LINCOLN, Argentina (AFP) – Argentina is vastly expanding its breeding of its world class polo ponies thanks to the use of embryo transfers that help breeders get the most from their top-performing mares and stallions.
The new biotechnology technique has helped increase the number of breeders of polo ponies in the South American nation from 350 in 2001 to 630 today, and has boosted exports of the Polo Argentino horses fourfold between 2006 and 2010, according to the consultancy Unicorn SA.
What is revolutionizing breeding is the use of surrogate mares — which don’t have to be polo ponies.
The technique is relatively simple: the stallion’s sperm is used to inseminate the mare. Seven days after the egg is fertilized, the embryo is taken out and transplanted into the uterus of the surrogate mare, which then carries the foal to term.
This allows the top-notch mares, which normally can only give birth to eight foals in a lifetime as the gestation period in horses is 11 months, to produce 30 to 40 babies, or five to 12 annually.
In another benefit, the natural mothers don’t have to interrupt their polo activities while the surrogates are carrying their offspring. Pregnant mares can only be safely ridden
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