I may come back and add more but the biggest thing is to NOT breed horses all willy nilly. Horses with higher levels produce better foals that can do better in Competitions, Halters etc. Level 50 is the best bet between a stud and broodmare, even if it's say 70 stud and 30 mare, long as the two numbers equal 100 in the end, you are fine. Some horse breeds, Akhal Teke, Marwari and Chincoteague require the horse to be level 25 before they can be bred regardless but can only have 5 live foals and 3 pulls from the Breeding Clinic before they can no longer breed.

Horse Fable :: Bits Making Guide

The link above gives you great ideas on how to make bits as well.

Also adding in, once your horses are decently enough leveled, make sure to brush BOTH horses, navigate to the Heart Icon and select either a stud or broodmare from the opposite drop down menu, depending on the gender of the horse you are already on.

Hi & welcome! I love animals too (and I also have chickens and dogs) 😊

It can be pretty tricky to earn money when you're first starting out. I'm kinda new too, but I think many players are focusing on their own breeding projects. They don't tend to buy random, lower level horses (or crossbreeds) unless they fit in with their plans. 

I'm actually not sure that breeding is the best way to earn money when you're starting out. If you're looking to earn money quickly, treats (the food items like apples, clover etc) that you can find by exploring hoofbeat plains can sell quite well when you put them up as a market trade. I've seen 10 treats sell for $50,000 (sometimes more or less depending on who's buying them).

Dyes and gems can also be sold, but you don't generally earn much selling these (even though it sounds like gems would be valuable, they're pretty easy to come by).

You can also catch wild horses to sell. Sometimes other players are interested in buying these horses because it's a great way of introducing new genes without long lineages.

The amount you can get for these varies but it's fairly easy to catch wild horses. You can put them up for auction, sell them outright or put them in a market trade. I tend to go with the market trade and open it up to offers. That way I can see if there's any interest and sell them faster than waiting for an auction (or for somebody to find them in sales).

To breed a horse, you open the horse and click on the heart icon. If the horse can breed you will see a drop-down that will let you select a partner for it. Once you've made your selection you click the green button. Hearts will appear and the breeding will either be successful or unsuccessful.

If it's successful you'll get a hyperlink to your new foal. If it doesn't work you'll get a warning telling you this. You'll also get the option to try again.

To be able to breed horses have to be cared for (food and water). They should also be groomed for the best outcomes. They need to be off cool-down (so they haven't been bred to recently), they need energy (each breeding attempt uses 20% energy I think) and they also have to be 3 years or older.

Sorry for all the text! I hope it helps 😊 Feel free to ask more questions if you have them!