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>>Did you know that the albino does not exist in the horse? What people
call
>>albinos in horses are simply white horses. When albinism occurs in the
horse
>>it is termed "lethal white" because the foal dies in utero. If one does
make
>>it to term, it dies very quickly.
>No I have never heard this. Anyone else? Brian J???
The Lethal White is something that can occur in Quarter Horses, Paints,
and Appaloosas, with Paints having the highest incidence. Genetically,
it is caused by a recessive factor which, when carried by both sire and
dam, results in a possibility that the foal will be a "Lethal White".
This is a foal that is completely white and has an incomplete nerve
supply to a certain part of the intestines. The unfortunate part is that
"if the intestines don't work, the horse don't work" and these foals
don't survive. They start colicking soon after birth and end up being
euthanized ("put to sleep"). A number of things have been tried on these
foals, including surgery, but nothing works. In general, you don't hear
much about these because breeders do not want people to know that their
horse produced one. Recently, a DNA test has been developed that allows
identification of horses which are carrying this gene. I did not
remember that these were actually albinos like Bonnie suggested, but they
may be. They do have normal-appearing, and not pink, eyes though.
The Encyclopedia of the Horse states that there are albino horses, but
also says they do not have pink eyes. Supposedly they have "very often,
pale-coloured eyes". Perhaps this is not a true albino. If Bonnie's
information comes from Dr. Sponenberg (that albinism does not occur in
the horse), I would tend to believe what he says since he is the
respected expert on horse color genetics.
As Lori Albrough wrote, these rare horses in the Fjord breed are not
albino, they are just white.
Brian Jacobsen, DVM
Norwegian Fjordhest Ranch
Salisbury, North Carolina
