Cloning ruling should signal end for Connemara inspections

A jury in a federal court in Texas has ruled that the American Quarter Horse Association violated state and federal antitrust laws by banning cloned horses from its registry.

This is a huge win for horses of all colors, stripes and backgrounds. No horse should be discriminated against based on how it came into being, particularly by its own breed organization. If it’s a quarter horse, it’s a quarter horse.

The jury rejected the AQHA’s stance that the group has a right to set its own rules. Jurors were also not swayed by the fact that a survey sent to 3,000 association members a few years ago found that 86 percent of them were opposed to registering clones.

Attorney Ron Nickum, representing the plaintiffs, noted: “Even if the membership of an entity wants to do something and it’s illegal … the entity cannot be excused from violating the law.”

The case was heard before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Amarillo. The jury ruled that the AQHA violated the federal Sherman Antitrust Act and the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act.

The plaintiffs were veterinarian Gregg Veneklasen of Amarillo and rancher Jason Abraham of Canadian, Texas.

Attorney Nancy Stone, arguing on their behalf, said the AQHA has registered animals born through artificial means since 1960. She said banning clones reduces the supply of elite horses, which means the value of those remaining is higher; thus, the practice is creating a monopoly.

Opponents argued that the 280,000-member association requires that all horses in its registry have a registered mother and a registered father, and this can’t be accomplished with clones.

This is not the first time the AQHA has wound up in court over its breed rules. In 2002, it reached an out-of-court settlement that allowed horse breeders to register embryo-transfer foals.

The fact that a breed society is acting as a monopoly by excluding some horses is the point I’ve been making in the American Connemara Pony Society for years.

Connemara inspectors are breeders. Breeders are the last people who should be deciding the fate of competing breeders. As it has turned out, the inspectors have been intentionally removing the competitors most likely to beat their own horses. No surprise there.

It’s extremely heartening to see this federal court agree that breed restrictions are an illegal, monopolistic practice.

While AQHA lawyers are threatening to appeal, the monopoly argument should stand, because such a ban is indeed monopolistic, as are all breed restrictions that prevent competing breeders from doing business in an open marketplace.