Re: Posting about Morgans passed on by the AERC office

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@naisp.net>]

>************************
>DNA MANDATORY FOR MORGANS
>Shelburne, Vermont, September 20, 2001
> 
>As of January 1, 2001, every Morgan foal presented for registration to 
>the American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) must have its
>parentage verified using DNA. To do this, the sire and dam must also have 
>DNA on file...

If anybody is curious about the most famous scandal in Morgan
history involving faked parentage, see:

  http://www.naisp.net/users/lbm/snow.htm

Although a court decision, it reads like a detective novel.
Unfortunately, after costing AMHA $500,000+ in legal fees,
Snow got off with paying only $150,000 damages to AMHA with
an agreement that she be reinstated after three years.

Personally, I've decided that I don't believe in closed studbooks.
I think they are an artifact of an earlier era and out-of-date
ideas about the value of "pure blood."  The Morgan gene pool is
too narrow as it is and, if nothing else, these fraudulent
outcrosses (and there were *lots* more than ever ended up
before the AMHA) have provided the last source of genetic variety
that Morgans will ever have.

Linda B. Merims
lbm@naisp.net
Massachusetts, USA