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FireElement · May 1, 2026 9:31 PM

I was trying to find a benchmark for comparison testing and my logic was as follows:
If I have a colt from a maxed horse (say A papered) and the foal passes SBA and has the same papers as his sire, then the colt must be cap ability for that paper level. Then I can take this horse and compare him to other colts and have approximate understanding of their breeding ability.

Is this wrong? Does generation affect breeding ability beyond standard paper levels? Basically if a colt is of generation 4 and has A papers does it mean he actually has sort of A++ papers that are not achievable for horses in gen 3?

Take this A-papered stallion for example https://mesa.horsegeneticsgame.com/horse.php?horseid=4158820, who is a proven max ability stud, producing multiple 12.1 PT foals.
But he tested worse than 4th gen A-papered stallion https://mesa.horsegeneticsgame.com/horse.php?horseid=4076859.

Ammit · May 1, 2026 9:49 PM

The game does not know what generation your horse is and it plays no part in papers or comparison testing. The only reason generation comes into the conversation is that you can only improve a line so fast. Using boosting/exceptional foundations changes all the math, but that is because you are starting from different numbers NOT because of the generation the foal is.

I think what you might be missing is that each paper level is a range of quality. There is significant difference between a lowest possible A papers and the highest possible. That's why it takes 2 generations to get through the *star paper band for those breeding for era lbs.

FireElement · May 2, 2026 1:12 AM

Hi Ammit, thank you for your reply. Your explanation is how I understand it too, so I'm glad you confirmed it, but I think it works differently? I might have not explained my question the best way and caused confusion.

In my example both stallions have A papers. Stallion 1 has tested worse than the stallion 2. The result says: "worse than FE E9 G4 Brilliant SBA" who is A-papered too. However, it was proven than the worst one can produce best possible foals for his generation/A paper level - 12.1 PT score foals, so he must be a cap breeding ability for A papers. How is it possible that he tested worse than the other stallion?

Last year I had to swap genders because all of my colts have tested worse than the benchmark with the same paper level. I tested several fillies and they tested about as good as my mare benchmark, so I swapped one of them to be a stud. So it is possible that I had other top quality stallions for their paper level, but comparison testing didn't work correctly?

Ammit · May 2, 2026 5:03 AM

How is it possible that he tested worse than the other stallion?

"There is significant difference between a lowest possible A papers and the highest possible. "

This is how. Just because a horse is the best possible for their generation does not mean they are the best possible for their paper level.

So it is possible that I had other top quality stallions for their paper level, but comparison testing didn't work correctly?

Your male bench mare and your female benchmark where not of equivalent quality resulting in different test results. Comparison testing worked correctly but the benchmark selection was flawed.

The FAQ has a whole section on how to find benchmarks that you might find helpful. :)

FireElement · May 2, 2026 2:32 PM

Oh, so we're not achieving the highest quality A/Blue paper-level horses in 3rd generation (or second when starting with exceptional horses). But the best ones are just enough to push their offsprings to the next paper level. Do I understand this correctly?

I see that my mistake was in thinking that the best ones in their generation also had the best possible quality for their paper grade.

The FAQ has a whole section on how to find benchmarks that you might find helpful.

I read it multiple times and I find it very helpful :) I did comparison testing for all the foals in second generation and picked the prettiest ones of the best ones and all the stallions ended up to be not the best producers. The irony was that I got several max producing mares using the same method. :)) Maxing and 2% boosting would be the fool proof approach, but I find it a bit expensive for my stable right now. So for my 3rd generation I tried to be creative and find different benchmarks.

If I do uneven breeding, for example A-papered sire to Red papered dam, can their foal surpass the sire in breeding ability? Or will it be at most the same quality as the sire?

Ammit · May 2, 2026 8:55 PM

But the best ones are just enough to push their offsprings to the next paper level. Do I understand this correctly?

Correct. Just because a horse is the best you can get for that generation does not mean they are the best for that paper level.

If you do uneven breeding the lower ability parent will always pull down the highest possible quality foal you can get. If the foal can be better than the sire depends completely on the quality of both parents. They might never be better than the sire or aways be better depending on the sire. Just depends on the breeding ability of the parents.

FireElement · May 7, 2026 2:58 PM

Thank you so much for all the help!

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