dreaminmini
Well-Known Member
I'm so sorry to hear about your foal.
Give your mare a big hug and tell her I'm sorry too. I'm not sure what else to say. I'm just really sorry this had to happen when others could have prevented it.
Even with LWO+to LWO+ there is the same chance of a solid foal, these people are just seriously screwed up....breed societies should just refuse to register ANY foals from this cross, and then they would have to stop, simple as that.I'm sorry it turned out that your foal was lethal white. Such a shame--for the foal, for you, and for the mare.
I'm afraid that I would have to call--or write--and chew out the person who chose to do that breeding, but I don't expect it would have any effect on them. The person was obviously aware of what could happen--since you were warned about the possibility of the foal being lethal white--and quite obviously that person didn't care, since he/she chose to do that breeding anyway.
I know there have been some that do that cross, LWO+ to LWO+, and they claim they only get a lethal foal 10% of the time....like that justifies the practice! To me even 10% loss is unacceptable, and the fact is, each foal from that cross has a 25% chance of being lethal white, even if it's generally "only" 10% that actually are homozygous for LWO. I've never understood why these people think it's necessary to do that cross. I know one person on here on time said that they do it that way because if you breed a LWO+ to LWO- there is a 25% chance the foal will be a solid. I guess those people figure that 25% chance of dead is better than 25% chance of solid colored???
What a wonderful, positive attitude. Few people would be so gracious. My hat is off to you.I just wanted to update everyone on my mare.I prefer not to use her name as I dont want anyone attacking the breeder,Yes it was a stupid thing to do but everyone makes mistakes,fortunately she has since bought a stallion that is not positive.I am thankful that she did warn me about the lethal white possability,unfortunately some breeders would not have mentioned this and I would not have known what to watch for.Im not making excuses for her,I just know that I have made mistakes and have educated myself and corrected them.I dont like to be upset with anyone.It is a shame ANYONE would take such a chance on a life,it is heartbreaking to say the least.....Well back to my mare,she is doing much better today,she has joined the others in the pasture and has stopped asking for her baby.I did let her spend time with the filly after she was put down yesterday but she didnt seem to realize she was gone.It looked as if there was a little white angel sleeping in the stall.She was a gorgeous little girl....I just hope this post has helped educate horse breeders that this DOES happen.I personally have never heard of a lethal white until now.I now know that I will have my horses tested for this gene.Thank you everyone for the information and the support.You are are so wonderful.
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