Journey to Breed the Perfect Hunter Connemara *1/10/24*

[UnpredictableDragon]

Hi all! My name is Em and some of you might be aware of the fact that I breed connemaras for showjumping! Not only is this a difficult task on its own, I decided that I want my favorite colors in the breed besides freaking dun and grey. So feel free to follow my journey as we create the perfect connemaras.

Hunter stats (pulled from Frost's Guide here):
Height: Unknown
Type: Horse Type Medium
Weight: Moderate
Temperament: Bombproof
Body Size: 70%
Type: 50%
HGP: 65k+
Movement: 60
Strength 35
Tempo: 30
Balance: 30
The height is something I'm not concerned with, the type is already pretty accurate, weight and temperament are good, we just need to bring the body size up, and up the movement.


Desired Colors:
I would like to throw out the dun that dominates my genes and makes me want to be dun (heheh) with this game. I've already got some cream I suspect so if I could draw that out more I want to. I made the mistake of adding appy early in my project and now it won't go away lol. My current horses are mainly bay and chestnut with either roan or dun. I would like some other coloration in there, like buckskin (staying true to the connie community lol)


Check out my current herd:
Mares Barn
Stallions Barn
Breeding Overflow
Training Barn

Sales:
You can find all of my connemaras for sale here. You may find champs, fully trained horses, or just breeding horses I am no longer using.

[UnpredictableDragon]

Big news folks! I have been stuck in the upper 30s with the balance stat, and I'm still not entirely sure how this happened, but I got my first colt with a 50 in balance!

ⒶⒺ Down Deep, The Tragedy


This is crazy! His stats are:
26-32-44-51-40-32-32

Unfortunately he is just a normal red dun, but we can fix that later!
This is crazy to me considering his dam had 43 balance and his sire had 36. Didn't expect this big of a jump! Sadly his speed is lacking a bit, but thats okay since I'm currently breeding specific lines for speed and balance that I will later cross together.

Happy Breeding!!

[SkyandStarlight]

Hey there! I just want to say, I admire your determination to breed showjumpers! That is also a beautiful colt!

[UnpredictableDragon]

Hey there! I just want to say, I admire your determination to breed showjumpers! That is also a beautiful colt!

Thank you so much! It's not at all an easy task but once I decide to do something I have to see it through

[UnpredictableDragon]

I actually almost cried when I saw this boys stats:
ⒶⒺ Shatter my Dreams

36-37-41-30-30-32-31

Wow! my goal was to reach a little over 30 with speed, but 36?! This guy is definitely my newest main stud. Speed has been a lot harder to build than balance, so I had been stuck not getting past 31, so you can only imagine how happy I was to see this haha. As soon as I can bring my balance where I want it, I'll start crossing these speed and balance lines to create one with both stats. Shatter will definitely be one of my crossover horses.

[UnpredictableDragon]

So I've gotten my horses to hover around our goal speed (3o), so thats something I dont neccessarily focus on anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still have my 36 speed stallion and mare just to make sure its there. However my focus has now shifted to balance. For awhile I was getting upper 30s to mid 40s in balance, but thanks to Rylie at Seaglass Stud Farm, I've broken into the 50s!! I primarily have fillies, however im working hard to get some colts too.
ⒶⒺ 50 Percent Party

ⒶⒺ Catch me Catch me

ⒶⒺ Hallelujah

Ironically, Halle got her name because she was my first 50 balance. I was fighting my studs for it all day, so my reaction when seeing her confo was to shout "Hallelujah!!"
ⒶⒺ Prime Time

ⒶⒺ Lemony Limeny

Wanted to ping just to show my appreciation for you and Blue Lemon <3 thank you so much for allowing him to stud

[Rylie]

I'm so glad I could help, they look fantastic! Blue Lemon is only my favorite Connemara boy. I'll have to keep an eye on this project, I didn't think anyone else was breeding them.

[UnpredictableDragon]

Okay...I have hit a bump in the road with my breeding methods. Previously I was just breeding horses together with the highest desired conformation, however, this method was getting me nothing but dead ends. Thanks to BlackOak2, I have since changed my method! I have now focused on bringing up individual conformation parts, such as the leg thickness and face length. Eventually I will also bring down the depth of the flank for speed. It's a trust the process method lol, but BlackOak knows what she's doing so I 100% trust it. I have full barns of mares who are on the path of thicker legs and a stallion who will help as well. Here's hoping this works and I don't give up


Special thanks again to [quote="BlackOak2"] [/quote]

[BlackOak2]

It's a switch from 'base building' to 'honing for perfection'.

[UnpredictableDragon]

I've started to crossbreed some grade horses into my lines to really give a bump to the leg thickness. And all is going well! I was advised that my COI was too high and that's why I was making verrrry little progress. Not only have I introduced higher stats to my lines, I've also introduced nicer colors! Heartland has blessed me by allowing me to use one of their heavier studs, thank you!!! More updates to come! Thank you to everyone who has helped me so far, and everyone who is following this project! I'm glad I can share this frustrating journey with you all