Beginner's Barn - Putting Together Your Own Sire and Dam List
by Mary Vinyard

One of the goals of all pedigree assigners is to be able to offer the horses they have worked so hard to create to the public for others to use as parents. For this, you will need to create your very own Sire/Dam [S/D] list. From your previous breeding requests, you should be familiar with the formats and layout that make searching for parents easiest to the user.

Most lists are organized by breed and broken out into stallions and mares for each breed. You may want to list horses in the same category (ex. Appaloosa Stallions) alphabetically or by age. This decision is up to you. You could also split them by "type" within the breed, such as Egyptian Arabians, Polish Arabians, etc. if you have many of each type.

A typical entry will include the horses name, age, breed, parents, and color and pattern at minimum. Additional information to include may be model and mold, markings, bloodlines, and show career highlights. Here is an entry example off my s/d list:

One Hot Number (Blazing Hot (r) x Miss Flying Jill) 1997 grey (on bay). CM Stone Performance Horse. Live show performance and halter winner. Lines to Hotrodders Jet Set, Zippo Pine Bar, Silky Fox, Hollywood Gold, Two Eyed Jack. FFC: 2000.

You will also want to list the rules for requesters to follow. You should list all the information you would like on the requested foal and other parents (if not yours) as well as any fees to be charged. If you have restrictions on aging, who can place requests, etc., they should also be included.

In the next installment, we will discuss how to promote your list and horses.

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