06/10/2024
I as a ADGA Member, Saanen & Sable breeder 100% agree with you Shannan Lloyd!
To Whom It May Concern,
Some of this is just one breeder's opinion, of which, this is simply mine.
In previous years, if a Saanen x Sable breeding had offspring that was colored, or fit the color requirements for the Sable breed, they were then able to enter into the Sable herdbook, if registered. On the other hand, if the cross resulted in white kids, they were entered into the Experimental herdbook. Why was this change made?
It is well known that these rules were not changed by the breeders or the breed club, ISBA. Sables have been in the Saanen blood lines from the beginning. In the USA, colored and white Saanens were imported together. Later on in the 1950's, colored Saanens were discouraged and were no longer included in the registration. After that, colored Saanens were discriminated against and kept quiet about, most likely destroyed.
There will always be Sables resulting from the cross of two Saanens. The Sable breed was started so some amazing animals with incredible genetics would be seen by the public eye, and would not be discarded, or worse, destroyed. One thing you have to remember - Sables and Saanens are the same breed, essentially split, as some breeders did not want them within the same herdbook. Personally, I feel they should have been kept within the same herdbook with color designations for color carrier's and colored ones (NOT GOING TO HAPPEN).
Now, another point to be discussed is that ADGA is supposably run by its members to register our animals and keep track of our pedigrees, in which is the way we intend to breed. I ask that we do not lump all breeds registered through ADGA the same. They simply are not the same, as they all originated, for the most part, from different parts of the world and came up through the ranks differently. The breeders of all the breeds registered through ADGA should be the ones with the say of how their breed grows and develops with the help of ADGA. For example, if Oberhasli breeders got together and wanted to change something within their breed, they should be able to do it through voting, talking to their directors (ADGA directors are supposed to work for the members). Are Sables like other ADGA registered breeds? Yes, they are. They are Saanens but colored. Should we eventually close the herdbook for Saanen x Saanen breedings with resulting colored kids to the Sable herdbook? No, I feel we will never quit having Sables from Saanen X Saanen breedings. Saanens are not albino and the first importers made sure of that by either bringing animals in that had close relatives, of which had color or the animals themselves that were imported, had color.
The Sable registration through ADGA was started to catch the colored gene that was expressed in the resulting colored offspring. At this time, the Sable gene pool is small and if we as the breeders want to take the chance, hopefully getting a Sable kid, by breeding Sable X Saanen, it will greatly strengthen the breed. Let us, the Sable breeders, make this choice. I sincerely urge you to vote yes to the return of Sable registration rules to those originally proposed by the International Sable Breeders Association in 2003 and adopted by the ADGA Board of Directors.
Thank you,
Lifetime ADGA Member Saanen and Sable Breeder
Shannan Lloyd
Talache Dairy Goats
#0652537
