Animal Cloning 

 

     Barrel racer and rodeo rider, Charmayne James Rodman, rode her legendary quarter horse, Scamper, to ten world titles and numerous national finals during the gelding’s impressive nine year career. Howerver, due to being castrated at an early age, Scamper was unable to breed after retiring in 1993.  Wanting to pass on Scamper’s pedigree, James and her husband decided to pay $150,000 to clone their champion horse- an investment that seems to have paid off.  Today, Scamper’s clone Clayton, passes on Scamper’s valuable genes to his offspring, although he is not the first horse to do so. 

 

      Olympic show-jumper, Gem Twist, and cutting horse, Royal Blue Boon, have also been cloned.  Cloning seems to have become an important topic in the equine industry, although it is very controversial and has been banned by many breed and competition associations. When asked about registering clones Ellen Harvy, a spokeswoman for the United States Trotting Association, stated, “If you breed the same horse over and over again, I don’t know that you are making a long term improvement in the breed” [6.1].

 

      Horses certainly are not the first animals to be cloned for performance. Panhandle Slim, the legendary PBR bull, still lives on in the arena, thanks to his clones.  The PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association) and PBR (Professional Bull Riders) currently do not ban clones to compete in rodeos like the prestigious Calgary Stampede or Pendleton Round-Up.  This means that Panhandle Slim's clones are allowed to compete at nearly every rodeo across the country.  Overtime, PRCA officials think that cloning will become more and more prevalent in the rodeo industry-with both bulls and horses [6.3]. 

 

    Cloning would also allow horses who died at an early age, such as “2006 Kentucky Derby champion Barbaro” to be cloned [6.2].  Barbaro had to be euthanized after severely fracturing his leg in a race at Preakness.  Due to the fact that Barbaro was only four at the time of his death, he had not yet produced any foals. Many researchers now think that the stallion should have been cloned.  That way, the magnificent horse could have passed on his valuable genes and possibly sired future winners. Unfortunately, no one preserved Barbaro’s skin cells and his genes are lost forever.