Horse cloning is a technique that has evolved and innovated over the years. At Ovoclone, we are committed to equine assisted reproduction and, on this occasion, we want to share with you some success stories that highlight the work of professionals in the sector to reproduce almost identical copies of stallions.
CUARTETERA
“It’s like Messi and Maradona together”, said Adolfo Cambiaso, regarded by many as the greatest Argentine polo player in history. These words referred to ‘Cuartetera’, who, alongside her rider, enjoyed the greatest sporting successes in this discipline. Although the mare passed away in 2023, she had previously been cloned, producing ‘cracks’ from this process, most of whom are dedicated to polo.
OTTERONGO ALPHA Z
Another excellent example is that of ‘Otterongo Alpha Z’, a KWPN clone of ‘Otterongo Van de Kopshoeve’, who achieved 4th place at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, among other successes. In 2023, ‘Otterongo Alpha Z’ won the CSI5*-W 1.55m Grand Prix in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). In this case, cloning was carried out through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a technique that consists of introducing the nucleus of a somatic cell into an enucleated oocyte to generate an embryo, which is then transferred to a recipient mare.
CONTARA
Nor can we overlook the case of ‘Contara’, a daughter of ‘Contender’ and dam of the famous ‘Chacco Blue’. This mare had only three foals, including the acclaimed stallion. Faced with the impossibility of further pregnancies due to her advanced age, cloning was chosen in order to obtain offspring from her clones and preserve her excellent genetics. To this day, it is known that the first three foals have already been born.
QUARELA DE TOSCANE
‘Quarela de Toscane’, daughter of ‘Coriano’ and ‘Karla de Toscane’, was born in 2004 and her first clone arrived in 2023, more precisely on 11 April of that year. This has been the first clone registered in the Studbook of the Spanish Sport Horse (CDE).
KURT
Also in 2023, Kurt, a Przewalski’s horse foal, was born, bringing new biological hope, since his birth was made possible using biological cultures from the aforementioned Przewalski, which had until then been extinct. Cloning, although it often generates controversy in society, is a more than viable escape route to help those animal species that are on the verge of extinction.