Who believes these horse myths?

Question

Riding double will injure a horses kidneys.

Riding bareback will hurt a horse.

Having too many foals makes a mare sway backed

If you are too heavy for a horse you can make it sway backed

Horses with 4 white socks aren't as good as horses without white socks.

The white in paint horses comes from draft horses.

White horses are albinos.

If you believe any of these explain why,

Answer 1

Having too many foals makes a mare sway back, or heaviness.

In older horses weight bearing over the years and multiple foals gradually stretch the ligament tissues of the vertebral column, allowing the column to sag into the swaybacked position.

Answer 2

well there are on albino horses. and i don't believe one of them

Answer 3

1. I really doubt it injures them but I doubt it is very comfy on some horses.

2. uh..no

3. Kinda makes sense in theory but I doesnt.

4. Again makes sense in theory but no

5. WTH?

6. again...no

7. so many people s***w this one up. again no

Answer 4

Having multiple foals can produce swayback.  While swayback can be a spinal deformity that a horse is born with, the repeated stretching of the supportive ligaments of the back that multiple pregnancies involves can produce an acquired swayback.

In addition, old age causes it due to weakening of back ligaments, overuse injuries to back muscles and ligaments can cause swayback to develop, and premature work of an immature horse can cause it.

There are both congenital and acquired bases for this deformity.

The point I get from your link is that no real limits on function are associated with the congenital deformity as was always thought to be the case.

Answer 5

A heavy rider -will- hurt a horse if they ride bareback too long. The seat bones put too much concentrated pressure on the back muscles.

Little kids under 100lbs, not so much, unless they're bouncing around.

ETA: I think some people need to educate themselves a bit on a what the seat bones are and where they are, and the PSI applied by a bareback rider versus a rider using a saddle.

Or maybe just read a bit? This was covered by EQUUS not that long ago.

Answer 6

None.

Answer 7

To an extent, i believe that being too heavy for a horse can make it sway backed.

But only if you started riding the horse at a very young age and continued riding it throughout its life, it will probably become sway backed by the time it is 11ish, if it hasn't blown a knee by then!

But you would have to be over 200lbs for what i am talking about.

And about the sock thing... i LOVE horses with 4 white socks... but i HATE cleaning the white legs. (i have a paint with 4 white STOCKINGS... it is a pain!) so i guess in all reality i don't believe the myths, i just believe in things relating to them. lol

Answer 8

Having too many foals makes a mare sway backed

That's the only one I SEMI agree to.  Just because my mare does not have the topline she used to when she was younger and didn't have any foals.  *shhhhhhh...I'm in denial that she is getting old!!*

The white in paint horses comes from draft horses.

I don't know anything about this one...

**edit...my mare does have a long back too.

Answer 9

Hmm, I don't believe in any of them.

I did think there could be albino horses (but not that white meant albino), mostly because we had a mare when I was a kid that was white with pink skin, and one pink eye. The other eye was crystal blue. I thought she was an albino. She sunburned like crazy...

However, after doing some research, including, but not limited to the article you posted I find that it can't be since the WW gene combination (which would make a true albino) is lethal in horses. Interesting, and I learned something new.

Answer 10

no thies myths only turn people anganst eachother into fights and it is anoying!

Answer 11

The kidneys are well protected

Horses can carry 1/3 of their own weight easily

Any rider bouncing around can hurt the horses back

Broodmares CAN appear sway backed as their tummy drops because they have no time in between pregnancies to tighten the muscles

Often a white sock means the hoof is white as well - some believe that white hooves are not as strong as dark ones.

Registered Paints are basically QH with colour - no draft

Albinos are the only true white - which makes them very rare as they have NO pigment - red/pink eyes. They have a great deal of health issues and don't live long.

Answer 12

number three and number 7.

number three because if you continuously breed a mare, then she will become it because then her back cant be worked because nobody could ride her. her stomach would sag alot more. thats why alot of overweight people have their backs sort of curved, you know?

and number 7 is kind of accurate. there are deficientcies is the genetics of some horses, which produces albinos, but not white horses. most 'white' horses are actually grey, they were born dark but are now white looking. actual albinos are born pure white and stay white throughout their life.

the rest is BS, lol, who thinks that about socks??

they are just markings lol.

Answer 13

well riding double puts the second person right where the kidneys are and it might hurt, i guess do it enough and will cause more then just a temp sore.

ummm the mare thing could be if the horse in question starts out with a longer back and then they will be more prone to swayback, but even my short back mare after her bunch of babies (pervous owners used her as a brood mare) she had a slight swayback.

i never heard of the riding bare back hurts the horse. so dunno. but dont think that one is as true as some of the others.

well color of the horse has nothing to do with it other then the persons perferance and how long they have to scurb on their knees before a show. hehe maybe thats why?

the sway back comes more from time and wear and tear then anything else i believe, could be wrong. but i think that's the case.

i do believe (but i havent read it for a while) that to be considered a white horse their skin had to be a cetin color, but most white horses(ones that look white) arent, they're gray.  . . so maybe the skin color and the albinos have somethign to do with each other, it's another one that i've never heard before exactly put that way so i wouldnt believe as fast as some others.(aka i've never heard it in the last 16 years so i dont think its true)

i dunno if that explains it that well, but that's just mah 2 cents again.

Answer 14

Well i don't believe any of those but heres one...Does an Overo (paint)  carry the lethal white gene?  

Answer 15

Yes the extra pressure of an added person can cause some kidney discomfort but as long as you stop riding double when you realize that your horse is having kidney pain the kidney's should heal just fine. This isn't true in every horse.

Riding bareback too much can cause the muscles in a horses back to atrophy but it isn't true in every horse.

Having too many foals can make a mare appear sway backed but it is actually caused by a loosening of the muscles and tendons across the mares lower back and croupe. These muscles normally loose tension and tone before each pregnancy. Just as in humans the more babies you have the harder it is for these muscles to regain the elasticity.

A person that is too heavy can cause back injury too a horse. Usually this is coupled with a horse that is already weak in the back. But it is not true that the horse would have become swayback regardless of the rider. If you strengthen the back muscles it should keep the back from becoming swayed.

White socks does not make a horse a bad horse. White socks are more prone to Scratches, which is an infection and kind of like little scaley growths on the backs of the pasterns. This is easily treated. Also white feet can have some issues as far as being softer and more prone to cracks. This is not true in every horse though.

I have never heard of the white in paint horses coming from drafts. I don't believe it though. Paint horses are "crop outs" from the Quarter Horse. Basically a quarter horse was accidently born with a little extra white and they couldn't be registered because of it. So QH people decided they liked the extra white and made their own breed. Look all they way back to the original foundation horses of the Paint horse breed and you will see that most of them are fully registered Quarter Horses that threw a lot of white in their babies. Draft horse crosses are not allowed to be registered in the Paint Horse Breed.

White horses are caused by one of two things. A Paint or Pinto horse that is called a maximum sabino, meaning that their skin has almost no pigment. Usually if you shave these horses down you will find pigment somewhere on the horse.  The second case is when a grey horse turns white with age. These horses have dark skin. A true albino horse is caused by Overo Lethal White Syndrome. all horses born with this syndrome die within 24 hours. These horses usually are missing parts of their bowels, and have nervous system issues, sometimes other organs are effected.  There is no such thing as a live albino horse.

Hope that answers your question.