DNA testing update

[Bette Lamore <woa@stormnet.com>]

Well I haven't been able to reach Boyd yet (have a call into him) but I
just got off the phone with my friend Jim Garrison at the Registry---the
last time I saw him in person was at Los Alamitos at the height of the
controversy and figured he would be a good place to start for an update.
He said that back when this proposal was made at the ARAC meeting, the
assumption then was that there were markers that would only be found in
TBs and certain others that would be only found in purebred Arabians. He
believed Texas A&M "diddled" (not sure how far diddle goes--his quote) a
little while, but they lacked funding to go at it full boar; remember,
there was opposition towards even pursuing it by many of the rank and
file of ARAC.
Boyd Haley was a doctor for humans but knew people in the genetics dept.
at UN. of Kentucky. He reportedly asked his friends there to check into
it. They reportedly told him that they could probably point out markers
that were TYPICAL of TBs and others TYPICAL of Arabs but that full
siblings might not have the same markers. The Registry said that TYPICAL
was not good enough for them so the matter was dropped as far as they
were concerned----for BREED MARKERS, that is (I'll say more on that
later--a little foreshadowing here).
When asked what became of the issue this all started over, i.e., the
French horses, Jim said there are some French racing here but most are
in the Middle East and Europe. He is unaware of that being a big issue
here now but I know through my race contacts that it is with some
breeders and one in particular will no longer register her horses for
the rack track (tattooing, etc.) nor is she racing anymore. Says she
will return when only purebreds are allowed to race. She is not alone in
this sentiment.
Now the surprise to me was that I thought we refused to recognize the
French horses and that is why we were kicked out of WAHO. Actually, Jim
informed me the Registry refused to recognize horses from certain farms
in South America And Egypt (sorry, Heather and Maryanne). I had heard
that breeders who were involved in international sales who needed WAHO
acceptance were filtering their horses through the Canadian Registry;
Jim said that ended a year or a year and a half ago when Canada sided
with the Registry and voluntarily withdrew from WAHO.
WAHO then set up their own registry in Denver called the Purebred
Arabian Horse Registry, which Jim believes costs more than the original
(his) Registry (great, just what I need---more registry costs!) and they
are of course accepted by WAHO. I have a horse I'm selling to Italy (are
you reading this Lara and Sergio?) so I guess I will have to research
this further to see if this is a requirement for Italy---anyone on-
line know??? If you are interested in following this thread further, you
can email me privately, as I doubt too many on line are shipping
overseas.
Remember the foreshadowing? Well Jim said the Registry--his--is
implementing DNA testing for parentage, possibly next year or by at
least the following year. He was unsure of the cost, but believed it
could be less than current blood typing and yes, they will be using hair
at the base of the mane above the withers. Currently they are only using
DNA for certain cases where simple blood typing will not give enough
info (as in one case of mine) and there is no cost to owner; however,
this is not available upon request--only in rare cases to be determined
by the Registry. He believed anyone wishing DNA testing not sanctioned
by the Registry could go to UC Davis (CA); he said there were other
places as well.
I'll let you know if Boyd has any information to add about the DNA
marker research, which it appears has been abandoned. Too bad; it would
have been nice to differentiate between"ringers" and purebreds.
This above info came from Jim Garrison of the Registry; if you have a
problem with any of it, my suggestion is you go to the source. He can
put on his own fire garb if he needs to; I would hope not.
-- 
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians, Home of TLA Halynov
http://www.stormnet.com/~woa
I've learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer it
gets to the end, the faster it goes. Smell the roses!