Start by figuring out what attributes you want to breed for. It’s impossible to produce every trait perfectly, so focusing on 2 or 3 will help.
Next, find a partner with those traits if they have a consistent parentage with them, even better.
It may take a few tries before the right genes come together. If your foals aren’t improving, it’s time to find another horse to breed with.
Why are these two sibling horses so different?
Horses have a lot of genes. Each parent only passes on 50% of what they have, so there’s room for variety.
On top of that, the combination of genes produces a horse’s traits. If the stud has a gene (0,0) and the mare has a gene (1,1), the foal might end up with a gene (1,0), something neither of the parents had.
How do I breed a horse with an opposite preference? (Dirt to Turf, Right to Left, Firm to Soft)
This isn’t so easy. Horses that prefer one type of race tend to breed children that like the same. If you want to swap over, you’ll have to find a partner with a strong preference for the other direction. It might take multiple generations until the line becomes solid.
Advanced Tip: If you’re trying to change over a preference and think it will take a few breeds, spend those breeds building up other traits. Instead of finding the strongest opposite preference, find a decent one with other great characteristics you want. The foal will still be closer to the preference you wish, and it will be a stronger breed in different ways.
How much does grade matter to breeding?
Grade is an average of the horse’s attributes. Specifically, it averages Start, Speed, Stamina, Finish, Heart, and Temper. When you breed, the genetics of each horse that resulted in those attributes (and much more) come into play in a highly complex manner to create a unique foal, just like in real life. You can breed two S- horses together hundreds of times and every foal would be unique. Sometimes those two S- might breed a S horse, an A+, another S-, or a host of other possibilities. Be sure to check out our section on breeding reports for a visual representation of how this works.
Do any attributes boost the odds of a good breed?
We often get this question, and the answer is no, but it requires explanation.
Breeding in Photo Finish™ LIVE follows genetics and operates with the same rules. Each parent passes on half of their genes, which come together to produce traits in the foal. The only way to get a good breed is to have good genes in the parents.
So, you could technically say that having good genes improves the odds of a good foal. However, the important point is that no stat, preference, trait, or item will change how genetic pairing works. Two sets of genes go in, one set comes out, and every breed follows the same rules.
Are there any in-depth articles on the genetics system?