Embryo Transfer has recently become a very popular procedure within the Gypsy Vanner community.  It's where after ovulating and being inseminated a chosen Donor Mare is flushed of an egg at about 6-8 days.  That fertilized egg is then placed into a Recipient Mare, where it is allowed to develop fully.   Oftentimes this is accomplished by means of hormone therapy in order to get both mares on the same breeding cycle.  This should only be done once or twice a year due to the strain that is places on each of the mares involved. 

 These steps allow a mare who would normally not be able to supplement a growing breed with a larger range of bloodlines.  In turn smaller, developing breed are provided a fuller spectrum of types as well.  Normally this procedure is rarely used within breeding practices, and reserved specifically for mares with exceptionally rare bloodlines,  ones that are of an older age, or that are actively performing and showing.  I do not have a single problem with Embryo Transfer in general.  I believe that it is an amazing tool to help bring along a breed that could use a bit of a legup.  It offers mare of rare bloodlines to make more of a contribution, as well as helping aged mares continue to produce long after they would normally be retired.  I believe that it could do wonders for this breed, as it has for many breeds before it.      

ET (embryo transfer) Abuse is more detremental to the breed than any other breeding practice that I know of, and will not support it in any fashion.  In this type of breeding, "litters" of horses with the same or similar bloodlines are produced.   This is where more than 2-3 embryos are produced by one mare per year.  This results in a far more narrowed genepool, which is incredibly detramental to a breed with one that is already limited in this country.  Not only does it result in multiple foals sharing bloodlines (many identical to the other), but it also drops the value of any horses or foals that have similar bloodlines.  The result of these large quantities of foals is obvious almost immediately, resulting in a drop of marketability and overall value(after all, how many stallion prospects can one have if they have 20 brothers sharing the same exact bloodline).  Bloodlines become limited and the lack of diversity within these foals will result in a huge block in the breed's ability to develop fully.  It's sad, because many of these bloodlines could be incredibly valuable to the development of this breed and increasing the quality of the future generations.  But with mass production will cause problems in the future for this breed, like was found with some Arab, QH, and Paint horse bloodlines. 

It's up to us to prevent this from happening.  ET is a good thing.  Let me rephrase that....Responsible ET is a good thing, a great thing in fact.  Embryo Transfers can be an amazing tool, much like responsible breeding practices, progressing a breed in a shorter amount of time.  Even good tools, when placed in the wrong hands, can end up doing more damage than good.  So stand up with the rest of us to fight this current trend, protecting the breed that we love so much.