Horses! and pets/animals other than cats and dogs

[Azastan]

A couple of months ago I was asked to go look at a Arabian mare who needed to be rehomed, and who was being offered as free. She was located about 20 miles away from me, so I went to take a look.

She'd just lost her long time companion, and the owners of the pasture where she was being boarded had told her owner that they were selling the property, and the mare needed to leave.

She was quite stressed, and had torn up the paddock where she was being held. The barn owner didn't like her, and wanted her gone.

I couldn't leave her there, and told her owner that I would allow the mare to come to my place for the winter, until either she could travel over Snoqualmie Pass, or get rehomed locally.

I had several people offer good homes, but the owner kept turning everyone down. In the meantime, one of my friends posted that she KNEW this mare, that she had handled her as a foal, and knew her breeder, who lived just a few miles from my friend. Most importantly, she knew that the breeder had regretted selling the foal, and had been looking for this mare for ten years! I convinced the owner to sign the mare over to me, and a few days later Missy Mare (not her real name) was reunited with her breeder.

In the meantime, a friend had contacted me and asked me if I could provide an mtDNA sample from this mare. It seems that research is being done on certain Arabian mares which had been imported from Syria by William Randolph Hearst, and this particular mare was the first tail female descendant from one of them which had shown up available for mtDNA (it's a study being done with maternal DNA, so it's necessary to have tail female descendants).

Me being an Arabian horse nerd, I did the research to find all possible living tail female descendants of the original imported mare. There are only 28 living descendants, and I managed to contact and coax 12 owners to donate samples for the study.

Oh, did I mention that Missy Mare's breeder also still owns Missy Mare's 25 year old dam? That is the sign of a breeder who truly cares about their horses. And yes, we got a sample from Missy Mare's dam as well.

[Estiveo]

Azastan's back!

[AndyinPA]

And nice story.

[Foggy]

Great story. Love the breeder ... and you.

[northland10]

it's a study being done with maternal DNA, so it's necessary to have tail female descendants...

Three thoughts...

1. Your back
2. Lovely story.
3. Tail female descendants?

[Azastan]

3. Tail female descendants?

Tail female is tracing nothing but the dam all the way back as far as possible. In human terms, start with your mother, then your maternal grandmother, then maternal greatgrandmother, etc.

Tail male would be the inverse of this. Start with father, then paternal grandfather, then paternal greatgrandfather, etc. But human men tend to sprinkle sperm around indiscriminately, so you are never really sure about the genetics unless you match the DNA of a baby with mother and putative father. All US and Canadian purebred registered Arabians which are recorded in the Arabian Horse Association's Data Source have been DNA matched to their parents.

Maternal DNA, which contains the maternal mitochondria, doesn't change over the generations, so it's used to track movements of people and animals.

Here's an explanation:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... ers-trace/

[northland10]

Thanks. I was thinking it might be something like that, but I wanted to be sure. I have done a male lineage myself as part of a project to try and get past a block in 1720ish Virginia on my direct male line. No luck yet (minus some confirmations that we were indeed not that closely related to a similar line).

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

She gets to be with her mama!!!!!!!

[Azastan]

She gets to be with her mama!!!!!!!

Yes she does. Her breeder is very, very happy to have her back and to be able to reunite them.

[Uninformed]

She gets to be with her mama!!!!!!!

Yes she does. Her breeder is very, very happy to have her back and to be able to reunite them.

A very good deed done.

[Annrc]

[RTH10260]

[RTH10260]

[RTH10260]

[RTH10260]

Hungry?

[Estiveo]

[raison de arizona]

Rubber chicken!

Sometimes you just gotta...

This is how pandas clean their houses..

[AndyinPA]

[RTH10260]

Beware, check your cuteness meters against overload

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[RTH10260]

[Estiveo]

[RTH10260]

Was that a cat nip evasion manoeuver

[pipistrelle]

[AndyinPA]