Blood typing

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The cost is not that much of any issue--for Pasos we buy the kit from the Registry for $45-$50, and pay a vet about $20 to draw the blood. Many other registries charge much more than the three Rocky registries to register the horses. So, the additional cost of blood typing plus the registration fees of these horses still gives us a bargain.

Therefore, anyone raising this as a GOOD reason not to blood type might be judged as having an ulterior motive. With the genetic problems that we KNOW are in the breed,there cannot be a GOOD reason NOT to blood type.

-- Becky Gage (bgage@neosoft.com), January 01, 1998

Answers

Our cost is in the same range. And cost is not even the issue, I don't think, in many cases, that is, since bloodtyping for identification was implemented a couple of years ago (I am not sure when, someone who does jump in please) all the horses have been so bloodtyped for identification, not parentage mind you, that was forbidden, but they nonetheless already have their samples on file with the lab. So, I don't think as to those horses that new samples would have to be drawn, rather, that the parentage verification could be done from the samples already on file with the lab. It would not surprise me if Dr. Gus Cochran who supervises the lab that does the bloodtyping for all three associations (and some others I think) may not have already anticipated that this day might come and be prepared to start parentage verification immediately if requested to do so. I don't know, though, someone would have to ask him. There would be older horses that were "grandfathered" in before bloodtyping was even required for identification, but most of the older stallions, for instance, have been bred to outside mares and produced either "foundation" geldings or CBG mares, whose parentage MUST be verified as a condition to obtaining "foundation" gelding or CBG mare status. That means that both the sire and the dam of a "foundation" gelding or a CBG mare must be bloodtyped to verify the parentage of the prospective "foundation" gelding or CBG mare. So,I suspect that most of the horses have samples on file already.

I always found it interesting that some stallions, especially older ones, were advertised as standing only to RMHA mares. On one level that could be interpreted as a statement of support for RMHA. On another level, a horse never bred to a non RMHA mare would never sire a prospective "foundation" gelding or CBG mare, and so would never have to be bloodtyped. Maybe I have too suspicious a mind, but then just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that someone is not out to get you.

-- Annette L. Gerhardt (gerhardt@sinosa.com), January 01, 1998.


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