DNA testing-Parentage Qualifications.

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Whitestar

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DNA testing, parentage qualifications seemed to be the answer to keeping people honest. I was just wondering if everyone realized that unless you actually pull the hair, send off the sample & have it compared to the markers that have been previously tested, you are still taking someones word that it is the papers on the horse in front of you? In other words, all the dishonest people that are banded about & mentioned in some of the gossip, what keeps them from taking a black horse that looks like the black horse on the papers that you have been given that are DNA tested & even parentage qualified? It is still a matter of trust...& honesty of the person that performed the test in the first place. If you are spending a lot of money or even have an inkling to worry about trusting the person that you are buying from, perhaps you should make sure they guarantee that the test results if ever duplicated match the orginals?

The reason I bring this up is years ago I heard about a breeder that was pulling samples on other horses & submitting them to get them registered. If a foal died out of a mare, he bought a grade foal & submitted that foal picture in its place. If a adult died, he replaced it with another horse matching its description. He was pulling dna on horses that were not the "real" horse & submitting its samples when it was required. This was before parentage qualifications, which took care of most of that problem. But then no one ever checked the dna after the horse was registered to make sure it was still the horse on the papers. Once AMHA started the DNA testing, he moved over the AMHR only registry to get around that. He isnt in business anymore, but a lot of us always wondered if many of the horses out there are really the horses they are represented as? No one thinks to double check the test results thinking they are safe. What happens if it turned out years down the line, that this stallion does not match the paperwork? Are all his foals no longer registered? Does anyone wonder where the heck the appaloosa or pinto coloring came from when there are nothing but solid colors in the background for generations? I know many of us called the registry back then asking about this, & was told that they couldnt require someone to prove a horse is the horse on the papers, they didnt want to get involved in civil stuff. If we wanted proof we needed to do independent testing. "We" just didnt buy from this person, but there were plenty of others out there that did.

Has anyone else heard of this going on? Anyone else ever scratched their head when looking things that just dont seem right?
 
The crooks are always going to be a step ahead of honest decent people that's just a fact in every part of life. I won't let them rule my life. Personally if I had an issue or thought there was an issue on a horse I would either not purchase from that person or I would DNA/PQ with new hair just to be sure.

I have a mare here that I had DNA/PQ tested as I had a question about her dam, not her. The breeder (whether intentional or not) had pulled the wrong hair on the wrong horse or registered the wrong dam/foal (or her ranch help most likely), so my overpriced mare proved to be from a different line than I had intended to buy from, but at least I know as well as can be proven her lineage.

There is a horse trader (can't call this person a breeder) that lives a state away from me notorious for riding the line of legal. I wouldn't touch a horse that she bred/owned as the potential for a 'who's your Daddy' is extremely high. Amazingly a couple of 'dead' horses were foaling there a few years ago! As for the registries banning or pursuing these people legally, all they do is find a front person to submit paperwork under having 'sold' the horse. It's nasty but again the crooks are going to be there, you just have to be informed on the really bad ones.

I believe in DNA/PQ testing and you're right its only as godd as the integrity of the person pulling the hair and submitting it, so I'll continue to DNA/PQ my horses, as I want to breed/sell a horse that is what I think it is!

DNA/PQ is the best alternative we have at this point!
 

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