Post by RogueLightning on Dec 18, 2013 19:01:05 GMT -8
Chincoteagues are an American feral horse breed, living on an island off the coast of Maryland and Virginia. Commonly known as ponies, their harsh diet on their native island of Assateague has stunted their growth. They have existed there for at least 400 years, and according to legend the first ponies were survivors of a shipwreck carrying Spanish horses. It is also possible they were released by the early colonists of the mainland to avoid paying taxes on the herds.
Annually the wild pony herd on the Virginia side of island are rounded up and driven across the strait of ocean between the two islands for the famous Pony Penning Day. Foals are auctioned off by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company to pay for the maintenance of the herd. The herd on the Maryland side is managed by the National Park Service. In the wild the ponies form bands led by a stallion and bachelor herds. Mustang and Arabian blood has been introduced periodically to improve their conformation and increase genetic diversity. Chincoteagues can be any solid color, and often have paint markings.
Misty of Chincoteague is the most well-known story of these horses. The real Misty was actually born on a ranch on Chincoteague and never rounded up from the wild herd on Assateague as described in the book. But she was an ambassador for the breed nationwide and demonstrated the intelligence and willingness to please the horses are known for when domesticated. Chincoteagues perform well in any discipline and are hardy and long-lived.
On EV, the Chincoteague is a mid-popular breed. With their wide range of colors and patterns they are fun to work with, but quality has always been a problem. Not many players have created long term breeding programs for stats. I currently have the longest running lines in the breed with the highest stats in western, running, jumping, and endurance for nine generations. I happily sell my horses to what I hope will be long term homes, but I welcome any competition for the breed leaderboard and sales.
The purpose of this breeding group is to increase the quality of Chincoteagues beyond my own herd and their descendants. It will encourage the creation of multi-generational Chinco lines in all disciplines.
The Rules
The group will not refuse anyone whether they breed to our standards or not, but in order for there to be benefits to joining it, there are some rules that must be agreed to before you can have the full benefit of membership.
1. You must agree not to delete horses you breed and sell foals to others from to protect their pedigree.
2. You must agree to sell and buy horses AT LEAST at the minimum value the group agrees on.
3. You must agree to attempt to sell horses to other breeding group members BEFORE selling to players who have not joined the group. You can sell outside if you wish but we can’t guarantee the person will protect your lines.
4. If you decide to leave the game, you should try to sell your stock to breeding group members OR lock your account for good. No sending bred horses to the rescue center unless it won’t hurt someone else’s lines.
5. You must agree to notify other breeders if you see horses from their stock in the RC.
6. You must agree not to produce foals with less than 150 stats, or about the same quality as a horse from the Equine Center.
7. You must agree not to breed only for color patterns.
OPTIONAL
These are things I would like breeding group members to do but are not required.
1. Maintain at least two matched pairs of store horses at any given time. One of the main problems in the breed is everyone adds stores to lines instead of starting new ones. So our horses are only getting more related and studs will become harder to find.
2. Give your horses a conformation number. I do this myself and I will show everyone how to. It basically says how good the horse’s conformation is overall just by looking at their name.
3. Not inbreed the stock of other players who have sold to you. Once someone sells the horse, you can technically do whatever you want, but inbred horses are near impossible to sell and I delete ones from my lines that I find. You can do whatever you want with your own stock bred by you.
4. Be willing to give new players reasonably good horses you find. If you see a horse in the RC that’s not good enough for you but not totally worthless, then pick it up and sell it to a new person in Chincos for a low price.
5. Suggest Chincos as a breed to work with if someone is looking for a new one and be helpful to new players.
Benefits
In exchange for you joining the breeding group, you have full permission to ask me at any time for custom foals, horse tokens, to delete horses, and use of my studs. If other players wish to make that commitment they are welcome to do so. But no one is required to sell anything if they do not wish to.
We will have more than one person breeding in each discipline so no one person is on their own.
We are going to maintain a public listing of everyone’s horses and their pedigree. You should be able to look and see here who has a stallion that will match your mares and vice versa.
You can use this post to advertise horses for sale, future breedings, and when you are looking for horses to buy. This will be for Chincoteagues only.
There will be congratulations, birth announcements, and contests for accomplishments in the breed.
A finally, there shall be breed specific art. If you join, you will get this banner to display on your page to let everyone know you are part of a breeding group.
<img src="http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/347/a/6/chinco_by_japhleti-d6xs4q4.png" width="500">
When I can make them Chinco tags and characters will be available to the group ONLY. Yes, you will get exclusive characters with custom everything to show your Chinco pride.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RULES
You don’t have to follow the rules, but because I stalk Chincos like a hawk I WILL KNOW if you do. You will not be blacklisted or publically ejected from the group, but others will probably notice as well and be less likely to sell or buy from you. If you do something blatantly hurtful like delete a member’s horse out of spite, I will request that you no longer post here and ask a mod to remove the listing of your horses. You will no longer have art or contest privileges.
So if anyone wants to join me in this endeavor, for now just post to say you’re interested. You don’t have to already breed Chincos or have been here very long, as long as you agree to the required terms.