Speckled Horse Post 2..

This post is later than I thought it would be. But I was typing long emails and really did some damage on my arm, so I had to take time off. And Christmas, Hope you all had a good one! So “speckled” horses post number two, Paints and Pintos.

There is a different in a Paint and A Pinto, what you may ask? And it is true most non-horse people don’t know what the difference is. To make it easy a Paint horse is a Registered Breed and a Pinto is a color that can be any breed. But for technical definitions:

Pinto: A Pinto horse has a coat color that consists of large patches of white and any other color. The distinction between "pinto" and "solid" can be tenuous, as so-called "solid" horses frequently have areas of white hair. Various cultures throughout history appear to have selectively bred for pinto patterns.
Many breeds of horse carry pinto patterns. Pinto coloring, known simply as "coloured" in nations using British English, is most popular in the United States. While pinto colored horses are not a "breed," several competing color breed registries have formed to encourage the breeding of pinto-colored horses.
Pinto patterns are visually and genetically distinct from the Leopard complex spotting patterns characteristic of horses such as the Appaloosa. Breeders who select for color are often careful not to cross the two patterns, and registries that include spotting color preferences often will refuse registration to horses who exhibit characteristics of the "wrong" pattern.

Paint: The American Paint Horse is a breed of horse that combines both the conformational characteristics of a western stock horse with a pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors. Developed from a base of spotted horses with Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred bloodlines, the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) breed registry is now one of the fastest-growing in North America. The registry allows some non-spotted animals to be registered as "breeding stock Paints," and considers the American Paint Horse to be a horse breed with distinct characteristics, not merely a color breed.

So here come the different patterns with pictures. Some will be Paint's some will be Pinto's, I have had all of them.

Tobiano: The most common spotting pattern, characterized by rounded markings with white legs and white across the back between the withers and the dock of the tail, usually arranged in a roughly vertical pattern and more white than dark, with the head usually dark and with markings like that of a normal horse. i.e. star, snip, strip, or blaze.

Overo: A group of spotting patterns characterized by sharp, irregular markings with a horizontal orientation, usually more dark than white, though the face is usually white, sometimes with blue eyes. The white rarely crosses the back, and the lower legs are normally dark. The APHA recognizes three overo patterns:

Frame: The most familiar overo pattern, the gene for frame has been genetically mapped and in the homozygous form, results in Lethal White Foal Syndrome (LWFS). Visually-identified frames have no health defects connected to their color, and are characterized by ragged, sharp white patches on the sides of the body, leaving a "frame" of non-white color that typically includes the topline.
Sabino: Often confused with roan or rabicano, sabino is a slight spotting pattern characterized by high white on legs, belly spots, white markings on the face extending past the eyes and/or patches of roaning patterns standing alone or on the edges of white markings.



Splashed white: The least common spotting pattern, splashed whites typically have blue eyes and crisp, smooth, blocky white markings that almost always include the head and legs. The tail is often white or white-tipped, and body markings originate under the belly and extend "upwards".


Tovero: spotting pattern that is a mix of tobiano and overo coloration, such as blue eyes on a dark head. Solid: A horse otherwise eligible for registration as a Paint that does not have any white that constitutes a recognized spotting pattern.

I hope I did not bore you to death and that you enjoy the posts!

Speckled Horse?

So a friend of mine I was emailing said there were speckled horses. This made me chuckle, and I have to admit I chuckled even more when she said it was a horse that was more than one color. It is a cute thought. And I suppose technically it is a speckled horse when it’s an Appaloosa. But as most horse people know there is more than one way a horse can have more than one color. But I do assume my sweet friend means ones that have big differences in colors instead of just markings.

So I submit for my friend, some pictures of “speckled” horses.

First the Appaloosa. Did you know that in 1975 Idaho designated this breed of horse as their state horse? I am not kidding. And App’s have several different color patterns and here they are:

Leopard - white pattern exhibited to an extreme with base colored spots of various sizes covering most of the body.
Few Spot Leopard - base color is nearly obscured by its Appaloosa white patterning covering up to 90% of its body. Horse may exhibit patches of color on the heads, knees, elbows, flanks (called "varnish marks"). Some may have as few as only one or two spots.
Snowflake - white spots, flecks, on a dark body. Typically the white spots increase in number and size as the horse ages.
Varnish - dark points (legs and head) and some spots or roaning over a light body. May occur in conjunction with another spotting style and change with age. Often starts out as a solid colored horse that gets more white as it ages, but is not a gray.
Frost - similar to varnish but the white hairs are limited to the back, loins, and neck. May occur in conjunction with another spotting style and change with age. Often starts out as a solid colored horse that gets more white as it ages.
Blanket - 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.
Snowcap - 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.

Funny enough I own or have owned an example of each of the color types. So here come the pictures.

Leopard



Few spot Leopard



Snowflake



Varnish



Frost



Blanket



Snow Cap




I will do a post tomorrow on the other “speckled” horses Paints/Pintos.

The Cowboy Answers.

Sara asked me a very good question in my comments section so I thought I would reply in a post, so everyone (or anyone who is reading my humble piece of blog space) could see.


Sara said...
Okay, I know nothing about horses, so I have some questions. (Maybe you could do an FAQ one day!)

1. Why do you have to check for a tattoo?
2. What is rain rot?
3. What is whickering?


Tattoos - Thoroughbred, Appaloosa, Quarter Horses, Arabians & Standardbreds any of these racing breeds can have a lip tattoo if they were raced. Standardbreds may have a freeze brand instead. This is a way to be certain you have the correct horse, as papers and other things are very easy to fake, and race horses of any breed are worth a great deal of money especially if they are good.


Rain rot is one of the most common skin infections seen in horses. It is also referred to as "rain scald" or "streptothricosis". The organism that causes rain rot appears and multiplies in warm, damp conditions where high temperature and high humidity are present. This condition is not life-threatenin. However, while the horse has rain rot, any equipment that may rub and irritate the infected skin (such as saddles and leg wraps) should be eliminated.

While it is not a life threatening thing healthy well cared for horses usually do not get it. Or if they do get it, they don’t keep it long because their owners take the proper measures to get rid of it. When you have a horse coming from a mistreatment or abuse situation they haven’t been cared for, their immune systems are usually compromised and this is one of the things you see most commonly. I have seen it occasionally among wild horse round ups as well, but not nearly as much as in abuse horses.

A whicker or whickering is like a nicker or nickering. It is a sound a horse makes. It’s usually a soft sound lower than a whinny or a neigh, and is an affectionate sound. Mothers often do it to their foals, and often if a horse likes you or is used to seeing you often they will do it to you. One of my boys Genrul is found of putting his head on my shoulder and whickering into my ear.