and type aren't a big factor for me. If you are struggling to qualify a stallion then offer to do a straw swap, offer breedings at a reduced price, or offer an incentive to use your stallion(s).

I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I've seen the posts and have been kicking around the idea. I've got a few boys that I would just love to see their foals. They are lined bred and I've only got a handful of lined bred mares, but they're not papered well enough to support the boot strap herd.