Is it normal for 95% of the yearlings i create to come out with a 25% or lower potential bar? I know a certain amount of randomness should be applied, but it is becoming really demoralising given that 80 out of 100 of my mares are 75+ potential and breeding with 75+ potential stallions.

Is this happening with everyone else's game? I've played this game for years but can never remember it being so fruitless when it comes to breeding

Does finding a right match between stallion and mare make a difference?

I had a stallion that produced 10+ yearlings with 75+ potential in his first crop, next season he's produced 0. There's seems to be know pattern to it, which is the most frustrating thing

I am getting a similar thing but not as much as 95%. Happens quite a lot when pairing similar horses and am wondering if this negates some of the positives and the plus elements are cancelling each other out rather than multiplying them.

If you look at the legends editor you can see how a horses stats and bars are made up. There is an initial paramater that dictates overall ability and if this is generated from multiplication or amalgamation of the sire and dam stats it could explain why two monster looking horses can create a dud if there is a low multiplication factor in there.

I advise everyone to look at the editor anyway as it is fascinating, and as you can edit your own legend you can see the effect of increasing certain attributes. Some bars are rated in the thousands others only 1-4. A big increase on the potential figure will only move the bar up a small amount whereas on some others one point increase moves the bar up 25%

I think on average 1 in 10 will get to its full potential , that's why i like around 70 to 100 mares in a breeding barn.

Cheers for pointing that out Martin, didn't realise that was there.

Out of 110 mares, only 7 yearlings had 75+ potential, is that normal?
40 of the mares have 75+ potential

If a horse doesn't start with 50% or more dark green potential then I don't bother racing them. They don't become anything and it saves time and effort.

How many of your mares have a high realised potential? You know as ghosty says dark green.

It is a good idea early game to try and get high potential using bad horses to breed a good horse but can be frustrating.