Royal Blue Boon meets Royal Blue Boon (clone)

Written by: Sherri L. Barclay

Barclays Arabians

When most of us envision cloned animals, we think of the larger than life Jurassic Park released in 1993. Then there was The Lost World of 1997 or going to the other side of the realm, the movie about human clones called Multiplicity released in 1996. Some if us looked at these movies as pure science fiction while others of us were left wondering if we should even “go there!”

While Jurassic Park had us questioning if it was at all possible to even achieve such a feat. Many of us were left saying well that’s what you get for messing with Mother Nature! Others yet are still “out for debate” on the subject. No matter what your opinion of this cutting edge research is it is happening and it is a modern day reality.

Livestock cloning company ViaGen, Inc. has partnered with equine marketing firm Encore Genetics to bring this fantasy to life with the first commercial horse cloning operation in the country. On March 30, 2006, these two companies announced the news of the birth of two famous horse clones as well as news of yet other pregnancies.

Royal Blue Boon is a legendary cutting horse registered with the American Quarter Horse Association. She is now a part of history for being the first mare to be commercially cloned here in the US. On February 19, 2006, the foal, Royal Blue Boon Too, was born to a recipient mare in Purcell, Okla. on Royal Vista Southwest Farms. The foal was born with no complications and continues to thrive on the farm where she was born.

Not soon after, a clone of the mare Tap O Lena was born on the same farm arriving on March 9, 2006. Nine additional clones of other celebrated horses are to be born in 2006 alone. There are still many other ViaGen/Encore mares that foaled this year as well. These two companies had also gene banked more than 75 additional champion horses from multiple breeds and disciplines. Due to some client confidentiality agreement, names of these horses could not be released.

Dr. Jim Bailey, DVM and manager of Royal Vista Southwest oversaw the entire cloning process. “From the time I transferred the embryo into the recipient mare, these pregnancies were normal in every way and the births followed suit. The resulting foals were born normally and immediately stood to nurse. They bonded well with the recipient mares and continue to grow and play in the sun.”

Unlike the movie Jurassic Park, in order to make a clone of a horse the technique is a bit different as well as fairly simple. First, there is a biopsy of tissue taken from the horse to be reproduced. Once ViaGen’s lab receives the sample, cells are grown in a culture. Then a process called Nuclear Transfer takes place. This is where DNA from the donors cells are transferred into enucleated oocytes (eggs from which the genetic material has been removed). The embryos are then grown in an incubator for several days before being transferred to a recipient mare. This process is the same as with traditional embryo transfer. Finally, once the mares reach the normal gestation period. The cloned foals are born.

Still a bit confused? Let’s look a bit deeper into the cloning process. Livestock cloning is the most recent evolution of selective breeding in animal husbandry, which dates back to the dawn of time. Many of our readers may not know this however, Arab sheiks first used artificial insemination in horses as early as the 14^th century. Techniques such as embryo transfer, in virto fertilization, embryo splitting and blastomere transfer have become common place in just the last fifty years. These processes provide farmers and ranchers powerful tools for breeding their best animals. The cloning process also accelerates the birth of the best possible stock by allowing horse breeders to be certain of genetic make-up of a particular animal.

Clones are not genetically modified organisms or GMO’s as some people may believe. Cloning is considered quite simply to be assisted reproduction. Clones are basically identical twins separated in time. These twins are genetically identical to its single parent and is developed from a single donated cell.

While cloned animals are genetically identical that is where the similarities may stop. For instance, during fetal development the cells that produce pigment called melanocytes, migrate around the fetus. The final location of these cells is not controlled by genetics and can be affected by the uterine environment. Because of this the color or pattern of a clone may be slightly different from that of the original. In scientific terms, their genotype – the clones genetic makeup as opposed to its physical characteristics. Cloning cannot control the clones phenotype – or the physical expression of a trait, like the placement of any of the clones particular markings. So, if you are looking to create an identical twin of your favorite horse it may not happen. The clones markings may be slightly different then the donor.

Clones also have the exact same potential as the cell donor or original. You must consider however that these clones are brought up in a different environment at a different time. Essentially; nutrition, socialization, exposure to foreign pathogens, etc. can affect behavior and the ability to perform. Clones may therefore be different from each other and from the original cell donor. This means that just because your horse acts exactly how you want it to, your horse’s clone being exposed to a different environment, may not act the same or do well in the same discipline as the original.

Cloning does have other challenges. Higher rates of fetal and neonatal issues were observed with assisted breeding techniques. This includes virto fertilization and embryo transfer. It has also been noted with cloning.

At this time there are no equine registries that will allow cloned animals to be registered. They are still considering it as an option however to date none of the registries have opened up to cloning. The Jockey Club is considered by some to be the purest of all breeding institutions. They believe that both the short term and long term health of the Thoroughbred breed is best served without the use of many current breeding practices. These practices include artificial insemination, embryo transfer and cloning.

Next month we will continue to look at this controversial process and explain how you can gene bank your own horse.

Mirror, Mirror

A Look at ViaGen/Encore Cloning Process

When we left off last we were in a world we only once imagined to be possible. A world full of giant roaming reptiles and man eating beasts. Oh, sorry that was the movie Jurassic Park and we are on the subject of horse cloning. Still unbelievable to some, this is a modern day miracle to others.

When we last left off, we were explaining the cloning process, what results you could expect, challenges in the cloning process and the general acceptance of cloned horses by breed registries. As we mentioned in Part One, at this time none of the major registries allow papers on cloned horses. However, the national DNA Registry in Yukon. Okla., will register all cloned foals with the appropriate DNA documentation.

There are still many more questions concerning this process that we have to look at. Questions about the morality of cloning. Who can afford to clone? What are the benefits? Who will regulate the cloning industry? Should cloning be for endangered species only? Isn’t natural breeding the best way? What about inbreeding and other issues? Well, let’s look at these questions and more one at a time.

Cloned horses at this time can compete with a number of sport organizations, including the most notable, the National Cutting Horse Association. However, the actual purpose of cloning is to preserve genetics, not make improvements on genetics. Due to this fact it is highly unlikely that the competitive arena will be a proving ground for cloned animals. The value of a clone should be established by the performance of the donor.

Here is a little more background on Encore Genetics, Ltd. Based in Weatherford, Texas, Encore Genetics serves a worldwide base of horse breeders interested in preserving the superior genetics of their stock and producing animals that are genetically identical to top performers in both the show arena and the breeding barn. Encore partners Jim Ware and Milt Bradford have extensive experience in the marketing, sales and promotion of performance horses, as well as breeding and pedigree analysis. Brad Stroud, DVM, is a true pioneer and foremost authority in embryo transfer, commercial IVF and ultrasound.

When this article was written there was no government oversight of cloning. It is most likely that breed registries, the US Department of Agriculture and the FDA will eventually monitor cloning since they already monitor activities involving livestock and horses. Because there is no regulations at this time it is very important to contact a reputable and established firm like ViaGen/Encore Genetics for services.

ViaGen/Encore Genetics feel that cloning can also preserve genetics in a species of domesticated animals, and that this may be the greatest contribution of this technology. The note for example, some of the truly great old bloodlines of principle breeds of horses have been lost through generations of line breeding and cross breeding. From that perspective, it may be as important to preserve genetic excellence from extinction, as it is to preserve entire species.

They also feel that there is no reason to believe that cloning will create inbreeding problems any more than other forms of assisted reproduction. In fact, they feel cloning may actually help prevent inbreeding because it will make it possible to breed animals that before were unable to breed and therefore introduce new genetics to our breeds. In addition, cloning may preserve a greater diversity of bloodlines over time. Breed integrity is an important issue for breeders, and ViaGen/ Encore Genetics can bet that they will remain vigilant about maintaining the integrity of our bloodlines.

There are many implications when it comes to natural breeding over assisted reproduction. Some say that assisted reproduction is safer for the mare and stallion while also preventing injuries to handlers. These technologies have been used for years and cloning is just the latest technology available.

Some people believe that cloned horses will be more susceptible to illness and disease. Reviews conducted by the National Academy of Sciences found that “the health and well being of somatic cell clones approximated those of normal individuals as they advance into the juvenile stage. Somatic cell cloned cattle reportedly were physiologically. immunologically and behaviorally normal.” Furthermore cloned foals, after 24 hours of birth, are no more susceptible to illness and disease than their brothers and sisters created through natural or traditional breeding practices. There is also no scientific reason why clones should not grow and age like a naturally bred horse. Therefore, cloned horses should also live to a typical horses life expectancy.

Think you may want to clone your own horse? Maybe you would like to gene pool them for future use. Well, here is where you can find more information about ViaGen’s cloning opportunities. Please call ViaGen toll free at 866-878-1301 to speak with a representative about their cloning services. You may also visit their web site at

ViaGen certainly has the technology as well as the experience to quickly identify important genetic traits for any species regardless of whether such data yet exists. They can also screen individual animals for these traits and to then use this data to develop an efficient, state of the art genetic improvement program. This includes the ability to identify the desired traits such as those related to quality, yield and uniformity and perpetuate them through advanced reproductive technologies ranging from in vitro fertilization to animal cloning.

I hope this series helped you better understand cloning and the cloning process. I would like to thank Nancy Hood, Vice President and Director of Public Relations of The Inter Group for her assistance in this series of articles.

Written by: Sherri L. Barclay

Barclays Arabians

By: Tina Lewis, Lewis Stallion Station

Most serious breeders breed their mares every year so they can get a bigger return on their investment and so that their mares can effectively “earn their keep”. Horses are officially a year old on January 1 after their birth date and must continue to use that date as their “universal” birth date.  Because of this, it is optimal, in the show world, to have a foal born on January 1^st.  This makes for a bigger yearling, but, by the same token, it would be highly detrimental if a foal happens to be born on December 31st, as it is then considered a yearling the very next day and would be a very small yearling in the show ring. Most mare owners try to have their foals born as close to that “universal” birth date of January 1, as possible, by breeding as early in the year as possible.  Having foals born early, means bigger weanlings and yearlings for showing and winning.

If a mare, for one reason or another, is due to foal late in the Spring or early Summer, some breeders will elect not to re-breed her when she foals and put her under lights over the winter to induce estrus early the next year.   This way, she can be bred for a January baby the following year.  In reality, this does not skip a whole year, it only loses a few months and gains the advantage in the show ring.  Some breeders may also elect to skip a year and give the mare a break or rest, or to keep down the herd, as it is sometimes not cost effective to have too many mouths to feed and gives them time to break and sell the horses already on the ground, especially in a slow market for horses.

Most good broodmares will breed, take, and carry foals until they die. Choosing the time of year you want to have a foal hit the ground, especially for your area, is important when deciding when to breed your mare.  If you have severe weather in the winter, you will not want a January baby unless you have an enclosed barn to keep it warm until the weather is better.  If you are trying to gain a few days each year and get your mare foaling earlier in the season you will need to either skip a year and put her under lights and start early the next season or simply be diligent in breeding on the foal heat each year, thereby gaining about 10 days per year (easier said than done, at least, consistently).

It is common practice to breed a mare on her foal heat as long as there were no foaling problems, such as a retained placenta, she kept her weight well, and she is healthy.  Some breeders believe that keeping that reproductive tract active helps to keep it in good working order. Catching a mare on her foal heat, is a bit tricky.  Unlike the regular heat, normally 5-7 days, the foal heat generally lasts only 3 days beginning on about day 9-12 after the mare foals.  The success rate for getting a mare in foal on her foal heat drops to about 50%, for several reasons.

Once the mare foals, the ovaries will begin to start cycling.  Unfortunately, they start from a stage that is similar to being about half way through a normal heat cycle, so it is only about 10 days until the ovulation occurs.  This can vary from 5-16 days.  Getting a mare to even tease to a stallion, much less breed on her foal heat is quite a task, understandably, since it has only been 10 days since she delivered a 150 pound foal, placental tissue, and the fluids that surrounded the foal.  Her uterus is contracting the muscle in the walls, and is frantically trying to evacuate itself so it can clean up any residual left behind from the birth.  These contractions are strong and cause considerable discomfort.  Often times a mare will pass the tenth day and not have shown any signs of heat at all by normal teasing methods, but would have had a normal follicle show on an ultrasound exam.  Some mares will be physiologically in heat, but not psychologically receptive to the stallion due to the new foal and a mother’s concern for her foal’s safety in the presence of the screaming, charging, stallion.

If the mare does not show any signs of heat, but you can determine she is in standing heat via an ultrasound exam, and has a breedable follicle, artificial insemination would best be used in this case, to keep from injuring the mare, foal or stallion.  If the mare is receptive to the stallion, the foal can be put into a safe foal pen, near the mare, to keep her anxiety levels down, while she is being bred via live cover.  For shipped semen, it would be best to have a culture done, skip the foal heat and short cycle her with Prostaglandin and catch her when she comes into heat a few days later.  You will still gain a few days but lessen the chances of having to ship again and lose more valuable time and money, since the foal heat is not ideal for conception via shipped cooled semen.

Most breeders start teasing or checking their mares about day 6 after the foal is born so as not to miss that short, 3 day heat.  Once it’s gone the only recourse is to short cycle her and bring her back into heat (or wait for the next heat which usually occurs when the foal is about 30 days old).  This heat should be a normal 5-7 day heat but she still may not show any signs with regular teasing methods due to motherly instincts, and the foal at her side.  This is one of the main reasons that some breeders, in years past, only bred some mares, every other year.  Until ultrasonography, there was no way to tell when these mares were actually in heat and some mares wouldn’t allow the stallion to breed her at all when she had a foal at her side.  Some breeders would actually guess and use artificial insemination or even restrain a mare for live cover breeding at days 9 and 11, crossing their fingers that she would have semen inside her when she was ovulating a follicle. Today we have ultrasound, phantoms (dummy mares), Artificial Vaginas (AV’s) and Artificial Insemination (AI) to help us overcome some of the obstacles that caused so much stress to breeders over the years.  We can now deal with the fears of a new mother and her brand new foal, never having to have her, or her foal, in the presence of the stallion.  I believe this makes for a happier, less stressed mare, as well as mare owner, and probably greatly improves the conception rate on the foal heat.

By Tina L. Lewis

Preparing Your Mare For Breeding

By now you have probably chosen the Stallion you want to breed your mare to this Spring.  The stallion you have chosen compliments your mare perfectly in conformation, disposition, pedigree and color and you are so excited you simply cannot wait, not only to get her bred, but for that gorgeous foal next year.  Don’t wait.  Get started now to insure you not only have a gorgeous foal next year, but that you have a foal next year by preparing your mare for a successful breeding, conception and full term gestation of that foal.

There are so many things to consider with regard to your mare’s health and breeding soundness and, depending upon the weather in your area, when you might want a foal to be born.   In order to plan this well we need to first understand the mare’s estrus or “heat” cycle.

During part of the fall and most of the coldest winter months, nature gives the mare a break and she will stop cycling temporarily.  This is called anestrus. This is nature’s way of preventing the mare from having a foal at a time of year that would not be favorable for it.  Remember that the horse is a herd animal and in a herd environment, it is very hard for a foal to survive during the winter as food is scarce and the herd must move constantly to find feed, and wild animals prey upon the young, especially in the winter when they, themselves are hungry and food is scarce.  A foal is an easy target.  Spring is the time that a mare will naturally cycle.  Depending upon where you live, anestrus can be a short period, or a very long period, as longer days and warmer weather determine its end.  The beginning of the estrus cycle is known as proestrus or “transition period”.  This is usually when there will be more activity on the ovaries and indicates that the mare is coming into her estrus cycle.  The actual “heat” cycle is known as estrus and as estrus increases the mare begins to secrete hormones and will begin to show outward signs of heat, that will include, but not be limited to, squatting, turning her rear to the stallion, urinating (usually more of a milky urine than normal), tail lifting, and winking (rapid open and closing) of the vulva, and will exhibit general interest or attachment to the other horses.  This is when the mare is most receptive to the stallion and will ovulate and be capable of conception.  The estrus cycle of a mare usually last from 5-7 days.

After the mare ovulates and goes out of estrus, or heat, she goes into a period called diestrus.  This is the period between estrus cycles during the Spring and Summer months.  It will last until the next estrus cycle begins, about 14 days, for a total of about 21 days in her estrus cycle (give or take a day or two).  The cycle of estrus and diestrus will continue all season until fall when the mare will go back into anestrus again for the winter and will no longer be receptive for breeding and will not conceive.

Most stallion owners and Stallion Stations will begin to accept mares about February 1, each year, for the breeding season, and begin their teasing program, but most mares will still be in proestrus or transition until the days get longer and warmer.   If you want to breed as early as possible for a January foal you can put your mare under lights for about 90 days in her stall, beginning about November 1.  She needs 16 hours of total daylight and it needs to be consistent.  Most mare owners put the lights on a timer so they come on about  4 PM before it begins to get dark outside and stay on until about 11 PM or as many hours as necessary to reach 16 hours of daylight in your area.   The key here is to have a total of 16 hours of daylight adding artificial light at the end of the day.  Check your Time Zone for your local daylight hours and adjust your timer or schedule of turning on the lights in your barn accordingly.  Remember, you should be able to easily read a newspaper in the darkest corner of her stall for the lights to be bright enough to simulate daylight and be successful in tricking her body into believing that it is Springtime and she should begin to cycle.

If you are going to allow your mare to cycle naturally then you can plan on about the first of March or, if she is in foal, you will need to plan according to her due date.  Some mare owners like to catch the foal heat particularly if the mare is due to foal late in the season as this will move you up about 10 days to 2 weeks for foaling next year.  The foal heat, unfortunately is very short, about 3 days or so, and it is tougher to get the mare in foal on this heat for this, and other reasons.  You may want to opt for breeding her on her next heat for a better chance of getting her in foal, especially if you are shipping cooled semen or utilizing frozen semen.  This heat cycle is usually about 30 days after her foal is born.

The body condition of your mare is also key in the success of getting her in foal.  Your mare should not be too thin or too fat as both of these can cause your mares cycle to be slightly off or inactive and make conception difficult and even impossible.   Monitor her weight and be sure she is free of parasites, on a good deworming schedule and fully vaccinated and up to date on all of these before taking her to be bred.  Her teeth may also need floating to ensure she is getting the nutrition needed to keep weight on.  You will also want to have her on a diet appropriate for her age and activity so as not to cause her to drop weight when it is so badly needed to keep her body condition in check and prepared for breeding, carrying a foal for over 11 months, delivering and nursing.

Lastly, an important step on the road to getting your mare in foal is a breeding soundness exam.  It is crucial and should include a uterine culture.  Many mare owners, understandably, try to cut a few corners here and there but this is not one that should be cut.  It may cost you more time and more money in the long run. Typically, most breeding contracts require a current negative uterine culture and a breeding soundness exam and there are two important reasons why.   If the mare is infected, she will not get pregnant and it will be a waste of everyone’s time and your money to continue to breed her live cover, artificially inseminate her or ship semen to her.  These costs add up quickly.  The stallion owner has a limited amount of semen, even with a live stallion as a stallion can only produce so much semen and the energy it takes to get a mare bred.  It is a waste of time as well as stallion energy to collect and ship it to or breed to those mares who cannot conceive due to infection or breeding unsoundness.  It also makes the stallion’s conception rate seem low, when, in fact, it is the mare who is responsible because she is unable to conceive in poor condition or with bacteria in her uterus.  In addition, if the mare’s uterus is just slightly infected, she may get in foal.  However, keep in mind that when the mare conceives, her cervix closes tightly to protect the fetus.  It is like a steel door.  Anything that has not been removed is trapped.  This means that any bacteria that may have been present when she conceived, is in the uterus with your maturing foal.  The chances of her aborting are greatly increased.  The bacteria will continue to grow and, at some point, it will affect the maturing foal.  To increase your chances of a live, healthy foal, the mare’s uterus needs to be healthy. Remember, achieving pregnancy is only one aspect of the breeding process, getting to term is quite another. There are many cases where mares were only slightly infected and were bred anyway.  These mares conceive, only to abort the foal later in the pregnancy, too late to rebreed that year and all that time and money is lost forever.  Taking the time to “clean up” the mare and insure she is breeding sound is an important and extremely cost effective aspect of the breeding process, whether she is being bred via live cover, artificial insemination or cooled shipped semen from across the country.  You want to know your mare is clean and breeding sound and can conceive when she is bred, and so does the stallion owner.   Most Stallion Stations and stallion owners have their stallion’s semen tested for concentration, progressive motility, morbidity as well as freezing/shipping ability to ensure they can, and will, impregnate your mare if she is breeding sound.  These stallions are also capable of, and usually have, many foals on the ground to further prove their fertility as they can have many foals a year where a mare can only have the one with many more factors affecting her fertility each year. If your mare, for instance, had retained a placenta, even briefly, her last foal or was Artificially Inseminated unsuccessfully last year or lost a foal mid pregnancy.  She is high risk for bacteria in her uterus and should be cultured before trying to breed her again. If you do not culture your mare and she does not get in foal right away or loses the foal mid pregnancy, this might be something to consider and a breeding soundness exam with a negative uterine culture would be advised before trying again.