Gift article from The Atlantic concerning animal cloning. Apparently it’s a big deal in polo ponies and bucking horses!
From the moment the human species figured out selective breeding, this has been coming.
Pre-cloning, we are already working with gene pools of domestic animals that can reproduce very close to type.
Especially in dogs. A species that paradoxically has one of the widest ranges of phenotypes. And yet, the human hand on the wheel is capable of producing Manchester Terriers that look like clones, even if they aren’t.
Remembering, from the past, the very restrictive AQHA inspection criteria for registration. When they were even trying to screen certain markings out of the breed. For no valid reason. Oh, the tragedy of “high whites”.
Humans like predictability. And control. Knowing what the next one will be like, being able to describe it before it is produced. We do that in manufacturing, no surprise we are doing it in breeding animals.
And it’s interesting that the article states that cloning has also been used to re-introduce genetic diversity into species that are losing it, from individuals that died long ago. Including Przewalski’s horse.
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The next thing that I’m expecting is being able the re-jigger the DNA to change characteristics. To make a more perfect product. As that has been the goal since the beginning of selective breeding.
The upside to this, I hope, is that there will be fewer animals who end up in bad circumstances because they weren’t what a human expected.
Maybe traits that put an animal more at risk of being discarded and/or abused won’t be as prevalent.
Although there are concerns about a shrinking gene pool, that’s already been the case for a long time. If humans are doing that regardless, it might be a good thing to lessen the chance of weaknesses inevitably being bred in along with the traits people want. No more hip dysplasia, because it was gene-engineered out? Maybe?
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That’s what I’ve always thought too. I confess, I would have prescribed to it; I always wished I was in the economic bracket that I could have afforded to clone my screen-namesake, as she was a ‘horse of a lifetime’, but I would have needed to re-jigger the DNA (as you put it) to change her from grey to the bay she should have been (as a 1/2 Cleveland BAY). Maybe if she had remained the bay she was born she WOULD have just had her 30th b-day at the end of April instead of being lost to melanomas at 15 
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I am very, very interested to see if the Cruising clones become top broodmare sires like Cruising himself was. He sired multiple mares that have only thrown 1.5m and 1.6m foals- every single foal they was at that level. Those dam lines are invaluable to a national breeding program, if the clones prove to be as good as he was at siring mares then I think it will change the way people think about breeding programs.
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There are dog breeds that still don’t want excessive white. That makes even less sense. What does it matter if a dog has more white than average on its chest??
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Right, for a “fault” with zero effect on performance or being a dog (horse, etc.). I will never get this.
Of course, the difference it makes is the kind of life the dog will have. Hopefully just shuffled out as a well-cared-for pet – that might be better than a show pet? But maybe something far less copacetic.
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The clone is never quite the same though. You can’t replicate the exact factors that lead to the horse you have. Pasture buddies, early years training, etc. I do think cloning is an excellent choice for those that were gelded and maybe shouldn’t have been. I think it’s interesting that even after clones have been a thing for a while riders still aren’t cloning their favorite horses to continue to compete them. I only know of one, and from what I can tell the cloned offspring did not do as well as the original.
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I understand that the clone is not the same animal, there are so many other factors that make up a being. But if I had throwaway money I would clone my gelding in a heartbeat.
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If the female whose egg is fertilized is the same family as the original animal, then genetically they are identical, down to the mtDNA which only females possess. But after that it’s the whole nature vs nurture deal. This is the good side to this if you’re cloning a horse who was either gelded and later determined to have been high quality breeding material, or a quality stallion who had to be gelded early due to an injury, or died young.
Even if the person who raised and trained the original, does the same with the clone, on the same farm with the same management, it’s still not the same. That person has learned more, and what the horse experiences will be different, from turnout buddies to everything
I’m not on board, at all, with a whole string of polo ponies who are the same clone, or anything similar. I AM on board with cloning to try to improve numbers of endangered breeds. I’m not sure how I feel about cloning a horse from 50 years ago, especially if they were a stallion who already produced lots of offspring, or a mare who produced her fair share
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I’ve probably shared this before but two decades ago (where does the time go?), I was living in Aiken. A friend was trying to set me up with this polo guy, who invited me to come to his farm. It was just after turn-in and the horses were waiting for their grain. One of the horses heard us come into the barn and stuck her head out. She was older, a solid bay with a thin face, a little white around her temples. I’m petting her when I see Horse #2 stick their head out, Horse #3, Horse #4… they’re all solid bays with the same face more or less. I said he sure has a type and he laughed, then realized I didn’t know. They were all clones of the mare I was petting. 
I’m happy with SO but in my next life I’m marrying for money. 
I’d love a clone of my gelding too, @Curly_Feather
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If it weren’t for the ethical complications, we would clone our older vizsla, Lucy. She is phenomenal in every way, but is spayed.
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I say that too, but yannow, if I could clone my (late) DH… 
& Maybe my TB/1st horse. Sonofagun did everything I asked for 20yrs, seasoned with TB 'tude 
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I’ve actually looked into cloning one of my geldings, mostly for breeding purposes. I was quoted 50-60k with a live foal guarantee (and the possibility of 2, because they like to clone two in case one fails or something) It’s expensive but not crazy when thinking about how much people pay for horses nowadays.
That was a few years ago though so I would wonder if it’s more or less now.
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Minor correction - mtDNA is passed on to offspring from the mother but both sexes possess mtDNA. I’ve seen a study showing that fathers sometimes contribute mtDNA to their offspring, but it was years ago and I don’t know if it’s been backed up by any data since then.
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Yes, you’re right, sorry! My brain was thinking “only females can pass on” but you’re right, its contributed to both sexes.
I remember the horse cloning controversy.
This photo shows that while clones may be genetically identical, the genes can be expressed differently.
Clones of the cutting horse Smart Little Lena:
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And if I recall correctly they never really amounted to anything. One was even gelded.
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There were 3 (correction, 2) Gem Twist clones.
Of course, clones are not the same animal as the original. As obvious as that is, it does seem that at least some people have a hard time grasping that a clone is a completely separate being with its own life history and its own set of experiences. The memories of the original animal aren’t genetically programmed for the clone.
The great photo of the 5 chestnuts posted above are of 5 individual horses with their own separate and unique life histories. Not 5 copies of the original horse and its life history. I think some people can get a bit stuck on that.
It comes down to the owner’s intent and/or purpose of cloning. Why do they want a genetic copy of the original when the performance and behavior won’t be identical?
They aren’t copying the human’s experience of the original horse. They are starting over from scratch with a new horse, as they would with any young horse, no matter how bred. The new horse will be shaped by its own experiences, just as was the original.
It would seem that at this point in time, clones are primarily the interest of breeders who are looking for a predictable, consistent product. The same mission as they had with selective breeding, before cloning.
Maybe those who have cloned their pets have been finding out that the clone may or may not react similarly to the original, but regardless, it is not the original.
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