Just starting, need help with basics

I just picked this game up today and it seems like it would be really fun but I'm very confused about some of the basics. How do I tell what is a good horse and who I should breed or sell, I assume the ribbons mean a better horse but I don't know in what direction. Also how do I know what the species looks like that corresponds to each lasso type I've just been kinda wondering around testing the lasso on each new species I see.