I'm sure you'll become addicted to hybridizing if you start. It's fun, fascinating, habit-forming. And it will develop your eye for the good qualities of a rose. How do I know? I started in 1972 and am still doing it.
The Rose Hybridizers Association (RHA) has some back issues of its newsletter available, and offers various other things (like a starter booklet, for instance.) for almost giveaway prices. Membership in RHA is probably about the least expensive rose hobby investment you can make.
Some resources are available on the internet, including many articles about rose genetics, outcomes of hybridizing experiments, and the like. Right now there are several threads on the GardenWeb Rose Propagation & Exchange Forum. Occasionally you'll also find useful threads on the GardenWeb Antique Rose forum (one such: http://www.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg1212081028312.html?5 ). Links to 16 sites devoted to hybridizing are found at http://dmoz.org/Home/Gardens/Plants/Roses/Hybridizing , and there'll be more as I find them (I'm editor).
Just reading and viewing all the good stuff on the CybeRose Garden page will take you days and days. And printing it will cost you a lot of paper and ink. If you write to Henry Kuska (click here--mailto:kuska@neo.rr.com) and ask him to include you on his hybridizers' mailing list, you'll get articles (scanned, with occasional scanning errors, but still useful) delivered to you as Henry discovers them. You'll also find useful information about other rose characteristics at other rose sites, such as those listed at http://dmoz.org/Home/Gardens/Plants/Roses/Hardy_Roses . And if you have any questions I can answer about the nuts and bolts of how to go about it, just ask.
For starters, here's something I recently sent to a beginning hybridizer regarding how to sow rose seeds: After you've shucked the seeds, you might want to wash them thoroughly in slightly soapy water. The idea is to get rid of the fibrous stuff and to soak out and wash off the germination-inhibiting enzymes apparently present in the hip materials. It doesn't hurt to let the seeds soak overnight.
When you prepare the flat (or whatever you're going to put the seeds in), fill it up to about 1/2" from the top with damp (not dry, not wet) firmed potting soil mix of the peat-lite variety, such as Pro-Mix or Fertil-Mix or Redi-Earth (if it's still made, this is about the best for potting and general use). Question: how will you know it's firmed just right? Answer: You won't. But you won't go wrong if you actually fill the container to the top, give it a gentle tamp, and then water it thoroughly (soak it) with a captan solution/mixture (3 or 4 tablespoons to the gallon is probably good enough). When it settles it should be in about the right condition, probably 1/2-3/4" below the edge of the flat or pot. Sow the seeds as thickly as necessary on the surface--it doesn't matter if they're right up against each other--then cover them with a loose layer of the potting medium (up to the edge of the flat) and gently water the surface with more of the captan mixture. It might be good to put the container in a waterproof tray or bowl -- then you can let it soak in its own juice when enough has run through. Since I don't have a sprinkler head on a watering can, I just get a small container (such as an 8 oz. yogurt cup or a 12 oz. frozen juice can) and fill it part way (about 1/2) with the solution and trickle it on the surface. Sooner or later the stuff will be well soaked. Let it drain, then keep it in a cool area (preferably 50-55 degrees, but daily fluctuation from 45-55 or 60 is better than a steady temperature.)
Within 3-6 weeks you'll probably see the first elbows sticking above the soil. This is the time to transplant. Gently hold the stem as far down as possible and ease the seedling out. The medium should be loose enough to allow the seedling to come out without a lot of effort. "As far down as possible" may not be very far if the elbow is still bent, but just make sure you tug on the stem where it is below the bend on the part that is going into the flat. If you tug on the top part (as I occasionally do by error) you'll probably pop off the cotyledons and a very short part of the elbow. If the seedling resists much, it may have a crooked root or stem, and you'll need to stick something thin into the medium nearby and loosen the medium until the seedling lifts easily. If you have an accident and break off the root, don't worry. Not all is lost. Just plant whatever you have and sooner or later a new root will form. When there's not much more than the cotyledons and maybe 1/8" of stem, things get dicey, but I've saved some. Just hold the cotyledons together and gently insert the bottom end (whatever is there) into the medium. If you can allow the cotyledons to be entirely below the surface but spread in a V so that light can reach them, there's a good chance that the thing will eventually generate a root and begin growth.
Some recommend that the seedlings be watered in with a very dilute captan solution (maybe 1 teaspoon or less per quart). It won't hurt, and it may prevent damp-off. When I could get Redi-Earth, I didn't do it and never had problems. But a lot of mixes nowadays have various wood byproducts in them because peat supplies are dwindling, and sometimes the mixes are sold before the wood materials have composted--so fungus is a lot more likely. I do use a bit of captan these days. I also water the seedling in with a 1/2 strength solution of 20-20-20. It's not necessary, but I've found that most of the mixes that do have food in them don't have much. And pro-mix generally has no food in it. About once a week after it begins growing, the seedling gets more weak food. Don't put the seedling under the lights or in a window until 8 hours or more after transplanting. Root hairs need time to get established. You might be able to do it sooner, but why push it? Good luck. You're gonna love it. Highly addictive.