https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-clones-of-polo/
22 minute segment on cloning polo ponies in Argentina.
That was an interesting story.
And Polo Champs 1 and 2 were quite kind to my eyes
8 Likes
Lotâs to think about with this story. There is a difference between an advantage and an unfair advantage, and these clones are definitely an advantage, but I donât see them as an unfair advantage any more than having a better horse is always an advantage.
Thereâs a lot of talk in racing about this - have we bred the best horse we can or is there still room for improvement? This conversation was also brought up in dressage when Totilas debuted. In this guyâs mind (sorry, forget his name), he found the best polo pony out there, so breeding wouldnât improve upon it; therefore, clone. His motivation was admiration/love?/respect for his favorite horse, which is a good place to come from. And before you flame me saying his motivation was only winning, yes, itâs obvious he wants to win, but it seemed to me that he recognizes that itâs the horses that allow him to win.
7 Likes
That was an interesting segment on 60 min. Wonder what his costs are for his clones, since he is partners in the
separate cloning business. May not be too much more than embryo transplant which can run 5-$8,000.
A few years ago it was about 100,000.-$ per clone.
The story said those top horses with a winning record can bring around 250,000.-$.
And it was very interesting to see that they are different, in his string of clones. They all have the same name âoriginal mareâ # 6, etc. They are not identical in their stripes, snips and socks. And he had to think which one to ride in the sudden death tie breaker.
Wasnât Gem Twist cloned way back? Iâve forgotten anything about the clone and how he performed.
1 Like
I remember that price, Bluey, but since he is a partner w/ 2 others in the Cloning business, I figured it was much cheaper, net.
I read where he did sell one clone for $800,000.
Scamper, a gelding, won several barrel racing championships.
He was one of the first horses cloned.
His clone was kept as a stallion, the intent when cloning.
One of our local vets was the first ones to clone horses.
He did all the research on which cell cultures worked best.
He pioneered using skin cells as best for cloning.
The best part of all the cloning research is how much other kinds of knowledge of biological processes has advanced thru that research, not even connected to cloning.
That is priceless.
3 Likes
I thought it was interesting that he still breeds some horses, and he sells those, but he wonât sell any of the clones. I did think it was sad that he didnât name them, just gave them numbers.
1 Like
Actually, he did sell one clone for $800,000 according to MSM. what is the source of this guyâs money? Inheritance?
Just read that he has now expanded his cloning business into factory like efficiency by selling embryos of the clones
for as much as $70,000 per embryo. Seems thereâs a pretty high failure rate of embryos successfully growing into
live foals. So risky business.
It feels like lazy horsemanship to me. Too lazy to search to find other prospects? How can cloning be promoted when thousands of perfectly good TBs end up in slaughter. 
2 Likes
My conclusion, as well.
It seems to me that being able to clone only takes one element of uncertainty out of the equation - you no longer have to âbreed the best to the best and hope for the best.â You no longer have to âhopeâ for the best genetic mix because youâre guaranteeing that you get it. However, that still doesnât account for the 40 bazillion other factors that affect the final outcome.
Iâd bet that a man of apparently unlimited funds, like the guy in the 60 Minutes segment, could still end up with a championship polo team just because he has a good eye for horses with potential and a top notch training program. True, he would likely have to go through more horses to end up with that team, but, again, if youâve got plenty of money and time, thatâs not an insurmountable obstacle.
And because I rarely miss an opportunity to insert mules into the conversation, this article is about cloned racing mules:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5504350
2 Likes
When I listened to this last evening, my first thought was about the loss of bloodlines that have been developed over years of breeding. Even now within both the warmblood and thoroughbred industries there are lines that have been lost or minimized because of loss of favor or poor breeding or bad luck. If cloning becomes standard, think of all the variety that will be lost.
4 Likes
âIf cloning becomes standard, think of all the variety that will be lost.â
BUT the TBs donât even allow AI, no way will they allow clones. I do wonder about Totilas, and horses like Bibliotheque Sam. Sam is probably the most talented horse to ever set foot on a cross country course. BUT would he be as talented with another rider? In fact look at Totilas. He was fabulous, but apparently, couldnât be ridden as well by his German rider. Breeding will still be quite important, but wealthy people will do what they will. Barbra Streisand has several cloned dogs, and the Texas man who is funding this, said he had been approached by people wanting to clone humans. He said absolutely no but is sure there are people doing it now. If not now, then very very soon.
That is a perfectly good argument, Jealoushe. I donât think laziness is the actual word, expedience is, I think. He has a known athlete, perfectly suited for the task. Taking the unknowns out of âwill this baby be good enough?â is what heâs doing.
Overpopulation due to the genetic crapshoot of breeding, however well thought out, is occurring. These questions are good talking points for breeders and consumers. And then you get that one horse, who shouldnât have been as great as he or she was, thatâs when the âcrapshootâ pays off.
I can see good points in both sides of the clone or not argument. Personally, if I had the funds, I would clone my George in an instant. Not a papered horse, not a show winner, nothing you all might be interested in. But I will want him back always.
2 Likes
I thought the thing about the white markings being different on the clones was curious.
2 Likes
You know that in high goal polo, most of the ponies arenât OTTBs, right? Theyâre purpose-bred to play polo. (Not saying that an OTTB canât be a good polo pony, but at that level, with that kind of money, the riders are looking to stack the decks in their favor, whether thatâs by breeding or cloning.)
5 Likes
I knowâŠit was just an example of the horses âout thereâ that could be used.
