Traveling Equine Clinic Rolls Into Western Performance and Breed Shows

by Fran Jurga | 15 August 2009 | The Jurga Report



"Is there a vet on the grounds?" You know that sound in a horse owner's or groom's voice when they ask that question. They sound a little thin, a little higher octave than usual.

The answer? "Um, yeah, parked over by B Barn. Working out of an SUV. Blue, I think," you say pointing vaguely over your shoulder, wishing them luck.

And sometimes you don't even know, unless the event has started and the vet is on duty at a prescribed spot rather than working in the stabling area.

But that's not the case when the Texas-based practice known simply as Equine Sports Medicine rolls onto the grounds of a big show, usually in the Central time zone. It's not just a team of vets who cover the show; they actually bring an entire vet clinic, housed in a converted stock car trailer, and a staff of technicians.

A hydraulic ramp comes down, revealing climate-controlling doors. Generators power lights and equipment. Inside, the vets work in air-conditioned comfort (or heat, depending on the time of year) and the horses relax while they go through radiography or have a joint injected or are examined for pre-purchase or any ailment.

I remember when Dr. Alan Donnell announced that this clinic-on-wheels was his plan. He's now on the road with two of these mobile clinics, plus an all-star crew of veterinarians and support staff.

This week, they're at the Reichert Celebration and National Snaffle Bit Futurity in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Next week, they'll head down the road to Amarillo, Texas for the AQHA Select Show. Their schedule this year takes them from Arizona in the west to Florida in the east, and as far north as Columbus, Ohio for the Quarter Horse Congress. When they go home--if they ever do--it's to Pilot Point, Texas.

I hope you enjoy this little peek inside the mobile clinic, which was provided by a local television station. Maybe they'll be be rolling into an event you'll be attending some day soon. Don't worry, you won't have a hard time finding them!

HYPP: AQHA Offers Free Download of Survival Guide for Owners of HYPP+ Horses

Very high up on the list of disorders you'd like to avoid experiencing in your barn is the equine genetic trait known as "HYPP", short for Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis. It is a muscle disorder found in certain Quarter horses and related breeds, and should be a concern, particularly if you don't know the origin or bloodlines of your horse and are concerned by symptoms, or if you have confirmed diagnosis that your horse carries the trait.

Some horses may never show symptoms but it is important to know the signs and know what to do. The best thing to do, of course, is to discuss your horse's health with your veterinarian and make note of any unusual behavior or muscle twitching.

But what's a twitch and what's a Twitch? Horses have that amazing ability to twitch their muscles involuntarily; some horse owners are alarmed when they do that.

The American Quarter Horse Association has put together a guide to help you sort through the myths and realities of HYPP and how to manage the condition if your horse is found to be affected.

According to the AQHA, the most-common symptoms of HYPP include muscle tremors, weakness, muscle cramping, yawning, depression, an inability to relax the muscles, sweating, prolapse of the third eyelid, noisy breathing and/or abnormal sounds or whinnies.

HYPP cases usually start with muscle weakness and prolapse of the third eyelid, sweating and minor tremors most commonly in the flank, neck and shoulders.

More severe attacks can involve severe weakness, high heart and respitory rate, staggering, dog sitting and collapse. In its most extreme form, HYPP can lead to collapse and death, usually from a heart attack or respiratory failure.

If you're not concerned about HYPP for your horse, perhaps you know someone who could use this information. If so, please forward the link to him or her so that this information can help the horses who might need it.

Thanks to the AQHA for compiling this report and making it available. Click here to go to the download page.

Clones Will Be Left at the Gate in Oklahoma if Governor Signs Legislation

by Fran Jurga | 9 April 2009 | The Jurga Report

Thanks to our friends at the Quarter Horse Racing Journal and American Quarter Horse Association for the "ears up" about horse-related legislation in Oklahoma that is headed for the Governor's office to be signed.

No, it's not equine dentists this time: The AQHA announced yesterday that Oklahoma has banned clones and (if I am reading this article correctly) their offspring from racing in the state.

Click here to read the Racing Journal's article.

An article in the Oklahoman newspaper has some quotes but some of the points aren't quite clear, since it is unlikely that clones themselves would be racing anyway.

It seems to me that the whole point of commercial cloning (vs sentimental cloning of a pet) is for breeding. Legislation like this would take a lot of wind out of cloning's sails. And sales. It's interesting that the clones would be banned from racing but not showing or commercial breeding or sales.

The story gets even murkier when you get down to realizing that if the AQHA doesn't even register clones, this is a "just in case" piece of legislation--in effect, closing the barn door before the clone gets out.

Will clones have a big C branded into their foreheads for all to see? They look just like other horses, after all, and their offspring will too. And a clone's DNA test will not look like something from a mountaintop in Transylvania.

The cloning story continues to write itself, right in front of our eyes. I urge you all to read more about this fascinating subject. Sooner or later, no matter where you live or no matter what breed of horse you may show or race or breed or own, or what equestrian sport discipline you choose, you'll be hearing about cloning.

This subject has rekindled my interest in equine reproduction, which had been eclipsed by my total obsession with lameness for many years. When the first clone goes lame, it will be my story.

Click here for a one-stop archive of recent articles here on the Jurga Report about the AQHA's struggle with finding a reasonable resolution to this issue.

And stay tuned, both to this blog and AQHA sources for more cloning news as it happens.

No-Clone Zone: AQHA Postpones Cloning Decision (Again)

by Fran Jurga | 9 March 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

Clones are knocking on the door of the American Quarter Horse Association, seeking legitimate places in the largest breed registry in the world. "Go away! Come back next year!" came the cry from within at yesterday's AQHA committee meeting. (Fran Jurga/Puppet Tool software image)

Yesterday was billed as the Day of Decision at the annual convention of the American Quarter Horse Association in San Antonio, Texas. The issue: the AQHA's Stud Book and Registration Committee was scheduled to vote on the inclusion of clones (genetic replicas via engineered reproduction and DNA replacement) in the definition of an American Quarter Horse, opening the door for clones to be eligible for registration.

First reports from the San Antonio meeting indicate that a motion to postpone the decision for another year was passed by the committee. However, I believe the committee's recommendation needs the official stamp of the larger organization, as well as the appointment of a task force to further study the implications of registering clones, leading up to another airing at the 2010 AQHA Convention.

This story is not dead. Just like the late great Quarter horses who have been cloned, the story keeps having new life breathed into it. Over the past 10 years, the AQHA has progressed (or regressed, according to your political view) to allow frozen and fresh artificial insemination...then survived a lawsuit that opened the door to allow embryo transfer...and finally winds up with genetic clones on the doorstep of the registry office.

Clones may be the ultimate and most expensive "unwanted horses" in the universe, at least temporarily, when it comes to registration-paper legitimacy. That will surely change, even as multiple clones of champion cutting horse Smart Little Lena grow up in their "equus non grata" state of limbo. Other clones are replicas of favorite horses engineered for a fee for individual owners.

Clones are technically allowed to compete in cutting and reining, but the whole point of cloning Smart Little Lena or the mare Royal Blue Boon is not to compete, but to breed. And breed. And breed, thus infusing the breed with the bloodlines of champions who would otherwise have limited offspring. The number of foals sired by Smart Little Lena could be infinite in the future....as could be the number of exact genetic replicas of Smart Little Lena himself standing at stud all over the world!

Cloning is wonderful technology and yesterday's decision gives one hope that when the AQHA allows clones to join the registry--which surely seems inevitable--it will do it with a plan that is responsible and fair.

The much bigger story here is that once the AQHA allows cloning, other breed registries will surely follow suit. The framework and perhaps welfare of our entire horse world depends on the AQHA to lead the way, if it decides to, in a way that will encourage other breeds to be responsible in their policies and ensure the safety and welfare of horses and the viability of breeds and breeding.

You know what the critics are asking: Are we ready for offshore breeding laboratories, unauthorized DNA capture, and lawsuits over the implications of mitochondrial DNA? Are we entering the age of Dr. Frankenhorse or a new era of genetic analysis and engineering that may be able to better all breeds?

Something I've been wondering: Couldn't the cloned AQHA halter horses be manipulated so they have feet of proportionate size to their bodies?

If I was to give advice to the AQHA, I'd suggest that for every dollar a clone costs, an equal amount be put into research to predict, analyze and remove threats of genetic disorders from the breed. The same energy that figured out how to select a coat color for a clone could certainly go a long way on the health front. HYPP and HERDA may be only the tip of an iceberg, and those who want to register and breed clones should be responsible for any headaches and heartaches their engineered horses introduce to the bloodlines of the horses the rest of us just want to own and ride.

Stay tuned for more news!

Update: After this post was published, a press release from AQHA confirmed that the vote had been postponed to the 2010 convention and that a task force had been formed to continue to investigate how cloning might impact the breed, and vice versa. Click here to read the official announcement from the AQHA.

Send in the Clones: Forum on American Quarter Horse Clone Registration Rule Change Will Be Available via Webcast

One of the biggest changes in the history of American horse breeding has been set in motion, but you don't have to travel to San Antonio, Texas on March 6 to be part of it.

American Quarter Horse Association members who can’t make it to the equine cloning forum at the 2009 AQHA Annual Convention will be able to watch the event online in the members section of www.aqha.com. The forum Webcast will begin at 2 p.m. March 6.

You must be an AQHA member and have a Personal Identification Number to log in at the site and access the Webcast.

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. Clones are currently not being bred for performance use, but rather for breeding, so the offspring of a clone would not be able to registered.

All that may change in March.

The AQHA Stud Book and Registration Committee (SBRC) first considered a proposed change to Rule 227(a) at the 2008 AQHA Convention. That proposed 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. Voting on that rule change was postponed to 2009 while more information was gathered.

The proposed change to Rule 227(a) will again be on the SBRC agenda at the 2009 AQHA Convention but only after a public forum where members will be able to learn more about cloning and to express their opinions. This forum is open to all interested AQHA members.

Confirmed forum panelists include Katrin Hinrichs, a veterinarian involved in equine cloning at Texas A&M University; Sharon Spier, an epidemiologist at the University of California-Davis; George Seidel, a professor specializing in biomedical sciences at Colorado State University; and Blake Russell of ViaGen, a commercial cloning lab.

Following the forum, AQHA members watching the webcast will have the opportunity to leave online comments on the information presented. Comments will be limited to 100 words and need to be related to the topics presented during the forum.

For more information on cloning, see the February issue of The American Quarter Horse Journal, the March issue of The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal and the March-April issue of America’s Horse.

Blogger's Note: My copy of the Journal came in the mail today and contained an eight-page article called "Pure Genetics", which covers many aspects of the cloning issue.

In 2008, the National Cutting Horse Association passed a rule allowing clones to compete. Champion cutting horse Smart Little Lena was cloned five times in 2006 by Texas A&M University, according to the AQHA article. Offspring sired by any of the five would currently not be eligible for registration with the AQHA, but would be able to compete in NCHA events. Might clones become part of a distinct new breed association?

After the AQHA convention in March, they might be welcome in the AQHA for the first time. Other breed associations would then need to decide whether to follow the AQHA's lead; currenty no breed associations register clones.

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

AQHA Foundation's "Refrigerator Fund" Will Support Research on Head Trauma Injuries in Horses

(via press release)

September 27, 2007 - The American Quarter Horse Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of the Refrigerator Fund to the equine research program. This fund to support research for critically injured horses is in honor of American Quarter Horse racing’s all-time leading money earner and multiple world champion Refrigerator.

The fund was graciously created by Jim and Marilyn Helzer of Arlington, Texas, in memory of their beloved champion.

“Refrigerator was a horse that touched the heart of every American Quarter Horse owner, trainer, jockey and fan; he was America’s Quarter Horse,” said Jim Helzer. “A research program for head trauma will once again raise the bar to a new level that will assist veterinarians worldwide in treating all horses that suffer from a severe head injury.”

The Foundation will award funding for research in the areas of trauma prevention, treatment, diagnostics, hospitalization and prognosis. Funding decisions will be based on scientific merit, clinical application and potential benefit to the horse and horse industry.

“It is our hope that this comprehensive effort will provide horses with critical injuries a new hope for recovery and a possible return to function,” said Gary Carpenter, executive director of the Foundation.

Since 1960, the American Quarter Horse Foundation has awarded more than $6 million to benefit the health, welfare and utility of the American Quarter Horse. Grants for this specialized head trauma research are in addition to current funding available. Funding will be awarded beginning October 2008.

For more information on the equine research program, visit www.aqha.com/foundation.

Deadline for submission of research proposals is December 1, 2007. To obtain an application, contact Laura Owens with the Foundation at (806) 378-5034 or lowens@aqha.org.