| Southwest Spanish Mustang Association |
| Preserving The Purest Spanish Mustangs In Existence Today |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Colorbook 2 |
| The patterns of white hairs and patches do not interact as do the color factors. Instead, each is independent and as a result they can occur in any and all combinations |
| Paint or Pinto spotting is characterized as nonsymmetrical white areas on the body of the horse. Several distinct patterns are characteristic of this group. |
| Tobiano, (ToTo ) A dominant that causes white on the legs, and vertical white spots on the body that cross the topline somewhere between ears and tail. The heads are usually colored, and eyes are usually dark |
| Gene TO: Tobiano Spotting Pattern Several different white spotting patterns exist in horses, but so far only that of tobiano has been clearly shown to be conditioned by a single gene. Tobiano spotting, symbolized by TO, is a variable restricted pattern of white hair with underlying pink skin which can occur with any coat color. The pattern is present at birth and stable throughout life. In general, white extends from the neck crest, withers on top of the croup in an apparent top-to-bottom distribution on the body. The white areas may merge to form an extensive white pattern of generally smooth outline. The legs are white, but the head is usually dark except for a facial marking pattern. |
| Patterns Of White Hairs And White Patches |
| Sabino May well be polygenic and causes abundant white on the legs, and then creeps up as belly spots and body spots that are usually flecked and roaned. Usually the head is largely white, as well. |
| In the minimum expression, sabinos can show as little as a couple of low stockings and a star; in the extreme expression, sabinos can be pure white. These snow-white foals are sometimes mistaken as being "living lethal whites," but it's easy to tell the difference: pure-white sabinos are healthy but lethal white foals will die within two-three days of being born. |
| White (WW ) is a dominant gene that is lethal to homozygous embryos. True white horses are white with pink skin and dark eyes. Some have a few small spots of color in skin or hair, but most do not. |
Why some men are single! ...sheeesh!!!
| Subtypes of spotting patterns can occur with some of these genes. The Medicine Hat pattern is one of these, and the horses are largely white, with color remaining on the ears, tail base, chest, and flank. War Bonnets are whiter, with colored ears and very little else. |
Sabino Overo
Sabino overo is the most common overo
pattern.
Sabinos have some characteristics similar
to frame overos, but there are several
recognizable differences:
Like frames, the majority of sabinos have
solid color over the backbone from the
withers to the tail bone. Their pattern
spreads from belly and legs upward and
usually has excessive roaning and
specked flecking in their coats.
Crisp-edged spots are sometimes seen
though, which makes some sabino and
frame overos hard to tell apart.
Most sabinos have lacy, speckled spots
on their bodies with many tiny flecks of
color or white near the spot edges. There
are often roaned or speckled spots within
larger spots. Some sabinos are very
unusual looking!
Research suggests that the more white a
sabino has, the higher percentage of
colored offspring it will produce. This
makes sense--
Sabino overo is the most common overo
pattern.
Sabinos have some characteristics similar
to frame overos, but there are several
recognizable differences:
Like frames, the majority of sabinos have
solid color over the backbone from the
withers to the tail bone. Their pattern
spreads from belly and legs upward and
usually has excessive roaning and
specked flecking in their coats.
Crisp-edged spots are sometimes seen
though, which makes some sabino and
frame overos hard to tell apart.
Most sabinos have lacy, speckled spots
on their bodies with many tiny flecks of
color or white near the spot edges. There
are often roaned or speckled spots within
larger spots. Some sabinos are very
unusual looking!
Research suggests that the more white a
sabino has, the higher percentage of
colored offspring it will produce. This
makes sense--
Sabinos are known for having wild facial markings--bonnet, apron and bald faces with roaning and flecking constitute a
good ninety percent of all sabinos--it's hard to find one with the normal star, strip or snip.
Sabinos usually have solid manes and tails if they don't have much white on their bodies; horses expressing louder sabino
traits often have white in their mane where roaning crosses over the neck, and some sabinos have nearly white manes and
tails, depending on how strongly the pattern is expressed.
Unlike frames, sabinos almost always have four white legs; many "frame overos" with four white legs are usually sabinos or
sabino-frame crosses.
| Roan is a dominant gene (RnRn ) that is lethal to homozygous embryos, so only heterozygotes exist. Roan is a mixture of white hairs into the body coat, but usually does not involve the mane, tail, lower legs, and head. The roan pattern changes:
Frosty is similar to roan, only the mane and tail are also roaned. |
| Frame Overo (OvFF ) is a dominant that causes horizontal white marks on the body and neck, lots of facial white as well as blue eyes, and usually leaves the feet colored. |
| Frame |
Frame Overo
This pattern is distinctive and beautiful, especially when loudly exhibited. The name "frame" helps describe this pattern:
white spots which appear on the sides of the horse with a "frame" of color surrounding the white. This pattern is found
almost exclusively in a small number of North and South American breeds and is thought to have been brought over by
Spanish horses.
Frame overos have their own set of distinctive characteristics:
Although the classic frame has white on its sides, many frames have white spots that spread from the belly up to the
back.
Ninety-nine percent of all frame overos have solid color over the backbone from the withers to the tail bone.
The majority of frames have clean, jagged-edged spots that often have spots within.
Facial markings on frame overos are usually like normal face markings: star, strip, snip, blaze, bald, etc., but can also
have bonnet and apron faces. The edges of these markings are usually smooth like regular markings.
Most frames have solid manes and tails. Occasionally one will have white in its mane where a spot crossed over the
neck, but only rare individuals will have wild half and half manes like tobianos; these horses are probably sabino-frames
or toveros expressing their tobiano gene.
This pattern is distinctive and beautiful, especially when loudly exhibited. The name "frame" helps describe this pattern:
white spots which appear on the sides of the horse with a "frame" of color surrounding the white. This pattern is found
almost exclusively in a small number of North and South American breeds and is thought to have been brought over by
Spanish horses.
Frame overos have their own set of distinctive characteristics:
Although the classic frame has white on its sides, many frames have white spots that spread from the belly up to the
back.
Ninety-nine percent of all frame overos have solid color over the backbone from the withers to the tail bone.
The majority of frames have clean, jagged-edged spots that often have spots within.
Facial markings on frame overos are usually like normal face markings: star, strip, snip, blaze, bald, etc., but can also
have bonnet and apron faces. The edges of these markings are usually smooth like regular markings.
Most frames have solid manes and tails. Occasionally one will have white in its mane where a spot crossed over the
neck, but only rare individuals will have wild half and half manes like tobianos; these horses are probably sabino-frames
or toveros expressing their tobiano gene.
| Overo Pattern pintos are much less common than tobianos, and the reason lies in the nature of the spotting pattern. In the past, it was thought that the overo gene (of any type) was recessive. However, it is now thought that overo patterns are actually dominent like tobiano. Why is it then, that tobianos seem to outnumber overos? For the simple reason that minimally-marked tobianos are almost always easily recognizable as a tobiano, whereas minimally-marked overos merely look like a solid horse! Although it doesn't seem like it, overos probably number about the same as tobianos, except that many of them don't express their pattern very loudly. Another point worth mentioning is that many overos actually express a mixture of two or even all three types of overo genes. The fact is that many paints are a mixed jumble of overo. This can make it quite difficult to exactly identify a horse's pattern because it is, in fact exhibiting characteristics of more than one type. |
| White face and leg marks occur in most breeds. These are controlled by many, many individual genes all contributing a little bit to the final marks. The various marks do have different names: |
| coronet |
| small spot on coronary band of hoof half pastern white up to pastern joint |
| pastern |
| strip |
| narrow connected star, strip, snip |
| white to bottom of knee or hock |
| stripe |
| small, thin, below level of nostrils on top of nose or upper lip |
| blaze |
| bald face extending along jaw to throat latch |
| small, thin, up on top of nasal bones |
| snip |
| chin spot |
| lower lip |
| white head |
| white up to bottom of fetlock joint, fetlock white including fetlock joint, sock white up to half of cannon bone, 3/4 stocking white 3/4 up cannon bone |
| stocking |
| paper face |
| bald face |
| star |
| wide blaze over nostrils |
| small, between eyes on forehead |
| wide connected star, strip, snip |
| apron face |
