64 SIDELINES JANUARY 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
cipline or sport: brilliance is a bonus. The cost of a
clone is about $165,000 (with discounts for any addi-
tional live foals born as a result of the SCNT process):
that’s a ballpark going price for a horse capable of
high performance level competition. The variables –
nutrition, nurturing, environment, trainer, rider and the
element of luck – make each foal a gamble.
Right now, there are laws in place to prohibit the
registration of clones with the Jockey Club and with
the Quarter Horse Association – no matter what the
originals might have accomplished or how fancily
they are bred. In fact, a 2007 ruling by the FEI (Inter-
national Equestrian Federation) bans all clones and
their offspring from international competition. A num-
ber of old-fashioned horsemen think that’s a bad rule,
including Frank Chapot, who pointed out: “It probably
could not hold up and how could anybody enforce it
unless they take DNA samples? The horses may
have papers, but who knows how a horse is bred?
Those papers might be good – or not.”
The live cover stipulation for Thoroughbreds reg-
istered with the Jockey Club makes sense in many
ways. However, no one can predict what the future
will bring, especially when the classic distance blood-
lines of 20 and 30 years ago seem to be headed the
way of the Dodo bird.
For the American Quarter Horse Association, FEI
and other governing organizations banning the registration of
clones and their progeny: that seems a bit rigid. Who can deny
that the reining world would beneft from foals out of that great
broodmare, Royal Blue Boon? As for the jumper world, you’d
have to be a daggone fool to turn down the opportunity to cam-
paign the get of a proven performer like Gem Twist via Gemini.
That a bunch of clones in competition arenas would impact ad-
versely on the so-called level playing feld is a specious argument,
at best. Not every great horse is an easy ride. Not every trainer
will have the tact to fnd the right human partner for a sensitive
and quirky equine athlete. You can put a mediocre rider on a good
horse and have some success, but it takes a great rider to allow
any horse to blossom and fulfll its destiny.
One thing’s certain: time and performance records will tell the
tale of the clones: that and the demand for their get.
Rainbow Connection didn’t have time for babies during her 20 year show ca-
reer. Dr. Betsee Parker decided to clone and got Rainbow Refection, but the
trial and error of SCNT resulted in a “litter” of three more Rainbows, shown
here with Oliver Brown, their trainer and handler
Photo by Janet Hitchen