Cloning of competition or high-line horses has been practiced in several countries since the early 2000s, particularly for genetic improvement. A small revolution was presented in Beijing on Thursday. It is a cloned horse, the first of its kind to be born and registered in China, and aims to bring new perspectives to the equestrian sector in the country.
Born last June to a surrogate mother, “Zhuang Zhuang” (pronounced “Djouang Djouang”), developed by the Beijing laboratory Sinogene, is the clone of a horse imported from Germany. It is black in color and is the first “warm-blooded” horse born in China to be officially approved by the China Equestrian Industry Association. “Warmblood” is a classification that applies generally to breeds of light horses with a lively temperament.
“Reduce the price of breeding and breeding horses”
Equestrian sport, especially show jumping, has developed in China in recent years. But the lack of high-performing horses and the lag in breeding improvement technology are limiting that growth. “I spoke to (Chinese) riders who compete in the Olympics. All have more than one horse, usually two or three. Each horse costs between a few million and 10 million yuan,” or up to more than around a million euros, Sinogene CEO Mi Jidong told Mi Jidong.
“Cloning can help reduce the cost of breeding and raising horses.” The production of competition horses in China through cloning should make it possible to reduce our dependence on expensive horse imports and thus more easily meet the needs of the Chinese equestrian sector. The world’s first cloned horse was born in Italy in 2003. Chinese animal cloning companies have made significant strides in recent years, with technologies now mature for sheep, cows, pigs, dogs and cats.