Horse cloning stirs debate in Horse Capital of the World'

OCALA, Fla. — The chestnut stallion was the love of Zarela Olsen's life.

A majestic hall-of-fame horse with personality and a copper coat bright as a new penny, Capuchino often greeted his fawning owner with kisses, nuzzling her neck and licking the back of her ears.

"When he died, he took my heart with him," said Olsen, 46, of the Paso Fino horse who died in Ocala, Fla., in 2009. "I could not stop crying and crying."

But Olsen had planned ahead, investing $160,000 in the replicating services of a biotech company specializing in the controversial practice of animal cloning. Her champion's genetic duplicate, Capuchino Forever, was born last May. His birth — and the increasing number of horses cloned in the U.S. — has spawned debate and wonder among breeders and owners in the equine world, including Marion County, self-proclaimed "Horse Capital of the World."

"They smell money," said Carol Harris, 86, owner of Bo-Bett Farm near Ocala, a horse breeder for about 60 years and an outspoken opponent of cloning champions. "They're looking for a shortcut to a great horse."

Harris, whose American Quarter Horse stallion Rugged Lark won the title of Super Horse twice in the 1980s, said she fears horse owners someday may need patents for their champions instead of registration papers.

She said she doesn't oppose cloning in the name of science and equine health but also doesn't think it should be widespread, sanctioned or embraced by horse organizations, which aim to preserve and protect the breed.

"Breeding is an art," she said. "Cloning is just replication."

Harris said horse owners who want to clone their animals — and insist on having their offspring certified as purebred American Quarter Horses — ought to form their own association.

"No one's stopping them," she said.

'Ick' factor

Many others in the equine industry also think cloning is horsing around with nature.

Powerful horse associations have enacted rules forbidding the registration of clones, a prohibition that prevents the animals from competing in breed-sanctioned events and lessens their stud value. The Stud Book and Registration Committee of the American Quarter Horse Association, which met last month at the association's convention in Kissimmee, Fla., nixed a proposed rule change that would have allowed registration of clones.

The association's seal adds value to horses: The better the pedigree, the more valuable the horse.