About a week ago I sent off my MyHeritage DNA kit and I must say I was very impressed not only with the price ($59.00) but also with the presentation of the packaging and the layout of the test itself. To be sure, it was very quick, very easy, very user-friendly. MyHeritage leaves nothing to be questioned, you really can't screw up the samples unless you absolutely try your hardest to do so. I imagine there may be one out of a few hundred thousand that simply can't follow directions, but this girl did exactly what she was instructed to do! There are two long cotton swabs in the box, and two small mini vials to put the swabs into once you have rolled the tips around your cheeks for about 30 to 60 seconds. You roll one on the right side and place it into the mini container, breaking off the stick before sealing it; and you do the same with the other swab for the left side of your mouth. You can't mess up - - get yourself a test!
Upon completing the application and paying online, I think it took 5 days to receive the box in the mail. It was delivered regular postage and it was small enough to fit into the mailbox, but I will admit I have a larger mailbox. I opened it up on a Monday, did the test immediately, and sent it back on its merry way on the same day. I received an email on Thursday last saying they have received the test and they will begin working on it first thing. There's even a little button on the email they sent to let me track the progress of the test, but it's really not necessary, because they even email you (me) to say they are currently in the process of working on the extraction of the DNA and by Friday (tomorrow) they will have the test completed, and they're just waiting on the results. I may actually know the results faster than they said it would be; which would be really cool.
With all the DNA tests available these days, and most everyone using the one you get from Ancestry, I decided to use another company; to go another direction. I figure the Ancestry people know what they're doing and all, but why not share the love, and give another company the opportunity to be the hero, to deliver me the great news that I'm actually 94% Scottish. (That's not going to happen, but if I were a horse I could maybe expect that from the Texas A&M lab.) Let me tell you a little story about what happened twice (two separate horses) when I sent my DNA kits off to be tested.
Eoghan is a rescue horse. He's never to my knowledge been registered, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't. It only means that whoever gave him up didn't send his papers with him, so I sent off hair samples of my very sorrel steed to the Texas A&M animal DNA lab; I don't know their exact name, but it's supposedly one of the best there is. I found out that my absolutely you-can-look-at-him-and-tell-he-is-out-of-Impressive Quarter Horse was in fact, according to their records, more than 80% Missouri Fox Trotter and if there was ANY Quarter Horse at all in his bloodline, it would be too trace to mention. I almost rolled over in the barn laughing when I read the results to Eoghan. He giggled a bit as well. He knows. He may not be able to say it, but you only have to look at the boy and KNOW he's literally not only a Quarter Horse but out of a very specific bloodline. Chalk one up for wasting my money.
The next time we decided to send off the hair samples to the Texas A&M lab we did so because we knew 100% without doubt positively certain what breed the horse was, and we wanted to see what the lab would come back with - - keep in mind these tests were about a year apart. Though I owned both horses I rescued them both and couldn't register them without knowing who their parents were; you can register a Pinto and/or an Appaloosa without parentage, but not a Quarter Horse. My second horse WAS a Missouri Fox Trotter, and she was in fact, registered at one point, but because she was accidentally bred by a donkey they sold her while she was pregnant and didn't send the papers along with her. She was later sent to a kill pen, with the baby, and I bought both of them. I sent off the hair of the mare for grins and giggles.
When the results came back this time I had my Quarter Horse! Yes, true story! The results of the Missouri Fox Trotter mare came back nearly 100% Quarter Horse with traces of Hanoverian and Arabian, but they used both breeds to create the Quarter Horse, along with Thoroughbreds and often Morgans. Well, there you have it, the labs just can't always get things right - - but I did have the opportunity to ask Eoghan if he wanted to use Ava's papers; it would of course, mean that he had to admit from now on that he was a mare and not a gelding. He blew his nose at me; I take that as a no. He's fine just the way he is, and we know he's impressive even if we can't prove he's actually out of Impressive. You just know if you know, and that's all we care about. He's perfect.
So I'm just over here waiting to see, to find out, if the lab people will make the same type of mistakes and say my people were German or Swedish. I'll demand my money back if they say I'm less than 30% Scottish or more than 40% English - - some things will not be tolerated. At least I'm not being saddled with the fact that my mother was born in Texas! Damn, that could really be a scar to bear. Daddy should have asked before marrying her I guess. Fun fact: Dad's side of the family fought with and defended William Wallace, while Mom's side of the family killed the man. No wonder I fight with myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment