Horse Color White Patterns - Appaloosa

A favorite by many due to their colorful coats and tenacious nature, the appaloosa has long been appreciated for being different.

White color patterns are not linked to the color of the horse, they are actually a pattern on top of the base coat. The appaloosa patterns are expressed through the Leopard Complex and can appear on both chestnut and black base coats.

Appaloosa

• Two or more patterns can occur in the same horse
• Varies a great deal in expression

Spotted Terminology

There are three different traits characteristic of the Appaloosa patterns.

• They can occur on solid coats with other leopard complex patterns
• They are not a reliable way to determine pattern
• Rarely are all three displayed together in the same animal

• A minimal expression of the gene
• Small dots on skin around mucus membranes, on skin with pigment dots are pink or white, and on pink skin they are dark colored

• Sclera of the eye is commonly white
• Also called ‘walleyed’

• Can occur with any color legs

Types of Appaloosas

• Dalmatian spots
• White coat with dark spots all over body
• Spots can be concentrated on head and legs

• Maximum expression of Leopard complex
• Mostly white with a few colored spots usually on flank, elbow, neck and head

• Can be mistaken for roan
• White hairs scattered along topline

• Can be mistaken for birdwatcher spots
• Colored horses have small spots of color randomly over body
• Spots can enlarge as horse ages

• Not associated with classic roan pattern
• Born colored and grow lighter with age
• Not related to graying gene
• Horse retains some color over bony parts

• Most common and well known
• White blanket over hindquarters
• Can have clean edges or be roaned
• Most have dark spots on blanket field
• Spots may move and change with each shedding

• Similar to blanket except blanket field doesn’t have spots on it
• White area can extend across most of body
• Usually retain color on head, legs, flanks and elbows

Learn more about horse colors

Horse Color White Patterns - Appaloosa was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 9:37 am and is filed under Horse Basics.

2 Responses to “Horse Color White Patterns - Appaloosa”

1. Dedra Says:

   April 7th, 2008 at 4:01 am

   I have a coming up one year old (technically a yearling) filly who was the product of an accidental breeding between a POA and a buckskin quarter horse. I never saw the dam, but this filly was a reddish color with white spotting/frosting throughout the body and a blanket on the rump. NOW…she is slicking out her winter coat and has a bluish coat of spotting over white, the mottled skin on her rectal vaginal area, striped hooves(now that i know to see a difference) the white sclera in her eye, and a rat tail/sparse mane. Do I have a weird one?

2. Base Horse Coat Colors - Chestnut Says:

   November 17th, 2008 at 8:01 pm

   [...] from evelynbelgium Chestnut base with an appaloosa white pattern gene Piebald Pinto / [...]

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