Five Million More Quarter Horses? AQHA Will Host Open Forum on Cloning Option
by Fran Jurga | 13 January 2009 | The Jurga Report on equisearch.com
Did you receive that nice triangle-shaped green brochure in the mail recently? I did, and I expect most or all AQHA members did. It was from a company called ViaGen and I wondered how I had gotten on their mailing list. Today, I found out.The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is planning to host an open forum on the subject of cloning at the group's annual convention next month in San Antonio, Texas. The forum is scheduled for Friday, March 6, 2009 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
According to the AQHA's announcement, this forum's panel will include representatives from equine industry and educational research institutions.
Whether they are watching from the audience, or participate directly in the forum, representatives of ViaGen have a lot riding on that forum. Since the closing of slaughterhouses, ViaGen had to move its lab to Canada to be close to slaughterable mares to harvest uterus parts, but they know that a nod from the AQHA to allow clones of the world's Quarter horses to be registered would be the answer to the company's prayers. It would be the first breed association to take that giant step. Add that the AQHA is the largest and most influential breed association in the world, and you see all that could be at stake here for ViaGen and the next generation of the ready-to-blossom equine reproduction technology field.
Within the past couple of years, commercial cloning of a number of horses, including American Quarter Horses, has been well publicized. Racing mules have been cloned, but most of the clones you hear about are high-end international-level show jumpers, like Gem Twist. The western horses have been primarily cutting horses or rodeo event horses, so the fact that the horses were not AQHA-registered was not a significant factor; cutting and barrel racing organizations allow any horse to compete.
Under Rule 227(a) of the AQHA Official Handbook, a rule that became effective in 2004, American Quarter Horses produced by any cloning process are not eligible for registration.
At the AQHA’s 2008 Convention, the Stud Book and Registration Committee (SBRC) received the first-ever proposed change to Rule 227(a); it was tabled then and has been brought back for 2009; the change would allow a live foal produced via a particular type of cloning to be registered if its DNA matches that of a registered American Quarter Horse.
Currently, the AQHA is not naming which particular procedure would be approved, but after seeing all the ViaGen ads cropping up on internet sites lately, it's not a tough guess.
In 2008, the SBRC recommended that any decision regarding the proposed change be postponed pending further study to be undertaken at the direction of the SBRC. As a result, on October 15, 2008, representatives from Colorado State University, Texas A&M University and ViaGen met with the SBRC in Amarillo to discuss the topic of cloning.
The proposed change to Rule 227(a) will be on the SBRC agenda in March in San Antonio. In an effort to make the most recent information on equine cloning available to AQHA members, AQHA has scheduled the open forum. The AQHA anticipates the forum will include presentations by panel of speakers from the equine industry and educational research institutions.
This forum will be open to all interested AQHA members. Save me a seat.
The SBRC meets on Monday.
The Superman Foal © 2009 Fran Jurga, created with Puppet Tool Software
Labels: AQHA, clone, cloning, convention, Equisearch, Fran Jurga, Quarter, The Jurga Report, ViaGen
posted by Fran Jurga @ 1/13/2009
6 comments
6 Comments:
What happened to natural selection? More horses to slaughter...sure overbreeding to get quantity not quality, nevermind neverminding a unique individual...individual is the key...not a clone copy. I find it disgusting!
I am not from America but get web updates every day from there. Each day there are stories of horses abandoned due to the economic downturn. Nevermind the moral or legal issues, this cannot be the time to cause more hoses to be abandoned. This would be an obvious effect,even if it is a more longterm result. For any horse society surely "the interest of the horse is paramount" and one of the most influential equine associations should lead the way in the interest of the horse. This is huge! The history of the clone proposing company does NOT suggest that actual horses are being considered in any way other than as a financial comodity. What if a VERY influential breeding line is cloned for conveniance etc. One stud can cover x mares so lets make another then we can cover 2x and no-one will ever know. Mindboggeling!
Just another get rich quick scheme courtesy
of Viagen. The only people that will
be laughing all the way to the bank
are the Viagen executives.
Viagen is a private company that writes its own rules. It has no public oversight. Caveat Emptor!!
I'm watching you AQHA!!!!!!
Your organization really doesn't have much to entice me these days.
A decision to allow cloned horses will be the final nail in the coffin in my decision to terminate my membership.
We all know MONEY talks in this organization of GOOD OLD BOYS.
I'll take my disposable income somewhere more equestrian.
I fail to see how equine cloning further propagates the issue of the "Unwanted Horse" in the U.S. If anything cloning offers breeders a tool to breed for the exact desired cross, which actually means less, lower quality horses that end up abandoned. Not to mention that the technology has actually rescued thousands of mares to serve as surrogates, which otherwise were headed for slaughter.
Cloning also offers an incredible option to bring back a top-performing gelding as a stallion. Anyone who has a shred of knowledge about breeding Quarter Horses should know that's an invaluable tool to the limited AQHA gene pool. We get thousands of horses every year that are from the same handful of stallions and we've seen a laundry list of genetic disorders caused by this concentration of genetics.
As far as welfare issues are concerned, there's been no documented health issues of foals produced by cloning that are unique to the technology.
Do your homework before you start analyzing the technology.
The idea that natural selection occurs in any responsible breeding program is naive.Selective breeding surrounds every plant and animal we enjoy today.The concentration of genetics we see today has not occured by accident.It is the result of crossing the same individuals that give us our desired result.It is not cloning that limits genetic diversity it is what breeders do that drives the evolution of the population.Cloning allows for the selection of the best genetics and the quantity becomes quality.Any cloned gelding can bring back diversity.A decade from now the data will be in and the technology will have survived or failed on its true merits.Those that want to clone, clone or breed to one, breed to one.Its simply the next advanced tool to improve our outcomes.
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