[Forte]

http://www.eurodressage.com/equestri...lones-born-usa
Anyone know why they would have cloned Jazz? As far as I know he is still alive and well and the semen works well, so why clone him?
For breeders wishing to purchase Jazz semen, how will we know if the semen if from one of the clones or Jazz himself?

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Probably for the reasons they said...breeding. He's in his 20's and it sounds like he is having injury issues (old injury flare up--prevented his farewell ride at 2011 KWPN licensing)...I imagine they are thinking he will be finished at some point.

Buy your semen now I guess!

[Kerole]

Ostensibly it should make no difference if you get Jazz semen or some from his clone/s. The genetic material is exactly the same. Perhaps the young stallion's semen has better motility/longevity...

[skydy]

http://www.eurodressage.com/equestri...lones-born-usa
Anyone know why they would have cloned Jazz? As far as I know he is still alive and well and the semen works well, so why clone him?
For breeders wishing to purchase Jazz semen, how will we know if the semen if from one of the clones or Jazz himself?

You can't. Scary isn't it?

[skydy]

Ostensibly it should make no difference if you get Jazz semen or some from his clone/s. The genetic material is exactly the same. Perhaps the young stallion's semen has better motility/longevity...

"Ostensibly" as you say.. In reality, we don't yet know what differences there may be ,if any, and we won't know, until the breeding of clones continues over time.

I think Forte's question about how you would tell which horse the semen was from, is fraught with implications.
You WOULD be able to distinguish the stallion's semen from that of the clone (due to the mitochondrial DNA present in the semen of the stallion, that the clone would be lacking).
Of course you would first : A. Have to care.
B. Have to test the SEMEN.

Who on earth tests the semen? (Perhaps some people do , I don't know of anyone..) People test the offspring!

As for the offspring , DNA testing would NOT differentiate between the offspring of the original stallion and the offspring of his clone(s).
Rather a nightmare for studbooks, most of which do not allow clones to be registered or bred, and who (despite the FEI's jump onto the bandwagon) are the ones that will have to deal with the mess that this could make of their studbooks, the potential for fraud being quite apparent.
Not everyone with a foal from a clone will be content with having it unregistered..

[JB]

How many foals does Jazz have? I'm so very much against cloning a stallion who has an significant number of foals on the ground, whether he himself is still alive or not

[Forte]

JB and Skydy get my point. Although I have no moral or ethical issues with cloning, there simply isn't enough information to determine whether there are any significant longterm health impacts for the offspring of cloned stallions, therefore I wouldn't chance it to breed to one. Also, it makes sense to me to clone a horse like Gem Twist who is a gelding, but why a horse like Jazz that has TONS of offspring on the ground and many stallion sons to carry on his legacy.

[sniplover]

Having two clones from the same year makes a perfect setup, in my scientific mind, to set up the "rigor of competition" vs "safety for preservation" fight that goes on when the single clone of a gelding is born. Train one, bubblewrap the other and see what happen with the trained one. Ideal world and all of that...