Genetic Problems
One medical issue associated with the breed is the genetic disease lethal white syndrome (LWS). Also called Overo Lethal White Syndrome (OLWS) or, less often, White Foal Syndrome (WFS), it is linked to a recessive gene associated with the frame overo pattern. Horses that are heterozygous carriers of the gene do not develop the condition and are physically healthy. However, when a foal is born that is homozygous for the LWS gene, it should be humanely euthanized shortly after birth, or else will die within a few days from complications involving an underdeveloped intestinal tract. A DNA test is available for LWS so that horses who are carriers of this gene are not bred to one another. Horses can carry the LWS gene and not visibly exhibit overo coloring; cases have appeared in the offspring of both tobiano and solid-colored parents, though all cases to date are horses that had overo ancestors. LWS is also not unique to Paint Horses; it can occur in any equine breed where the frame overo coat pattern is found.
Due to the heavy influx of American Quarter Horse breeding, some Paints may also carry genetic disorders such as Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP), Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia (HERDA), Equine polysaccharide storage myopathy (called PSSM - polysaccharide storage myopathy - in Paints, Quarter Horses and Appaloosas), Malignant hyperthermia (MH) and Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency (GBED). The influence of Thoroughbred breeding puts some bloodlines at higher risk for Wobbler's syndrome.
Read more about this topic: American Paint Horse
Famous quotes containing the words genetic and/or problems:
“What strikes many twin researchers now is not how much identical twins are alike, but rather how different they are, given the same genetic makeup....Multiples don’t walk around in lockstep, talking in unison, thinking identical thoughts. The bond for normal twins, whether they are identical or fraternal, is based on how they, as individuals who are keenly aware of the differences between them, learn to relate to one another.”
—Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)
“In many ways, life becomes simpler [for young adults]. . . . We are expected to solve only a finite number of problems within a limited range of possible solutions. . . . It’s a mental vacation compared with figuring out who we are, what we believe, what we’re going to do with our talents, how we’re going to solve the social problems of the globe . . .and what the perfect way to raise our children will be.”
—Roger Gould (20th century)