The Barbs

[Argent]

"The Sorraias originate from a small group of 7 mares and 4 stallions obtained by R. d'Andrade near Coruche, Portugal, in around 1930, after he had seen a phenotypically identical wild population there in 1920, which was distinct from the local riding horse. According to d'Andrade (26), 5 of the 7 mares passed down mtDNA lineages. All 18 sampled Sorraias have either of two A1 mtDNA types (61% A1 root type, 39% ancestral JSO41 type), which are quite unrelated to the D1 type predominant in the other Iberians."
At least through mtDNA, it seems the Sorraia is unrelated to Iberians/baroques.

[larissar]

Maybe I'm remembering my info wrong then lol
That article is quite informative though. Thanks for linking it.

[Argent]

I think there's probably just a lot of conflicting information out there.
I think I've finally decided on working with Lipizzans, so I'm going to twiddle my thumbs and wait and see how much I have to alter my breeding plans with the recipe changes lol

[larissar]

Interesting choice to breed Lipizzans. Any particular reason why? I haven't been able to decide yet myself. lol I keep debating between breeding Thoroughbreds for racing, or some kind of german warmblood for show jumping. But then I also really love draft horses so I'll probably have a couple of them too. Maybe Percheron's, but I just can't decide yet! Oh and the Dutch Harness Horses are really lovely too! So many choices lol

[Argent]

I was definitely considering TBs for racing and endurance, and Arabs for the same before that (hence my post about breeding theory). Studding out TBs to warmblood breeders was part of my plan as well, before I changed my mind.

I'm currently in love with Lipis in real life. I like that they're a smaller horse, bred for dressage, and the baroque type is lovely. I also admire their history. But as much as I love greys in real life, I'm planning on breeding black-based dilutes on HWO (cream, pearl, champagne, and dun, assuming all four are still on the list for the North African Barb). On the last sim I played, I had the best Lipizzans in the game, and I'd planned on trying something new here, but I just love the breed too much.

[larissar]

Studding out TBs to warmblood breeders does sound like a good idea. I've always liked the effect that Percheron's bring to a TB/warmblood cross too. Around here I regularly see Percheron's crossed with Thoroughbreds and Hackneys to create a nice warmblood type. I was surprise initially to see the Hackney in the mixed but I liked the horses I saw growing up out of these crosses. So I'll probably keep a few Percheron mares to cross with TBs, and maaaaybe a Hackney.

Lipis are very beautiful. I had a chance once to see them perform in Toronto. It was something else that's for sure. If they come again I'm definitely going to see them. Black based dilutions eh? Do they ever happen like that in real life? I've always assumed they were pretty much just black and bay greys. I tried googling really quick but couldn't find anything. They must be gorgeous in black or champagne!

[Argent]

I have yet to meet one, though there is/was a breeder in my state. I'd like to go to the Spanish Riding School one day.
Nope, they don't come in any dilutions anymore, just grey, bay, black, and chestnut. Historically, I believe they carried cream and a few white patterns (of at least some of the Spanish stock they descended from did, so it was possibly/likely that Lipis had them too). But grey was most desirable, so that all got bred out. I think there's one image of a roan Lipizzan out there. But, I mostly picked the dilutes because I like the way they look on HWO XD I was originally going to breed Baroque/West African Barbs in those colors, but changed my mind.
This old painting of Lipis shows cream dilutes, roans, appies, tobianos, and a horse I'd consider pearl (next to the tobiano). So maybe there's some historical basis for my color choices, excluding the champagne which apparently occurs only in particular American breeds. I've also decided to throw in sabino and roan for extra variety

I had to look up the TB-Perch cross as I've never seen one. I like the look -- a very solid horse, but still athletic-looking in a way that reminds me of Irish Draughts. I prefer a heavier horse in general, with the exception of TBs, but even there I like the bigger boned horses over the overly refined ones.

[larissar]

That is a beautiful painting! I just love the history of where/what breeds originated from to become the modern animal they are now.
I hope that breeders on HWO will evolve their breeds like breeders in real life have done. I'm very much looking forward to see how different breeds evolve and change, and to see how much they reflect their real counter-parts after a few hundred game years.

I had to look up the TB-Perch cross as I've never seen one. I like the look -- a very solid horse, but still athletic-looking in a way that reminds me of Irish Draughts. I prefer a heavier horse in general, with the exception of TBs, but even there I like the bigger boned horses over the overly refined ones.

For me it's something about their shoulders, they have these beautiful well put together shoulders, that when combined with a a thoroughbred gives nice refinement without going overboard. I too like something a little heavier. Their hind quarters could use a little improvement mind you, but that's what I can do with my breeding program in HWO I much prefer the hind quarters seen on many baroque-type horses.

[Argent]

Part of the reason I wanted the farm age feature was to be able to flesh out the whole virtual story It's more fun to be able to say that a breed has been under development for two hundred "years" and go on about how there was this one influential sire thirty or fifty, or eighty "years" ago, yada yada.

I read an article about the Baroque hip a while back. I think it was explaining how Baroque horses are so well designed for dressage and collection, and pointing out that the modern warmblood actually lacks the hip structure necessary to do collected movements without difficulty or strain. There were a lot of comparison photos showing the Baroque horses's greater ability to set their hindleg under the body, especially at piaffe/passage, whereas the warmblood tends to be strung out.

[larissar]

Part of the reason I wanted the farm age feature was to be able to flesh out the whole virtual story It's more fun to be able to say that a breed has been under development for two hundred "years" and go on about how there was this one influential sire thirty or fifty, or eighty "years" ago, yada yada.

I've been toying with the idea of giving players the ability to write articles about the game history of their breeds. Kind of like a little magazine or something. Probably an addition far far down the road though, once we've actually got some history to write about

I read an article about the Baroque hip a while back. I think it was explaining how Baroque horses are so well designed for dressage and collection, and pointing out that the modern warmblood actually lacks the hip structure necessary to do collected movements without difficulty or strain. There were a lot of comparison photos showing the Baroque horses's greater ability to set their hindleg under the body, especially at piaffe/passage, whereas the warmblood tends to be strung out.

Very interesting. I'd already planned on a competitive dressage advantage for horses with that type of hip in the game, I'm glad to see my observation actually has some merit