Following the recent announcement that Mary McCann has successfully cloned the Irish Sport Horse Cruising, it has emerged that she is not the only Irish breeder opting to give this technique a try. McCann’s near neighbour, Edward Doyle, has told the Irish Farmers Journal that he has attempted to clone his Irish Sport Horse stallion, Samgemjee, with the same company, ViaGen. Unfortunately, the foal died just two days after it was born. Undeterred, Doyle plans to try again soon.

By Ramiro B and out of Flex, Samgemjee, is a 13-year-old half-brother to Flexible and Flexing, and has jumped internationally with Doyle on Nations Cup teams in Lummen and Copenhagen, and has competed up to five-star level.

“I attempted to clone Samgemjee three years ago after meeting Kathleen McNulty (owner of Replica farms, authorised representative of ViaGen Inc).

“I sold Kathleen Dilligaf (ISH stallion by Vechta x Cruising), which I also bred. I still own Samgemjee and he is still jumping, so I hadn’t the same reasons [for cloning] as Mary McCann.

“My reasoning was to keep up with science and new techniques. There is a shortage of top horses and why not go this route? Places such as Zangersheide are doing it and they are forerunners in breeding techniques.”

There are clones performing in show jumping, such as Levisto Alpha Z but it is fair to say the jury is still out as to whether the clones will match the performance of the stallions from which they were cloned.

For Doyle he is willing to take that chance.

“No one knows how the clones will perform, but when breeding horses you take a gamble. You are never guaranteed a superstar. We will have to wait and see how the clones of Sapphire, for example, get on. I think this will be exciting to watch.”

Only time will tell if the clones follow in the footsteps of their star stallions. According to expert Katrin Hinrichs, (DVM, PhD, Prof and Patsy Link chair in mare reproductive studies, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University): “The size and conformation of the clone will be varied. The environment of the embryo, health of the placenta and amount of milk the mare produces all affect the size and build of the clone. For this reason, cloning is not a good way to produce a performance horse.

“The best way to think about a clone is as if it were an identical twin. Twins have minor differences. Their teeth might be different and their baby teeth will fall out at different times. And nutrition and environment are going to affect the way their genes are expressed. In addition, currently, many cloned foals are not as healthy at birth as are normally conceived foals; they can have maladjustment, contracted tendons and umbilical problems that require intensive care. This can really set the foal back as a future competitor and be a factor that leads to the clone, as an adult, not living up to its genetics.”

Edward Doyle views the cloning of Cruising as a positive move.

“Cruising was the only five-star Irish Sport Horse in Ireland and now we have two clones with his same DNA. Breeders won’t have to leave the country to get access to this type of stallion. In the long run it should work out to be more cost-effective for breeders.”