On Wed, 7 May 2008 09:52:06 -0400, you wrote: >He's the second horse we own that I have discovered SERIOUS doubts about his >actual >parentage..
It's certainly been a problem in the past - there were several horses around on the continent that were chestnut, yet supposed to be children of a stallion that was homozygous for black (so he cannot possibly have chestnut offspring). In the UK we take DNA samples of all Icelandics and if there's any doubt about parentage the horse and its supposed parents can be tested. Of course it doesn't usually matter with a gelding, but it's useful to have it as a back-up (especially if that gelding has fathered any offspring as a youngster, as has happened here). Recently a friend of mine lost her imported mare very suddenly. The mare had had a foal, a lovely colt, who is a potential stallion, and there was some doubt that he would be able to be registered as his mother's DNA was not on record, but luckily they managed to find some hairs with follicles on the mare's old rug! Do you do anything similar in the US? I imagine the USIHC must be doing something along those lines as it's one of the FEIF rules. Mic Mic (Michelle) Rushen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solva Icelandic Horses and DeMeulenkamp Sweet Itch Rugs: www.solva-icelandics.co.uk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
