I am not a fan of cloning under any circumstances but certainly not when you have frozen semen.
[QUOTE=betonbill;5943019]
Might he be a candidate for cloning? They certainly have 1000+ lbs of DNA to choose from at the moment.
I think it would be terribly interesting if they did that.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn’t use the clone personnally.
I would just hope I win the lottery and can buy one of remaining doses of semen… If they are still for sale.:eek:
[QUOTE=YankeeLawyer;5942983]
I tend to agree but find it laughable that posters here will freak out about a chip in a joint that causes no issues and refuse to breed that but will readily look past a stallion dropping dead in the arena at the height of his career. Just saying.[/QUOTE]
I know that was directed at me. Never said I freaked out about OCD, said in my experience only something I’d rather not deal with having seen how it travelled in families. As far as dropping dead well one horse out of 1000’s I got on, pretty slim. Can’t say I delt with OCD in those low numbers.
I’m pretty sure I mentioned it was my opinion only and had zero science to back up my claims in the multiple threads on OCD. But look this thread isn’t about that and I have an awful lot of respect for you and your breeding program to even continue on this subject.
Terri
[QUOTE=TrinitySporthorses;5941318]
I certainly hope it was nothing genetic. I am sure we will know in a few days. In the meantime, how sad that he only left a tiny number of offspring to carry on his great legacy. It is a loss felt round the world.[/QUOTE]
Of course the cause of death is not yet known, but if he bled out, I don’t think anyone knows if there is a genetic component.
Hickstead did have a magnificent career but his life ended too soon. I am so sad for Eric and for his team, for showjumping, and for Hickstead himself.
Just a question but would his clone be predisposed to the same fate as he at some point ? If it is indeed a 100% genetic and physical copy and hypothetically it was a heart attack or aortic rupture/ aneurysm. Or is it safe to say that if they had different environments the outcomes would also be different?
Hickstead was 15 when he died. Why are people talking about whether his death was genetic? Sorry to be blunt but that’s just silly!
I was sorta thinking the same thing. I mean it might turn out to be something genetic, but from my understanding these things happen. A gal at my barn had her 18 year old horse collapse in the same way on a trail ride one day. There was another very famous racehorse that collapsed after a workout and they never really figured that out.
This stallion flew all over the world competing and winning at the very top of the sport, living until the age of 15 years old under more stress than almost any other horse. That’s one hell of a tough horse. I’d take 15 years of that any day over 20 years of average…
If he did rupture a blood vessel (bless him) the likeliest cause is worm damage when he was very young.
Whatever it was that took such a great horse far too early it is not going to be genetic! He’s had 15 years of environment acting on his body, a body that carried him over thousands of enormous jumps in a career that took him all over the world. He was one of the most outstanding equine athletes there has ever been. My head hurts just at the thought of people wondering if this is a genetic issue.
[QUOTE=EquusMagnificus;5943030]
I would just hope I win the lottery and can buy one of remaining doses of semen… If they are still for sale.:eek:[/QUOTE]
As far as we know right now there will still be semen for sale.
We have had a lot of requests for semen contracts since yesterday, and are sending them out, but the next week or so will decide exactly what transpires- the team needs to digest and absorb their loss, understandably.
So I have just been telling people to get their names on the “list” if they really want, and then at least they are “in line” once decisions are made.
[QUOTE=stolensilver;5943657]
Hickstead was 15 when he died. Why are people talking about whether his death was genetic? Sorry to be blunt but that’s just silly![/QUOTE]
Actually it’s not silly at all. Lots of genetic conditions show up later in life. Now if people know of many similar horses with both parents that lived to a ripe old age that could argue against it.
I hope to hell it’s not, for many reasons. I had a mare that bled out right after foaling, for one, and I would love to see Hickstead’s legacy carried forward successfully in his progency. He was a one in a million horse.
[QUOTE=stolensilver;5943701]
Whatever it was that took such a great horse far too early it is not going to be genetic! He’s had 15 years of environment acting on his body, a body that carried him over thousands of enormous jumps in a career that took him all over the world. He was one of the most outstanding equine athletes there has ever been. My head hurts just at the thought of people wondering if this is a genetic issue.[/QUOTE]
well said
Well I for one am really interested in what exactly killed him. Like I said, a gal at our barn had her horse go in the same way (a long distance trail horse, and he died at the end of a trail ride), and the TB racehorse that died similarly was Swale (soon after his morning workout). I’ve never heard of a genetic condition that would cause something like this. If it was a “condition” that he had, I don’t know that I would be that worried about him passing it on.
Ekstein Also died of Heart Attack
Hickstead’s dam-sire, Ekstein also died of a heart attack. It happened on the day Hickstead won the Olympics Gold in Hong Kong.
WAS it the day he won the Olympics? It was announced that day, but may not have occurred that day. The circumstances were also completely different. If memory serves, according to his owner at the time, Ekstein was an aged stallion walking to his paddock for turnout.
I am sure that Ekstein’s owner at the time of his death will address these points in extenso for our edification.
As we have already established, horses do not have “heart attacks.” I’ll tell you one thing, if sudden death in mid to late teens were somehow established to be a legitimate risk I know I would still sign up for that wild ride.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;5945876]
As we have already established, horses do not have “heart attacks.” I’ll tell you one thing, if sudden death in mid to late teens were somehow established to be a legitimate risk I know I would still sign up for that wild ride.[/QUOTE]
The other thread has posted research done indicating that certain high performance equines develop “arrythmias” during intense work out recovery and then a few actually die from a type of “ventricular tachycardia”, which falls under one of my favorite NON-medical terms : “heart attack” 
Here’s a cyber toast to Eric’s Hickstead offspring ! Looking ahead
The generic “cardiac event” would probably be a better description. Assuming it was heart related of course.
All I know is that if i had $5500 laying around right now I would buy some semen. Then start looking for the right mare…
I believe wholeheartedly that hickstead will prove himself in his get.
News conference concerning Hicksteads passing at 11.15 EST
http://www.worldofshowjumping.com/news/25-news/1157-news-conference-concerning-hicksteads-passing
[QUOTE=stolensilver;5943701]
Whatever it was that took such a great horse far too early it is not going to be genetic! He’s had 15 years of environment acting on his body, a body that carried him over thousands of enormous jumps in a career that took him all over the world. .[/QUOTE]
I have no reason to think that this is necessarily genetic but I am quite sure that generally speaking it is entirely possible for a genetic problem to show up later in life.
