Tamarillo clone

I'm not sure why it's such big news, there's a polo pony cloning operation for Cambiaso that's been underway for years. My friend has seen the clone of his best pony Aiken Cura, said it was uncanny seeing him.

Personally I'm not quite sure I really agree with cloning, but then again if I could afford to clone my best pony I would!

This is a really great video about Cambiaso's clones - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfvtUeamSDA (EDIT it's in spanish but you can work out what it's all about!)
 
I'm still not convinced by the whole cloning business.I wonder if the cloned horses have any health issues,like Dolly the sheep suffered,or whether they have refined the technique.I agree with the argument that each horse is unique and there are variables such as nurture,in that the foals may have different experiences to the original horse which may make them different.Genetics can also throw all sorts and i am not sure if the art of cloning irons out these inherent factors.
 
I have to say, cloning is not something I'm very keen on. If everything was the same then the world would be an incredibly boring place. To me, equestrian sport is so exciting because you never know who/what talented young prospects are waiting in the wings to challenge the top horses and riders of the moment. And the legendary horses stand out in our memories because they are so uniquely talented or well trained or gutsy.

Also, I really do believe that good breeding is an art, matching the attributes of sire and dam to create a beautiful new life, a blank canvas. Obviously there are unfortunately a huge number of very irresponsible 'breeders' out there at the moment, as we all know and maybe cloning gives us the guarantee of good genes. But surely there is a risk of severely limiting the gene pool if it ends up going too far one day.

Scientifically, cloning is fascinating but I just don't think it is right to play with nature in that way.
 
It really doesn't take a lot of science to do it though, now we know how to do it ;)

I guess the jazz foals useful if his semen doesn't freeze well for example.

I think normal breeding will still always take precedent- as cloning is still a gamble on whether the horse would be up to the job.

Also I don't think clones inherently have health problems - dolly had lung cancer caused by a retrovirus and arthritis I think neither of which were 'clone' dependent, although obviously with n= 1 sheep not the best of stats ;)
 
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Faracat said:
Yes, I've read that too, but the foal with four whites has a bigger 'area' of white than the foal with two. I have also read that how the foal lays in the womb affects the white markings.
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I thought the amount and placement of normal white markings was due to the position of the foal in the womb. I will freely admit I have no idea where I got that idea from, but I do tell people that like its gospel so I must have got it from somewhere :D
 
lastchancer said:
What happens if two clones of the same horse were to breed?

I don't care for the whole cloning thing, it's too Frankensteiny.
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Um.....not sure if I've got your meaning confused but that would be impossible?! 2 clones of the same horse would be the same sex....??

Shoot me down if I misunderstood you!
 
i don't have a problem with it...i generally get the impression that people who do build up an image of science experiments gone wrong etc....no animals suffer as a result of this so whats the problem it will be brought up like any other foal.

oh and ET was a clone and competed
 
FrankieCob said:
I thought the amount and placement of normal white markings was due to the position of the foal in the womb. I will freely admit I have no idea where I got that idea from, but I do tell people that like its gospel so I must have got it from somewhere :D
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The white markings on an animal are formed very early on in the development of the embryo, we are talking in days old here. I think people get confused because when scientists say individual markings depend on conditions in the womb, they don't mean in a real physical sense, they just mean after conception, which is why clones have slightly different markings. The actual position of the foal, which will change all the time while they are growing, won't have any effect on the markings at all.
 
I think it's a really good idea. Imagine you get a horse and it turns out to be a superstar, but it is already gelded? If there is a way for the line to be continued that must be a good thing?
 
Had no idea cloning had moved on so much. Last I heard of it was Dolly the sheep who was never quite right and died fairly quickly. Think I'm getting too old for this crazy world.
 
fattylumpkin said:
There's already more than 100 cloned horses in just a few short years. I dread to think what the future will bring for the sport if this carries on. Possibly the horse equivalent of a Belgian Blue cow??
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Not sure what you mean here? belgian blues are not the product of any kind of science jiggerypokery, it's a naturally occurring double muscling gene that can occur in any breed, or species - sheep can be double muscled, pigs, dogs and I've seen a double muscled QH.
 
Although i agree breeding from good parents should result in good offspring,but sometimes the best horses have been accidents of birth,just pure genius.Even in humans children from the same family can be very different.I'm just not convinced cloning guarantees an exact replica in everything other than looks.What if Tamarillo's clone is a dud? How can genetics explain that.
 
I'm not sure how I feel about cloning. Intellectually it's definitely interesting, not only from nature vs. nurture but also the effect of epigenetics - for example, I believe there is a theory that the surrogate mare can affect DNA expression in the foal. Not what the content of the DNA of course, but possibly which genes are switched on. This would contribute to the clone not being identical to the original. However, as far as I known this hasn't yet been definitely proven.

That said, it would be shame a if cloning became so widespread that we lost genetic diversity within breeds.
 
Wouldn't it be fun - once - to see a World Championships where every rider in each particular discipline was on 'the same' horse???

And then how boring it would be, very quickly. I think that's the risk with clones being allowed to compete, that eventually we will end up with only six or so showjumpers, six dressage horses and six eventers. Why would a breeder of top class competition horses take the risk on an unknown gene combination?
 
IF the clone were to become an exact competing replica of the original, then yes, competing would be extremely boring! They would have to have a Tamarillo class and a Cavalier Royale class etc for all the identical horses to compete against each other!

Personally I like things the way they are.
 
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