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Mustang (Wild Horse) T-Shirt For information about
the BLM Wild Horse & Burro
Program, please call
(866) 4MUSTANGS
or Click HERE
BUY THE BOOK!
Working with Wild Horses
Second (Improved) Edition
A Handbook of
Gentling and Training Tips
By Nancy Kerson
Paperback $22 or
Downloadable E-Book $7.50
| This website is owned and created by Nancy Kerson, a private citizen - I am not the BLM or any other branch of government! Information about BLM adoptions is offered as a service, to help mustangs find homes and to promote public appreciation of wild horses and burros.
Please direct adoption questions to the BLM, not to me. And I sure as heck am not a Mustang car dealership! I have NO horses or burros for sale and am not interested in buying or listing or otherwise promoting your sale animals! This website:
Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
All Rights Reserved.
I am happy to share, but please give me a credit when you "borrow" things off my website! Thanks! Just say, "author, Nancy Kerson www.mustangs4us.com " |
VIDEOS OF INTEREST TO MUSTANG & BURRO ADOPTERS:
Kitty Lauman:
From Wild to Willing: Using the Bamboo Pole to Gentle Mustangs
More from Lauman Training available now!DVD or VHS
(2-DVD or 2-VHS set) almost 3 hours of instruction! $39.95 plus $5 shipping/handling = $44.95 total 
Lesley Neuman:
The First Touch
Gentling Your Mustang
$45.00
Lesley works with 3 wild horses at a BLM adoption, and very clearly explains what is happening, what she is doing, & what she sees in each horse as it progresses. Study this video and you can learn "pressure and release" gentling techniques to gentle your own new mustang! 
Help for Burro adopters!
Crystal Ward
Donkey Training
All the basics of gentling, handling, and training. A MUST for new burro adopters! Good for domestic donkeys, too! Can't do Paypal?
No Problem!
Just Call TOLL FREE
1-877-345-6748
(1-877-FILMS4U)
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OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN
WILD HORSE GENTLING:
 
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left to right: White Mustang of undetermined genetics, Champagne+Creme "American Cream Draft" horse, Perlino Mustang, and Maximum Sabino Mustang
White and Whitish Horses
| WHITE HORSES
are the usually end result of THE GREY GENE's progressive greying process, or the purest expression of the CREME or CHAMPAGNE genes. They can also be Maximum White Overo pintos (which look like, but ARE NOT Lethal Whites) , or - rarely - Dominant Whites. |
Most horses that appear white are actually "grey", meaning they were born another color and then turned grey as the pigment was gradually eliminated by the "grey" gene. Cremello "White" horses are pink-skinned and blue-eyed. WHITE
can also be Dominant White. |
"Dominant White" is a genetic allele that produces a pure white horse with pink skin and dark eyes.
Dominant White horse (photo: UC Davis)This is an uncommon gene, however, though there are horse breeders who specialize in it.
"Gretchen," adopted by Gwilda Byrd, may be a Dominant White. She has pink skin, pure white hair, and dark eyes. However, Maximum Sabino may also have these traits. | Horses that appear white may be cremello, gray, perlino, ivory champagne, or an extreme form of one of the appaloosa or pinto patterns, in which the colored areas are so small as to be virtually undetectable. There also is a true "Dominant White" gene. It is caused by a dominant allele that is probably an embryonic lethal in homozygous form - although breeders of Whites dispute this! Scientists haven't located the gene on the DNA of horses yet, but it most likely does exist--some farms are breeding for it now. Please note that, despite common usage of the term, true "Albino" horses do not exist, or have never been documented to exist. A true Albino would have pink eyes - albinism is the total lack of any pigment, including the skin and eyes. Look at an albino rabbit or mouse to see a true albino animal. Horses called Albino are usually Cremello - which is a pale cream color with blue eyes, or Maximum Whites - again, with blue, not red or pink eyes. LETHAL WHITE: There is a particular genetic disorder, always fatal within a few days of birth, that occurs in certain pure white foals. It is called OVERO LETHAL WHITE SYNDROME (OLWS). It results from being homozygous for the recessive gene that - in heterozygous form - is associated with the lovely Frame Overo pinto color pattern. Overo Lethal White foals are born alive, but die soon - generally within 72 hours - after birth, due to an incompletely developed digestive tract. Any white horse older than just a few days is NOT a lethal white. Sabino and Tovero can occur in maximal form, called Maximum Sabino and Maximum Tovero. These horses appear as pure white horses from birth. They may have one or a few tiny dark spots somewhere on their body, or they may not.
For this reason, when a pure white foal is born, DO NOT DESTROY IT until you are sure that it is a Lethal White!!! The newborn foal above was originally believed to be a Lethal White, but the owners wisely waited for symptoms, which never occurred, and today he is a happy, healthy weanling colt! |
Maximum Sabino foal
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This foal, owned by Tammi Vogel, is alive today thanks to information Tammi was able to learn from this website! When the pure white foal was born, he seemed normal, but local hore folks all warned that it was only a matter of time until symptoms would start and he would die a painful death - so she should call the vet out and have the foal put down. Tammi made the vet appointment but luck was with her and the vet couldn't come out until much later. During that time, she researched Lethal White on the Internet and came upon this website, where she learned of Maximum White Overos - in this case, Maximum Sabino, judging from the mother's lacy spotting pattern. I happened to check my email early that morning and my heart jumped to my throat when I saw the photo and the diagnosis. DON'T PUT THAT FOAL DOWN! I responded and called her on the phone. We had a nice conversation and she was very relieved to be able to give the foal a chance. Three days later he was still fine, so the vet never needed to come out to do the dreaded deed. Many months later, "Go Check Whitie" (named for the frequent text message Tammi sent to her family while she was away at work) is healthy and strong, a completely normal weanling colt! | |
Up | Palomino or Flaxen Chestnut? | Brindle | Brown | White | Dun or Buckskin? Up A Quick Overview of Horse Genetics | Horse Color Genetics Charts 2 | Equine Base Colors | Dominant Horse Color Genes | The Dilution Genes | Recessive Color Genes | Miscellaneous Color Issues | Curlies (not a color, but...) |
