There is a window of 7 points that makes a horse have an 'excellent' score.  The middle number is the actual 'perfect' breed variance score and it's something that's supposed to be a bit of a mystery/a fun thing to figure out for each breed.   A good page in the wiki to start reading about it would be here - Wiki - Breed Standards

A pair of horses that have both been groomed (this is an important step) will still have a breed variance of 4.  That's plenty of room for a point to go from excellent to good.   There is a bit of randomness to it that makes it exciting to see where your foal may fall.  

I find it best to figure out where the excellents fall for a breed.  Then when pairing horses trying to pair ones that have the higher numbers with that of a lower number.  I've managed to pull 4* horses from two 1* horses this way!

Ohhh, that's super interesting! I've read all of the wikis, I just found it odd that I've never had a 6E and 4E2G make something as opposite to the both of them as a 1E5G. 🤣 I've never had that happen and was so confused. lol

Im replying this this thread and the other you posted within minutes of each other. Easier than splitting it between 2.

I'm new here on HF, like, brand new. I played eqc version 1 and 2 before it became HF though and I completely agree with you. I have been a real life breeder for years now and my parents bred TWH and Barrel Horses before me and pricing has always been based off of the specific horses breeding and abilities, not so much markings or variations, that doesn't really matter. Even when my parents bred before we switched fully to WP and HUS QHs that's how it was. The most gorgeous horse ever wouldn't be worth much if it's breeding and abilities weren't good. That's the real world though. 👀 I agree with your pricing as a buyer but as a seller I'd probably go a little higher, especially for your top of the line horses that are all excellents. I'd pay $10,000 or more for them. Even lower horses I think $1000 per excellent is fair rather than $500 per. Really really like that you subtract for poor ratings. Shows you're being honest and ethical. If I had a real life foal with anything I deemed as poor I would definitely take off from the price as well. The whole 6 excellent bred to a 4 excellent 2 good doesn't make a ton of sense but at the same time it does. Some stallions and mares can be the best and not throw the best or can almost always throw the best and then one will be a fluke that's not very good but that's rare so that doesn't seem super real life to me. People in real life usually choose who they're breeding to based on how they're proved so they expect that to be passed to the foal. Grooming has nothing to do with any of that in real life either but seems to play a part here. Haha 

edit to add- I prefer seeing breeding and selling based off of real life breeding and selling so keep it up!

Hope this helps!