EVERY BREEDER NEEDS TO BE AWARE OF THE OVERO LETHAL WHITE GENE! The overo/OLW gene originally came to Australia from America and used to be confined to Paints and Pintos, but has now been introduced into many other breeds.... even Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. Mostly this introduction happened because until Australian researchers identified the OLW gene in the early 1990s, few people knew that OLW could be carried by generations of solid offspring and might not show up until many years later. It was common practice that if a solid foal resulted from a Paint/Pinto x Quarter Horse it would be just be registered QH, because un-coloured Paints had little or no value. Before Parentage Verification DNA testing became mandatory in the major breeds, the true parentage of such mistakes and deliberate introductions alike couldnt be challenged. Also, just before the introduction of the TB mandatory PV DNA testing some American Thoroughbreds were mysteriously?? born with very splashy overo markings, and at least one of these pure TB lines is now in Australia! (The cream gene has now also been introduced to Australian TBs via the U.S.) The OLW gene is very common in the Miniature Horse and Pony breeds and is often hidden amongst the many patterns and colours favoured by the breeders. There is no need whatever to panic over overo! If only one parent has the gene there is no risk whatever of any genetic flaw being passed on to the foal! IF IN DOUBT, TEST FOR OVERO AND DONT BREED TWO OVERO POSITIVE HORSES TOGETHER!
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 01:14:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015