Lethal White

Has anyone ever heard of this term?

Apparently its fatal.

I guess its a pure white paint..no markings whatsover...babies dont usually last longer than a couple of days.

Does anyone know anything more about this trait?

Yes The lethal white gene is mainly in the Overo White patterned. Both parents have to carry the gene.To get a lethal white, They have blue eyes.

Yeah Cirlce is exactly right, its a shame though that happens, the foals are really pretty, a friend of mine had one unfortunately, I think it only lasted about 3 days!

Wow! I had never heard of this! That is so sad Can they test for the lethal white gene?

iM NOT SURE, i DONT SEE WHY NOT THOUGH!

This condition, referred to as overo lethal white syndrome(OLWS) is always fatal. Based on the studies by the University of Minnesota's Equine Genetics Group and Portland University, it has been concluded that OLWS foals have two lethal alleles(L/L) their parents have one normal and one lethal allele.(N/L), and solid- colored horses of other breeds have two copies of the normal allele.(N/N)
This is strong evidence that the gene mutation detected is responsible for OLWS. To date, researchers have tested almost 1,000 horses, and the results are consistant.

Cricketsmom, you can request a book from the APHA called" Coat Color Genetics" that says everything I've said above and more about EVERY paint pattern,lethal foals, and evrything you should wanna know about paints. They talk about how to breed a paint to get what you want, so let's say you whated a black sabino, they tell you what to breed with to get it. I've found it very helpful. The address to write them at is:

American Paint Horse Association
Post Office Box 961023
Fort Worth, Texas, 76161

Or you could call and ask for the book at (817)-834-2742
They send you a whole other bunch of stuff, but just make sure you ask for the free book.

I hope this helps you out and you have got one pretty paint!!!!!
Sarah

Thanks sarah..

Yes, im trying to learn more about it...i think im safe though when it comes to cricket. I will find out tomorrow if she is pregnant.

I have a friend that has informed me about this, she has lost 4 babies to this gene.

Apparently their intestines arent fully developed and they dont "pass" anything. Sometimes they act normal when they are born, sometimes they act crazy. ONe pawed its own eyes out before it died.

Also...something else she mentioned to me (shes a very smart lady)..apparently there is/was and epidemic with giving foaling mares the west nile virus shot because it causes birth defects. My friend had 15 babies, only one survived. She witnessed some horrible things....a baby with 2 heads and 5 legs, a skull that you can fit a bowling ball in. I have seen horrid pictures and its very scary. LIving in florida...the west nile virus is very popular here. I dont know if i could every "witness" anything like that.

Oh yeah, OLWS is very real, but it can be tested and prevented.

I, too, have heard about problems with the WN vaccination and pregnant mares. Not sure what to think about it as I've heard it from both perspectives and don't have first hand experience. I've always given the shot and never had a problem, but I've never had a pregnant mare so....I dunno.

OH YAH! Be extremely careful what you vacs for. Should have had her vaccinated before she was bred but I wouldn't give her too many vacs this spring including west nile. I saw a whole herd of mares misscarry from it. Just don't do it! (imo)

My neighbor breeds paints and last year she had a solid white filly. She was scared to death that is was OLWS. She was saying, "how could this had happened I bred them properly." And yes she did breed them properly the colt did not have OLWS and is a cutie. SO, just because it could be born white does not mean that it has OLWS. As far as the filly haveing blue eyes I don't know I have only been around her once and she was almost 6 months.