.gif)
ISBA NEWS |
|
Election Ballots: Get them back in by 10/1/2002!
Gwen Goodey our ISBA SEC/TRES has changed her last name back to Johnson. So when you hear Gwen Johnson... it's still our same wonderful Gwen!
Get Those Stars of Yours to Shine! You may go online and print out everything you need to enter.
OK members of ISBA!! Please read this over and let's discuss it... I haven't sent this to the district lists yet because it's your breed and I want your input if you disagree with anything said. The convention is coming up shortly and we need to get some positive dialog going on the district lists. Thanks, Donna P.
Doing all this pedigree research on the Sables is a real eye opener... the number of errors in registrations is kind of scary... Animals that should have been 100% Saanen are even recorded as Grade Saanen instead of Experimentals. On a history level, the first imports of Saanens had colored animals in it for reasons that were felt to be valid at the time. Saanens, white or colored, were registered in the Saanen herd book without any discrimination or even any designation as to color for quite some time. Many of the best purebreds bounced between color and white and were registered as equals since they had the same genetics and were both considered Saanens. Then came a time when the Saanen breeders decided they wanted only white so from that point on, any colored kids were sold unregistered, culled as meat or destroyed. Obviously this didn't alleviate the problem of color cropping up regularly since the recessive color genes were still right there in the white animals. The colored animals already registered weren't removed from the Saanen herd books as this would have devastated the gene pool since so many of them had colored ancestors... get rid of the ancestors and you have to go down the line and also get rid of the offspring and so on down the line. So in essence what has happened is that Sables were originally Saanens and accepted and registered as Saanens. The move to the experimental herd books should have been handled differently from the onset... No blame being placed on this as at the time I'm sure the Saanen breeders felt that the color would disappear and there would be no need to worry about more colored Saanens. As we all know, this didn't happen and colored Saanens are still being born fairly often to white Saanens. In retrospect, the colored Saanens should have been moved to their own herd books at the time of the split. Sables are still Saanens but just aren't accepted anymore as Saanens due to breed standard changes. I do pay attention to what is being said on the lists... one argument that crops up over and over again is that Sables are still just Saanens and that is true... it's also what has made it difficult to sort this out. They will always be colored Saanens and the white Saanens will always still carry that recessive gene for color... It's their heritage.... The breed standard for Sables was accepted in '81 and passed board approval... part of that standard states that Sables can and often do have white Saanen parents. It's part of the history of Saanens. AGS and IDGR both register Sables from Saanen parents. They understand that this is the history of Sables as well as Saanens. Now... some of MY thoughts on the matter... I was raised in the cattle industry... registered Angus to be precise... we usually had 2-3 calves born every year that were red. These were not considered black Angus even though their parents were registered black Angus. They were considered Red Angus and there is a registry for them based on color and genetics. Red Angus often had black parents and in fact now Red Angus are a very desirable breed. The red was a recessive in the breed and when the red color showed up, it became dominant when bred to another red Angus. Seldom did a red Angus have a black calf when bred to another red angus. If a black calf was born of a red Angus, it went back to the black Angus registry based again on color and genetics. The red Angus came from the genetic history of the black Angus in the old country. Now... going back to Sable/Saanen history... this is one single breed that was divided by the Saanen breeders choice based on color or lack of. The Sables carry the same genetics as the Saanens and in fact, come from the same gene pool.
Sable Kid out OfWashoe Zephyr Saanen doe Barn Name Vira Owned by Patty Calhoun |
My opinion is that the Sables should be called 'Sable Saanens' to clearly define their heritage. The word Sable literally means 'to darken'. Instead of considering them a 'new breed', they should be considered a 'sister breed' with separate herd books and have the same breed standard as Saanens other than color. They should adhere to their heritage on type just as Saanens must. A fork in the road divided them from their original herd book but they should still be bred for the same traits other than color. They are as old and established as the white Saanens in this country and were indeed a part of the Saanen registry. Now is where it gets a bit sticky... no one can figure out the placement of white kids *if* any are born of Sable Saanens because Sable Saanens should never have been relegated to the experimental herd books to start with... a separate book should have been set up for them when the breed was split by color. All being equal other than color, white Saanens should be registered as white Saanens and Sable Saanens should be registered as Sable Saanens. Sable Saanens have always come from white Saanens so where does that leave white Sables *if* any are born since, again, all is equal other than color? Both are Saanens with just the breed color distinguishing them from each other. Should white kids go back to the Saanen books since colored kids from white Saanens would go directly to the Sable Saanen books? New concept but again, all else being equal, what's fair? It's the same breed... just two color standards after the division of the breed. Sable Saanens are colored Saanens... white Saanens are White Saanens. The only difference in the two is color as explained. The division of the Saanen breed into color and white was done as a breed standard change... The colored animals were not expected to proliferate, therefore a 'home' for them wasn't provided... they've been 'living' in a 'holding pen' for decades and now we have a need to put the colored animals of the breed who were originally just Saanens and divided out, into a herdbook. It could possibly be set up as two additional herdbooks of the 'Saanen group' since color comes from the white herdbooks. So in addition to the current herdbooks for Saanens, there would need to be a Purebred Sable Saanen herdbook and an American Sable Saanen herdbook. This would keep the heritage of Sable Saanens intact. If... the Sable Saanens had a 'sister herd book' as Sable Saanens, there are actually a lot of purebred Sable Saanens in our database at this time and it probably wouldn't be necessary to have an open herd book... but then on the other hand, if it was felt it was needed due to the loss of genetics with the mess with nonrecordation of bucks and animals being dropped in percentage in error, there should be a definite time limit on an open herd book. I would prefer to see that all of the registrations were corrected to the right percentage on those animals that have been relegated to less than their correct purebred status. Also, there will always be more purebred Sable Saanens born from the Saanen books and if there were actually a market for the Sable Saanen kids, perhaps many wouldn't be destroyed as they are now. Yes there are still Saanen breeders who knock them in the head if they aren't white! ADGA is a registry... The experimental herd books were set up as a very temporary home to crosses and non conforming animals of a breed to breed back into their chosen herd book. It was never meant as a permanent home for a displaced breed. Sable Saanens weren't 'non conforming' until the Saanen standards changed and deemed them so... the breed was effectively split but it left no where to go with the other half of the breed. No one at the time knew that Sable Saanens wouldn't just disappear as hoped... So along came breeders who liked thecolored Saanens and continued to breed them for decades in the experimental herd book even though it was a dead end for them. It would have been easier to upgrade them to Alpines or some other color breed and many were but Sable Saanen breeders wanted them to remain colored Saanens and remain true to their heritage. Some of the Sable Saanen breeders are fed up with breeding to a dead end in a temporary herd book and have dumped all of their American Sables and gone to AGS with their purebreds... this isn't a good thing!! We would really like to hear opinions and dialog on this whole issue without any bashing... Open minded discussion is healthy!! We all know that with the state of financial and computer issues in ADGA right now, some things can't be accomplished overnight but we all need to look to the future of dairy goats and Sable Saanens should be an asset to ADGA... they shouldn't be considered a liability or this integral part of the ORIGINAL Saanen breed will be lost in history. Thanks Donna Palmer Note: Please take time and either email or write Donna with your thoughts!
Need Volunteers & Donations Quick! Need Items for ISBA table at Convention, and any member attending, please offer to take turns helping out at the table!! 
Engagement Announcement Who says that Sable's don't make things happen? Rodney Keener of Shady Vale and Tara Todd Stevenson of Stevenson's Ark and Cotton Pickin' Saanens and Sables are due to get married on October 15, 2002 in Pensacola Florida. And you can credit Sables for bringing them together!!! That's one way to expand your herd! Congradulations Rodney and Tara! |
|
ISBA News |
||||
|
Copyright ISBA 2002 |