Pedigree Assignment

by Trish M. Albert

Pedigree Assignment is something that people use to make the model horse hobby more realistic. Models are "bred" to produce foals of any age; breeding is assigning a pedigree to a model. The pedigree can be made up of real horses, model horses, or a combination of both. PA has its roots in the 1970s, the early days of the hobby, when people wanted to perpetuate their models and promote their stables.

Many people offer sire and dam (s/d) lists that contain the names and information of a stallion or mare that is standing to the public. A listing may only tell the horse's name, his/her parents, breed, and age. Other listings include show accomplishments, "personality" of the model, mold number, CM or OF, or other important information. A typical Starlite Farm listing looks like this:
Arabesque {Niale x Crystala} 9 years, dapple grey with black points. #213 PAS. Straight Egyptian. Multi Race Winner, Race Series Arabian Champion, Multi-PS Winner, OF Stallion Champ, Multi Live Show Placed $.20

Arabesque is the horse. Sire: Niale. Dam: Crystala. Age: 9 years. Model #213 Proud Arabian Stallion Color: dapple grey w/black points. Straight Egyptian refers to the fact that his pedigree is Egyptian Arabian. Arabesque has won numerous races, photo show classes, and has placed several times in live shows. He has also been a photo show champion and High Point Arab Champ at a race meet. [r] after a parent's name indicates that it is a real horse.

To breed to a stallion or mare, simply send the requested information on the other parents that belong to you (if any) and the information on the foal to the person who has the s/d list. Information typically asked for includes pedigrees of outside parents, color, breed, sex, age/date foaled, markings, make of model or artist. Many stables also require you to follow the basic genetics rules and to have your foal either aging or non-aging depending on the system they use. Also include the appropriate fees and a LSASE with sufficient postage. Most people offer a breeding certificate and a pedigree, which may take a few weeks for them to return.

To start your own s/d list, you may wish to request s/d lists from several people to see what they look like and what kinds of sires and dams of what breeds they offer. If you look hard enough, you can find a parent for almost any breed.

Another alternative is to use the pedigree of a real horse for your model. Reading breed magazines or writing to breed organizations is a good way to get started on this. There are also stud books of many breeds available from the registries or from private companies.

One of the biggest controversies in PA is to use aging or non-aging parents. Aging models are given a foaling date, and each year they age one year as a real horse would. Non-aging horses are assigned a specific age which never changes. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems. Non-aging can be easier for record keeping and showing, but many think that aging is more realistic. Which system you use is up to you. Be aware that some stables that use one system may not accept models from the other system. For example, a stable that uses an aging system may not breed non-aging foals and vice versa.

For further information on model breeding, I recommend purchasing the Feb/Mar. 1995 issue of The Hobby Horse News. The cost is $3.50 ppd for 3rd class or $5.00 ppd. for 1st class. There is an excellent article on breeding in it written by Daralyn Wallace. Write to: The Hobby Horse News, c/o Paula Hecker, 2053 Dyrehaven Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32311. online: THHN@aol.com

Chris Semon is president of the International Pedigree Assignment and Research Association (IPABRA), a model club dedicated to s/d's and pedigree assignment. There is a bimonthly newsletter called Bloodlines. Contact her. for membership info and rates. A sample issue of Bloodlines is $1.00. If you have access to e-mail, IPABRA has a mailing list. To subscribe, send a message to listserv@tamu.edu and in the body of your message, type "subscribe IPABRA firstname lastname" without the quotes. To post a message, send it to IPABRA@tamu.edu.

This is only meant as a guide for getting started in PA not a comprehensive book. There are many aspects to it that can affect a stable which should be taken into consideration before beginning a s/d list. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email.

The following is a list of people who offer an s/d list. They all have excellent breeding programs.

October Moon Acres
Chris Semon
Contact OMA

Starhold Farm
Daralyn Wallace
Contact Starhold Farm

Southern Crystal Ranch
Polly Cleveland
Contact SCR

Melissa Addison
STAR STRUCK STABLES/ELK RIVER RANCH
Contact SSS/ERR

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