In June 2019 the Foreign Agricultural Service at the U.S. Embassy in the Czech Republic assisted with the special shipment of frozen equine genetics addressed to the Czech Quarter Horse Association. The project was funded by a USDA grant through the federal Quality Samples Program (QSP).The beneficiary was the Czech affiliation of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), based in Amarillo, Texas.
This is the first ever project of equine genetics shipped overseas officially supported by the USDA’s QSP and AQHA. It is for the benefit of both the Czech equine gene pool as well as worldwide breeding of this unique horse. Thanks to the QSP, Czech breeders under strict selection criteria have access to the top quality genetics from the famous Texas-based “The Four Sixes” Ranch, with some of the world’s finest American Quarter Horse stallions. Up to eight foals with U.S. genes are expected to be born in late May/early June 2020 and more offspring in 2021.
Besides the genetics diversification in the CR, this is a showcase promotion of benefits of the state-of-the-art reproduction techniques. Thanks to this project, the world’s finest American Quarter Horse’s genes will be present in offspring of many future generations of this breed, more and more popular in the Czech Republic.
