(AP)—The nation's pre-eminent quarter horse association is facing off in court against two breeders who claim the organization is wrongly excluding clones.

Testimony began Wednesday in the 2012 lawsuit filed by two breeders who claim the American Quarter Horse Association should accept cloned animals. Panhandle rancher Jason Abraham and Amarillo Gregg Veneklasen want the animals registered with the 280,000-member organization.

Registry in the AQHA registry can add financial value to listed animals.

An attorney for the quarter horse breeders says other breeding technology has been allowed by the AQHA. Those technologies include , frozen semen and cooled semen.

Association lawyer Wade Arnold says to have a horse registered the animal must have a mother and a father.

The case is being closely watched by horse-breeding groups.