Could anybody reveal the secret behind crossing bloodlines to guarantee success?

[twoposies]

So I’d like to find out where the equine breeding knowledge and strategy reference guide is kept. I’m a hobby breeder (this will be my third year with two mares in foal) and now that I’ve got a mare with the bloodlines and proven ability(for jumpers) I would like to breed what I’ve always wanted, a jumper(which would carry my inexperienced butt around (hopefully 4’6”+ one day)without putting up too much stink at my lack of experience at stuff over 3’3”) To date I’ve breed with three goals in mind: temperament, conformation (correctness & ability work well with what my mare has to offer) and skills/ability/bloodlines. With the new mare I feel the need to be more focused and precise.

I’ve read through many of the threads here regarding crossing bloodlines, what certain stallions are known for throwing, for example temperament, conformation faults, etc. I’ve also tried to find as much as I can through internet searches, a favorite site being: http://www.horsemagazine.com/BREEDINGBARN/GreatStallions.html . In reading through the information I have found it seems as though there is quite a lot of knowledge and strategy behind crossing certain bloodlines, not crossing others, not line breeding certain lines, etc. So my question is does this knowledge exist in something like a book format, or is it just experience and information passed on from horse people to horse people and lots of research? How do folks know certain crosses just don’t work? It seems like you can find the same cross more than once and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes with the same lines but with the dam and sire lines reversed. Can anybody explain or point me to some nice whitepapers on horse breeding strategies?

Finally, Corlando/Galoubet(opinionated over fences) to Diarado for 2010 – good or bad cross, or can you just not go wrong with Diamont & Galoubet? Then I’m dying to try Cardinal 846 with some thought to Pascal De Pau for 2010 breeding (concerns with Concorde temperament) thoughts on lines crossed there?

Thanks!:)

[sfstable]

Then I’m dying to try Cardinal 846 with some thought to Pascal De Pau for 2010 breeding (concerns with Concorde temperament) thoughts on lines crossed there?

My Concorde filly has a great temperament. She is even tempered, easy to train, puppy dog quality. No concerns at all for me !!! She is out of a Calvados mare.

[paulamc]

the answer to your question is just experience and trying different crosses with your own mares
As Tom was saying in another thread, you can have two mares with the same breeding eg, a mare by Landgraf out of a Capitol mare, but they can be as different as night and day because they come from different mare lines

I too would like to know if such a book existed but i doubt there is one

Obviously there are some very famous crosses that work well, to use a dressage example Donnerhall crossed with Pik Bube mares, or de niro crossed with weltmeyer mares

Its just a matter of doing the appropriate research of what stallions will suit each mare, and testing it out

Paulamc

[eyesontheground]

I read on here once, "Find a horse you like with similar bloodlines as the horse you have. Then find out what the other half of the horse you like is and try to find something similar."

I know you are not going to get the same horse from a breeding. But you can have an idea of what other people have tried.

[stoicfish]

I think guarantees would be great! I'm going to phone my SO and ask... Seriously, and for what it is worth. I would phone/e-mail/contact larger breeder's with the same bloodlines as your mare and ask what has worked well based on the same goals. The nick suggestions are a start, but I would still want to do research on the particular stallion. Stats are helpful too as they revel reliability (mostly). I found searching the internet for a stallion's offspring and contacting people privately gets some really good information. People will say more in a private conversation, they did for me anyway, and I found their help very useful.

Actually when I was looking for a stallion someone told me if I couldn't handle/didn't want a range of outcomes I should buy a colt. You get exactly what you want.

[andy.smaga]

Could anybody reveal the secret behind crossing bloodlines to guarantee success?
Garantee is a word you must forget when breeding horses:D
You often have full brothers or full sisters that are completely different from conformation to temperament.
Looking at the pedigrees only will not bring positive results if you don't consider the mare to be bred and the stallion you choose, they need to fit each other.
And then you need a good percentage of luck, because you are not breeding 100's of foals to offset the statistical effect.
Enjoy breeding:cool:

[twoposies]

Thanks for the feedback. I realized after the fact, guarantee might not be the word to use. It seems as though there are people to know of crosses that are thought to be successful, I would assume on a somewhat consistent basis as opposed to a one offs. I do all my homework and study offspring, I guess getting the "right" pairs is just experience, doing your homework and a bit of the unknown. Like having kids, only they aren't bred for looks & conformation:lol: