AQHA Makes Way for Clones

As the cloning debate seems to be coming to an uncertain close, appeals are on the horizon and American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) officials and members are extremely unhappy. As an AQHA member myself, I agree with the obvious reasons for opposing the registration of clones in the largest, most successful equine association in the world.

Registering clones in the AQHA will do nothing but flood the performance horse market with "unproven" sires, undermine the amazing accomplishments of the original horses, and create unfair advantages for owners of high performing, cloned horses.

I see U.S. District Judge Robinson's final judgement as contradictory, if not ironic: "AQHA violated state and federal anti-trust laws by conspiring to bar clones from its association." That's interesting, because allowing clones into the AQHA registry will only create an oligopoly of horse owners who could end up dominating and controlling the AQHA breeding industry-- the exact opposite of what the AQHA wants. Bloodlines could become so overlapped that the very purity of the AQHA could become tainted.  In addition, clones will diminish the ability for smaller farms and ranches to get their sires names out to the public. Why would mare owners breed to Freckles Whiz Kid*, when they could choose from the many cheaper, readily available versions of High Brow Cat or One Time Pepto* (*purly using as examples)?

I have a personal chord to play in this argument. My mare, Boons Jenny Lee, is the great grand-daughter of the legendary Royal Blue Boon, the greatest cutting dam in NCHA history with over $2.5 million in offspring earnings. This great mare has not been cloned once, but multiple times (how many, I'm not even sure). In the future, I worry that if Royal Blue Boon underperforms as a dam, that my mare will become less valuable. Never say never.

Royal Blue Boon Clones

via confluenceparkfarms.com

AQHA will continue to appeal the jury verdict and attempt to preserve the valuable bloodlines of the horses that make up its multi-million dollar association, but only time will tell if their effects will pay off. Bottom line: blood doesn't make a great horse, the people who raise them, train them, and create a winning environment are the ones that make the horses so valuable, not science.


For more information visit:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/28088/royal-blue-boon-first-commercially-cloned-horse-dies
http://www.ratemyhorsepro.com/news/aqha-makes-way-for-clones.aspx