Barrel racer Charmayne James knew scientists had figured out how to clone mice, sheep and cats. But if any creature deserved to be cloned, she thought it was her gelding Scamper, the retired 10-time world champion.
The result, Clayton, has exceeded James' expectations. The foal even bristles, just like Scamper, when touched on a certain spot behind his ear.
"Scamper was one of the greatest horses ever, and I know that now more than ever," James said. "I wanted to get in and save his genetics, because if they were ever able to clone a horse, Scamper would be the horse to clone."
I saw this story and found it interesting. Like I saw over at Northview Diary, if there was ever a horse worthy of cloning, scamper would be one of them. He is a tremendous horse. It leads to some interesting questions in my mind after reading the article though.
The PRCA has no limits on using cloned horses in competition, but Clayton wouldn't be allowed in any events sponsored by the American Quarter Horse Association, which does not register horses that are cloned or their offspring.
If a cloned horse cannot be used in an AQHA sponsored event, what about progeny of a cloned horse? That's what Charmayne plans on using Clayton, Scampers clone, for is breeding purposes. If the cloned horse itself is not "right" somehow to compete, what makes its progeny okay to compete? It would really be interesting to know the answer to this.
A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy? Albert Einstein
If the horse associations look at the example of European royalty and their illegitimate children, I don't think those children usually became full members of the royal family in the sense that a true son or daughter would have been. Still, they were often given titles and land, which made them privileged members of society.
The condition HYPP became deeply rooted in AQHA animals due to (a) a natural mutation in one sire (Impressive), (b) the demand for him as a sire and (c) the acceptability of AI to the registry.
It took an unjustifiable amount of time (allowing affected horses to reproduce) to publicly identify the Impressive line as the source of HYPP. The barrier seems to have been (a) the horses were winning (b) researchers feared lawsuits.
What the AQHA says on cloning:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/v892m
Under AQHA’s Rule 227(a), which became effective in 2004, clones are not eligible for registration with the Association. Rule 227(a) was proposed and passed by AQHA’s membership after it became generally known that researchers were seeking to clone higher mammals.
Although AQHA rules provide for a democratic process for changing existing rules, no change to Rule 227(a) has been proposed. Nevertheless, over the past couple of years, AQHA staff members have been collecting information regarding cloning developments. For informational purposes, AQHA has periodically distributed such material to its Stud Book and Registration Committee, which initially reviews registration issues.
The European Warmblood horse associations aren't so much concerned with "purity" as with conformation and performance. They really focus more on performance, and the animals are individually examined for approval by breed authorities. My Hanoverian is 1/4 Thoroughbred and 1/4 Trakhener, but is registered with the German Hanoverian Association. If I'm reading the German paperwork correctly, he was in the pipeline to become a breeding stallion, but didn't make the grade due to low fertility, and was gelded at age 6. He does, however, have the breed brand and is fully registered.