Paperwork

 

In Canada it is against the law, (Animal Pedigree Act, Section 64 (a-j), to sell an animal as purebred without documentation to support the claim.

 

This means that sellers must be accountable to their clients by providing either the official documentation itself, or, proof that such documentation is pending.

 

     Procedure for getting VNIIK registration:

 

1.  If a horse has a MAAK issued passport, it means that VNIIK holds the blood type of the horse;  such a horse’s records can then be "converted" to a DNA profile.  If this is achieved, its off-spring will require DNA-only analysis;  this is particularly advantageous to Canadian horses because there is no lab in Canada which does blood typing.

 

To convert to DNA a horse whose blood type is already held by VNIIK, the following is required:

 

a) Hair collected by a vet who must fill out, stamp and sign an identification chart, to confirm material has been collected from the given animal;

b) Hair analysed at an ISAG-approved lab (Maxxam, UKY, Texas A&M);

c) Two photographs showing each side of the horse, (PROPER CONFORMATION SHOTS PLEASE)

d) An application form,

e) If one already has blood test results from a North American ISAG-approved lab (for  horses having current MAAK passports), they should be sent to VNIIK as well.

 

2.  If a horse is born to parents who both have MAAK passports and whose documents have been converted to DNA by VNIIK, such horse would need to be DNA-tested on hair only;

 

Maxxam (or chosen lab) will carry out parentage verification on such horses as they will, by then, hold the DNA profile of each parent;  this is a back-up for VNIIK parentage verification and, to some extent, provides a cover for VNIIK being a bit slow to issue documents.  (Keep in mind our Mother Studbook is in Russia people). 

 

In other words, if an ISAG-approved lab has confirmed that the foal born to VNIIK-registered parents is pure, you can sell the foal on the understanding that VNIIK documents are to follow, and thereby NOT be eligible for one of the penalties described in the Animal Pedigree Act, (Section 66, Subsection 1 (a-b);  Subsection 2).

 

3.  If horse does not have a MAAK passport but both its parents do, it needs blood taken by a vet who will also fill out, sign and stamp the identification chart.  Blood should be sent to UKY (United States), Weatherbys (United Kingdom) or a similar type lab which continues to work with blood, and both blood type and DNA profiles should be obtained.  The rest of the application is as in (1).

 

4.  If a horse does not have a MAAK passport and either one, or both, its parents do not have one either, step (3) has to be performed on the VNIIK-unregistered parent(s) first, before the horse itself can be registered.

 

For any Canadian Akhal Tekes, the way forward we have adopted is to convert all MAAK-passported horses to DNA profiles - steps (a),( b), (c) and (d) above-  and then, only DNA-test their foals, using Maxxam lab in Canada. This is because in Canada, blood typing is not possible and sending blood abroad requires a permit and is fraught with bureaucratic perils.

 

Only a horse having a MAAK passport (i.e. whose blood type VNIIK already holds) can be converted to DNA. If a horse or either of its parents do not have blood type records with  VNIIK, a blood type has to be obtained, along with a DNA profile.  The subsequent results should be sent to VNIIK.

 

To review:  A horse can only be issued VNIIK documents if both parents have a VNIIK number.  Any horse with either parent without a VNIIK number cannot be registered until both parents have been registered.

 

 

     Forms:

 

Akhal Teke Horse Registry form

 

CLRC DNA Test Kit Request form

 

Texas A&M DNA form

 

UKY Blood form

UKY DNA form

 

USDA Blood Import Permit

 

VNIIK Form 2 (Foal Registration)

VNIIK Form 3 (Stallion License)

VNIIK Forms 4a and 4b (Stallion Registration, Mare Registration)