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PAINT HORSE

History | Characteristics | The APHA | Lethal Whites

Lethal Whites:

In clarifying what we do know about lethal white syndrome, it is necessary to dispel some myths that have developed over the years.

Myth #1: Lethal whites can occur only from overo-to-overo matings. Lethal whites can occur from any cross involving two overos or two horses that have overo in their backgrounds. Based on the forms that crossed her desk, APHA Field Services Director Barbara Scheffler said that most lethal whites arise from two overos. "Probably 99 percent of them are overo-to-overo crosses," Scheffler said. "But we have had incidents from an overo parent and a Quarter Horse parent, an overo parent and a tobiano parent, and an overo parent and a Breeding Stock parent."

Myth #2: All Paint foals born white have lethal white syndrome. While Paint foals that are born all white should be highly suspect of having lethal white syndrome, there are some white foals that are completely normal. While both might appear normal at birth, a lethal white foal will soon (usually within 24 hours) demonstrate several definite symptoms that indicate its condition. The most characteristic trait of lethal white syndrome is a lack of gut activity, so a lethal white foal will probably fail to pass its meconium and will also begin to show signs of colic. Its condition will deteriorate quickly, with or without treatment.

Myth #3: A mare will not produce a lethal white foal in two consecutive years. If you are lucky, she will not. But if she carries the lethal trait, and the stallion she is crossed with also carries it, she has a one-in-four chance of producing a lethal white foal every time she is bred to him.

Myth #4: If the stallion has never produced a lethal white, he is a safe bet to breed your mare to. There are several reasons why this statement is untrue. First, if the stallion is young and has only a limited number of breedings, the fact that he has not yet produced a lethal white does not mean he will not in the future. Second, it is necessary to look at the color of the mares the stallion was bred to who contributed to these statistics. If the stallion is a tovero, but was crossed on only tobiano mares, the likelihood of a lethal white would be much less than if he were crossed on all overo mares. Third, it is possible that the stallion has conceived lethal whites, but that the embryos were reabsorbed or aborted by the mares. However, there is not yet any kind of blood test to confirm this notion.

Find out more:
*Myths about Lethal Whites
*Question and Answer Discussion on Lethal Whites