Lethal white foal?

[dreaminmini]

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.

 

[mizbeth]

Hi

I was so hoping that your filly would make it. I am so sorry.

I had two of them when I first started with miniature horses. It is heartbreaking to see them like that. You did what was right for her. Your mare will be fine soon. The one mare I left her LW baby with, buried it in the stall. I watched her cover her baby with straw..........that was sad, I don't ever want to think about it again.

My condolences............

Beth

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

I'm so sorry for your loss.... godspeed, little one.

Lucy

 

[capall beag]

I am so sorry for your loss. How terribly sad for you.

What a horrible gamble to take with a living creature. Shame on that breeder. Your mare is so beautiful and the cross "could have been" amazing BUT to cause such suffering is really shameful!

I am so sad for you, your mare and that poor sweet foal

You have such beautiful horses, and you obviously have their best interests at heart.

 

[Riverdance]

I am so sorry to read about your loss. It is always so hard to loose one. It seems the mares get over it so much faster than we do. She will grieve, but with in a day or so she will have forgotten about her.

My thoughts are with you.

 

[hairicane]

So sorry for your loss I was sure hoping it wasnt lethal.

 

[mmmorgans]

I am so sorry to read this sad story Tina. It is heartbreaking when things like this happen - and what makes it worse is that testing could have been done before the breeding ever took place - and the outcome of your mare foaling would have been different. How very sad. Losing a foal is an awful experience - I feel so badly for you.

 

[Charlotte]

Bucknappy, I'm so sorry you lost your beautiful filly. Bless you for being a good horsewoman and catching a problem quickly and making the difficult decision quickly.

We had to put down one of our babies this year..an injury. I've never had to do that before. It is HARD!

Hugs to you and baby's mom.

Charlotte

 

[Candice]

How Awful! I am so sorry for the loss of your foal. Many Hugs to you, your family and your mare!!

 

[LittleRibbie]

Bucknappy, I read your post early yesterday and felt so terrible for both you, your mare and her baby. You all were in my thoughts the whole day. I was hoping to get back on the computer and find everything is well. Now this. I am so sorry. I had never heard of lethal white but reading the other posts it sounds like you did the only thing possible. Hugs and comfort being sent your way. Heidi

 

[rabbitsfizz]

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???

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 know people in Shelties and Collies willing to take the same chance with Merle and it makes me sick...it really really does.

Words fail me, and it is not often that happens!!

Ignorance and crass stupidity, that is all it is.

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Tina,

I am sorry to hear about your precious little foal. You are brave to have purchased this mare with the chance you would have to deal with such a horrible experience. Thank goodness the mare is Ok and in better hands with you. Prayers to help lift your heavy heart.

God bless

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

So very sorry for you and your mare. I was rooting for it to be a maximum expession not a LWO. Hope your mare is doing better today. I've dealt with a few over the years that have lost foals - it's heartbreaking to watch but they do get over it. I usually leave the foal with the mare for a few hours so she can see it has passed, that way they don't think it's just missing.

You did the right and responsible action with this foal - sorry you had to go through it though.

Prayers and good thoughts for you and your mare.

 

[BuckNappy]

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.

 

[sedeh]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

It's so hard when they look perfect on the outside.

 

[targetsmom]

I am glad to hear the mare is doing better. I just want to add my condolences on the loss of your foal and thank you for posting this so that others can learn.

I also want to add that it is not just those who are breeding for frame overos that can get lethal white foals. My friend who was surprised with one was breeding a solid looking mare to a "pinto" stallion that looks a lot like the jumper in my rotating avatar. He apppeared to be a tobiano. Both horses were Rowdy bred, and she found out too late that they both were LWO+. By the way, the gray mare in my rotating avatar is LWO+, the jumper (a gelding), may be, but our tobiano stallion is not. All three are Rowdy bred.

 

[Joanne]

That mare is gorgeous. I almost bought her, but knew that with my luck she would have a lethal foal.

We test all our horses that have even the slightest possibility of being lethal as we have both stallions and mares that carry the lwo trait. The thought of waitiing 11 months and then having a dead foal is overwhleming. That can happen to us all even without breeding lwo to lwo. Why increase teh chances with a lwo foal ??

But I know several miniature horse breeders that are willing to take the risk in order to increase their chances of a frame offspring.

I do not get it.

 

[OhHorsePee]

Sorry for your loss!

 

[AnnaC]

I just wanted to thank you for sharing all this with us. It has made for a very interesting thread and has helped people understand the LWO genetics and warned them against the possible tragic outcome.

So glad your little mare seems happier today, bless her.

Anna

 

[Songcatcher]

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.

What a wonderful, positive attitude. Few people would be so gracious. My hat is off to you.