Horse Cloning Is a Thing: Would You Do It To Keep Your Heart Horse?

“Before he said his final good-bye, however, he had a curious request: he asked a veterinarian to make a small puncture in the stallion’s neck, put the resulting skin sample into a deep freeze, and store it in a Buenos Aires laboratory. He remembers, ‘I just thought maybe, someday, I could do something with the cells.’”

 

 

The above quote begins the curious article by Haley Cohen in a recent issue ofVanity Fair magazine. The stallion referenced was Aiken Cura, a prized mount of elite polo player Adolfo Cambioso. The favorite polo pony incurred a fatal accident in 2006 during a polo match. That event was the starting point for the article chronicling polo’s embrace of cloning technology. (I never learned that during my 15 minutes of “playing” polo!)

As I read the feature I mused whether I would do this for my horse or dogs!!!

For a mere $80,000 to start or three for $200,000, you too can be the lucky owner of a world-class, albeit cloned, polo pony foal, thanks to a Texan and a tycoon (from Argentina) who have formed a business which has already cloned 200 horses. The highest price tag for one of the horses was $800,00.

If you’re like me and wondering if the clones have the same personality as the “original,” the article stated:

“When the adult horse is cloned, they believe, these ‘cellular memories’ are copied right along with the DNA. Mariano Aguerre, ranked among the top polo players in the world, has observed something along these lines with the clone of his champion gelding Califa. The original Califa has an intense fear of garden hoses; its clone is equally terrified of them.”

That didn’t clear up my question on personality, but it was interesting. And maybe a little creepy.

I don’t have a science background, so I had to read and re-read parts of the article to ensure I was “getting” it. At times I felt like I was reading a script for The X-Files (minus Fox Mulder’s snarky humor).

Things I Learned From the Cloning Article That Blew My Mind

• The cloning success rate is 12%.
• 70 countries have outlawed human cloning, yet the U.S. is not one of them!
• The famous Thoroughbred race horse Storm Cat has clones!
• Cloned foals are believed to have a shadow memory and become aware of their gender much earlier than non-cloned horses.
• The man who founded the cloning company had a connection to Imelda Marcos. Yes, the lady with all the shoes.

There’s so much more, but you really should read the article for yourself. I can’t articulate exactly why, but even if I had the megabucks required to clone, I don’t think I would. Why? It just doesn’t seem right.

Maybe one of you could convince me why it would be a good thing to clone a heart horse (or dog, cat, ferret, etc.). Or maybe you can give me the words to articulate the why of what I feel my heart already knows: cloning is best left to sci-fi entertainment.

Your Turn to Share: So, dear readers, let’s hear your views of horse cloning. Advantages, disadvantages. Would you do it?

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