Italian animal-cloning pioneer Cesare Galli, who created the foal's mother Prometea in 2003, said both parent and child were doing well, according to ANSA.

    "The foal is called Pegasus, he was born over a month ago and is growing well," said Galli. "Prometea is also healthy and is showing no difficulties," he added.

    Conceived by artificial insemination, Pegasus was born on March17 after a natural, trouble-free birth. He was fathered by a stallion named Abendfurst, who is also a Haflinger breed like Prometea.

    Galli said he hoped the birth would lay to rest concerns about the health of cloned animals, sparked by the short lifespan of the Dolly sheep, that died at the age of six.

    "Since she was born five years ago, Prometea has turned out to be an absolutely normal animal in excellent health," said Galli, who works at the laboratory for reproduction technology at the Cremona Consortium for Livestock Breeding in northern Italy.

    "Pegasus shows that cloned animals can grow normally and reproduce in a natural fashion", Galli said.

    Galli, who also "fathered" the cloned bull Galileo, said until now his method of cloning was easier and more practical than thoseexperimented, including the one used in the United States to clone a mule.

    The Italian scientist recently announced that a cloned stallion called Pieraz, created in 2005, was also expecting his first offspring.

    After Galli's pioneering work on cloned horses in Italy, most of the world's horse cloning has been moved to Texas in the United States.

    So far about 10 horses have been cloned, including Prometea and Pieraz.