Do you call them Albino Horses?

Question

I don't.

The horses I am referring to are the ones that are pink skinned and blue eyed. When you try to take a photo of them with a flash it normally comes out as a pink eyed horse (red eye).

Lizzie was asking about a name for her 'true white' albino horse and I wanted to let her in on the actual coloring facts so she could educate herself about her new horse.

She blocked me so I couldn't show her pics and explain it better when I tried to 'edit'. I must have come off snarky and I didn't mean to. That is why I am putting up this question.

Maybe to learn of something new myself.

PERLINO

I own a Perlino. He is a double dilute so he has pink skin, blue eyes and the perlinos have an orange like tint to their manes and tails plus their legs.

His Eye Color without flash

http://www.flickr.com/photos/buckinfun/2572886797/in/set-72157605579598867/

His Eye Color with flash

http://www.flickr.com/photos/buckinfun/2674853965/

continued:

Answer 1

Thanks for the info, not up to par on all the subtle differences, how has trail riding been??? I have been wondering how things have been going with your girl?

Answer 2

No there are no true albino horses. The horses have one or more patterning/color genes that make them look white.

Anything from perlinos and cremellos to maximum sabino or splash and even some fewspot appaloosas just to name a few.

Answer 3

I know nothing on this, but I do know something about reflection of light rays in human eyes.  Pigment is found in the folds of the iris and is yellow to brown.  The less pigment in an eye, the more blue light it reflects.  When an eye reflects red, there is virtually no pigment.  Green eyes have some pigment, so blue light is tinted brown to form green.  As more pigment is present in the iris, the more brown the eye appears; some appear black because of the abundance of pigment. that's in people...I'm too lazy to look things up, but I figure it's the same in horses.

Answer 4

If she blocked you for that answer then she is a little brat!! I went & read it, you were not rude in any way! I red dotted her.

Answer 5

True albinos have pink or red eyes.  Cremellos are double dilute chestnuts and lack the pink or orange in their manes.  Smoky creams are double dilute blacks and are hard to distinguish from cremellos and perlinos as they sometimes look like one sometimes the other.

And all horses have red eyes in flash if it hits them right.  It is the color without a flash that matters.

Answer 6

I have always thought that an albino had NO color, they are just white, no shades of white, just white.  Look at albino alligators, rabbits, rats, snakes, etc.

They are completely void of color, but their eyes are either pink with a red pupil or the iris part is blue but the pupil is still red.

I like your Perlino's head by the way....

*EDIT*

You were not snarky, her horse has blue eyes but the pupil is not red, so it is NOT an Albino.  Don't fret it....

Lizzie said

A red glare you see often....

What does that mean? What is a red glare?  With an Albino, the red is there, it doesn't come & go.

*EDIT*

BF you saw the names she wanted to name her horse (child like), so you can see why she blocked you, she's a kid & didn't hear what she wanted.

*EDIT*

perhaps this will be of some help.  Not to me so much, but to someone with more knowledge of genetics. LOL!!

Gene: W

Alleles: W; w

        

WW: is lethal

Ww: horse typically lacks pigment in skin, hair & eyes & appears to be white.

ww: horse is fully pigmented

Ccr Ccr: both red & black pigments are diluted to pale cream.  Skin & eye color are also diluted.

(UC Davis)

Answer 7

I cant find much info on them but they are known as "genetically white horses" and apparetnly extremely rare, not be confused with sabino.

True "white" horses, especially those that carry the White or "W" gene, are rare. Most horses that are commonly referred to as "white" are actually gray horses whose hair coats are completely white.

White horses are born white, always have a white coat with no other color present, and stay white throughout their life. White horses may have blue, brown or hazel eyes.

Horses who are a light cream color are technically known as "Cream," cremello, or perlino horses. Although a white horse may look similar to a very light cremello, the colors come from different genes and produce different colors in their offspring. Cremello and perlino coat colors are produced by a dilution gene sometimes called the cream gene. A cremello always passes on a dilution gene in some form, and so produces a palomino if bred to a chestnut or a buckskin if bred to a bay. On the other hand, a white horse will pass on its white color to some foals but not at all others, and there is no in-between dilution factor involved.

he WNT 1 or "W" gene is neither a dilution gene nor a graying gene. It is a dominant gene, and thus statistically, a heterozygous white horse (Ww) bred to a horse of any other color will produce white offspring 50% of the time. Further, all "true" white horses are heterozygous for the color. This means that they have only one copy of the gene (Ww). A Ww horse will appear white, because the white (W) allele "dominates" the non-white (w) allele.

The W gene has been mapped to the equine KIT gene and may be produced in different horse breeds by different mutations on assorted exons. The roan, sabino-1 (SB1, which may also produce entirely white horses, but by a different genetic pathway), and tobiano genes also trace to the KIT gene, but in independent regions and DNA tests can distinguish between these colors.

If a horse has two white genes (homozygous white or WW), it is generally considered a lethal gene and the ensuing foal will die in the womb. It is not known at present why this happens, but the end result is that there are no true albinos in the horse world.

Because the chance of breeding a live white foal is the same (50% probability) whether a white horse is bred to a white horse or to a colored horse, a breeder breeding for white coloration is advised to breed to a non-white horse to eliminate the risk of fatal homozygous white.

    see also "Lethal White" below

Statistically, if you breed...

    * Colored Stallion X Colored Mare: Colored foal

    * Color Stallion X White Mare (or vice versa): 50% of foals will be white, 50% will be colored

    * White Stallion X White Mare: 50% foals will be white (Ww), 25% will be another color (ww), 25% will have the lethal homozygous trait (WW) and die in the womb.

Albinism

True albino animals have a white coat, mane, and tail, with pink skin and pink eyes. However, there is no reported case of a true albino horse. Albinism in horses appears to be linked to lethal traits and albino foals do not survive. Therefore, all living "albino" horses actually have blue or brown eyes and thus are white horses, not true albinos.

In horses, the white or "W" gene is known to be responsible for the absence of pigment which is usually referred to as albinism. The theory that "dominant white" is lethal in horses--when the W gene is homozygous (WW)--was first proposed as a theory in 1953 and after 15 years of test breeding, was confirmed in 1969. The same group of researchers found that the WW gene complex was also lethal in Dexter cattle, platinum foxes, and bluefrost minks.

The American Albino Registry was originally formed to register white and cream-colored horses. However, living white horses are never true albinos, so as the genetics of dominant white and lethal white became better understood, the registry renamed itself the American White Horse and American Creme Horse Registry.

Answer 8

No such thing as a true albino horse.

Answer 9

The lethal white isn't caused by the same mechanism as albino, so no, it's not the same.  And as far as I can research, albino isn't a mutation that occurs in horses.  Lots of others do, though, such as the double dilute gene!

Answer 10

No. Call them creamed colored horses. Albino is not a color in horses. Eye color is from peddigree.

Answer 11

Do  not worry about it at all, she just did not get the answer she wanted and got mad,..you did not say or do anything wrong..

the albino horse comes from the genes of Grey and black horses, for lack a better name back in the cowboy days, were called Albinos

the color of any horses eyes are the true color without the flash, most horses eyes will tint red to a flash when photo is taken......

If you ever watch the Western Channel on cable, and listen to all the true facts of the cowboy days and horses, Bob Bozeman has pulled true facts and said, the Albino horse does not exists in name of a breed, only the name they were called in the early early cowboy days, as back then all solid white horses were called Albinos, while in fact, they were not true white, yet bred of a white horse, black horse or a Grey horse, the mixture of coloring from the breeds produced the white horses......and this a true fact from the western days.

It is pigment of the genes from the two different colors of the parents.

but, you know, have you ever watched old westerns, .like Flicka or Thunderhead...they are good movies, and the mom was a chestnut, and pop was white, and the colt came out solid white, and they always called the colt an Albino.......

funny how horses or dogs gets stuck with names of breeds, and they seem to filter down.....

Answer 12

That's what you get for trying to help someone out I guess. Pshh... You're completely correct in what you told her btw.

I find myself saying this more and more everyday. People hear what they want to hear... If you say one thing they don't agree with it's SO much easier for them to block you out then listen up and admit to their faults.

I saw the Question...Another little tweenie added to my RD club.

Answer 13

Don't forget Maximal Sabinos...

Answer 14

you were correct in your statement,just chalk it up to people not doing their research.

the American Albino Association was superseded by the worldwide white horse registry with a division for cremallo and perlino horses and were called the American creme horse association.in the 1970s the American albino association became the White horse association.