spotted spots- what do you call them?

[Greentchr]

This is a quarter horse/appy cross. What color would you call her, and what do you call the spotted spots:) ?

[KarinUS]

Sorry no help with the original question. I was just wondering: Is this horse still growing? It seem to have kind of a unique conformation.

[Greentchr]

Sorry no help with the original question. I was just wondering: Is this horse still growing? It seem to have kind of a unique conformation.
Unique in what way? She is 7 years old in this photo Perhaps it is the way the photo was taken? I will try another photo. I was having saddle fitting problems in this photo...

[nutkin]

over here she would be classed as piebald as her predominent colour is white with black patches. I would think that her spots are leopard spots but not sure of that.

[lisae]

Her spots look like roaning to me....

[No_Angel]

the spotted bits look like dapples to me. shes sort of a dappled grey piebald:D

[iloveshearer]

wow thats interesting!!! she looks lovely though, id say she would be classed as a piebald aswell!

[KarinUS]

Unique in what way? She is 7 years old in this photo Perhaps it is the way the photo was taken? I will try another photo. I was having saddle fitting problems in this photo...


Ignore me. I am obviously clueless! :) She just looked really 'slight' in built to me (legs, hind end and coupling) so I thought maybe she is still growing into herself. :)

[Greentchr]

She just looked really 'slight' in built to me (legs, hind end and coupling) so I thought maybe she is still growing into herself. :)
I have actually thought the same in that first photo- she looks like a greyhound:) The photo was taken before we actually bought her, perhaps she was just thin? She is rather fat and sassy at the moment. She has very uncertain breeding, just a backyard breeder who did not breed for conformation or anything in particular-too many of those around here. It comes of having cheap hay, cheap land and cheap breeding fees:rolleyes: It was the first horse we had ever been around and we felt sorry for her so we bought her- I suspect that an experienced horseman (and myself at this point) would have walked away from her, but you know how us greenies are;) I think the second photo seems more true. She does have a very long back and long legs.

Thank you everyone for your colouration info: I have really wondered what to call her!

Here is a picture of one of her eyes- also unique coloration:)

[love4horses]

She has a half wall eye, wierd. But as for what she is, she is a Tovero pattern. How do I know? I found this on a website:

With tovero paint horse patterns there will be dark pigmentation around the ears, which may expand to cover the forehead and /or eyes. One or both eyes blue. Dark pigmentaion around the mouth, which may extend up the sides of the face and form spots. Chest spot(s) in varying sizes. these may also extend up the neck. Flank Spot(s) ranging in size. These are often accompanied by smaller spots that extend forward across the barrel, and up over the loin. Spots, varying in size, at the base of the tail.

[Just.Jump]

Your horse, unless you have a proving photo, is not a roan- roans have darker heads, and often have a higher concentration of the pigmented hair around the legs- obviously not something you can judge in a tovero coat pattern, however. So, this means that your horse is a gray tovero. Not completely uncommon, and usually very stunning if they hold the gray rather than fade out.

I would think that her spots are leopard spots
Nope. Leapard spots are found on "White" horses, and are either brown or black in color- NOT white fading spots on a dark background of a paint horse. I would say it's uneven greying. If anything, those are birdcatcher spots.

[Greentchr]

... So, this means that your horse is a gray tovero. ..... Leapard spots are found on "White" horses, ......If anything, those are birdcatcher spots.

So here is a rather basic question then... what is the difference between a white horse and a gray? Both are "white" in looks...

Kona (the horse in the first picture of the thread) is "white" with pink skin and pink pigment around her eyes and tail. Our other horse (an arab) is "white", but with black skin and black pigment around eyes and tail. So... is Kona white and the Arab grey? In this photo, Kona is behind the tree, the Arab (Neeka) is on the right. You can see the difference in their skin pigments.

Where does the term birdcatcher spots come from? I have not heard that before. Sounds like a passing bird did a rude thing on the horses spots:) Is this a common term or a regional term?

[KarinUS]

You got it figured out as far as white and grey goes. :)
Birdcatcher spots are called Birdcatcher spots after a horse with that name that had the spots. Let's find a link so you can see a piccie...here you go. (http://www.equinecolor.com/unusual.html)
That being said I would expect Birdcatcher spots to be more defined. The pic of your horse seems more mottled than truly spotted like birdcatcher spots would be.

[julesandjoy]

What a cute little pony. :)

Basically here's the scoop on her 'unique' coloring. She is a tovero. That means she has both overo and tobiano paint patterns. No appaloosa pattern discernable in her.

In a nutshell, she is a black horse who also has a graying gene which means her colored body hair will eventually turn white/gray. On top of graying out she is also a max white tovero. The paint patterns have 'overrun' her coloration and leave only those few colored areas. Actually she could be termed a Medicine Hat paint but technically a Medicine Hat will have dark ears which do not link to other colored parts.

The half blue eye is, I believe, fairly common. I have a red filly w/one and a half blue eyes! sylvia

[Just.Jump]

So here is a rather basic question then... what is the difference between a white horse and a gray? Both are "white" in looks...

Kona (the horse in the first picture of the thread) is "white" with pink skin and pink pigment around her eyes and tail. Our other horse (an arab) is "white", but with black skin and black pigment around eyes and tail. So... is Kona white and the Arab grey? In this photo, Kona is behind the tree, the Arab (Neeka) is on the right. You can see the difference in their skin pigments.

When I say "White", it refers to gray horses that have faded so much that they appear to have no pigment in their fur- whether or not they have pink or black muzzles/skin around the eyes. There is, quite simply, no proof of any albino horse ever being born in the world to my knowledge- but thats only to my specifications.(Albino is the only true white that there is in the world, because white is generally classified as a complete lack of pigment) My specifications would mean: not even one pigmented hair, no spots (so, to get a true idea of this, you would need to soak the horse completely or shave the coat off- most likely the latter to really prove it), and the classic RED eyes. Why red? Because blue is still pigment, no matter how pale. I have blue eyes, very pale skin, and nearly black hair naturally. So many people seem to think that a "white" (gray) horse with blue eyes and a pink muzzle classify it as albino that it's sad. There are plenty of colored horses, solidor otherwise, that have blue eyes.

The horse in the back is then, obviously, NOT white. It's a regular old piebald (think of a magpies coloring)- white is just a word we use for a visual. The arab in the front is also clearly gray.

Skin pigment around the muzzle and eyes mean nothing- *many* gray horses are mottled- black skin around the eyes and nose are almost 100% in arabs because of the climate and weather conditions of where they originated- the deserts.

So, any horse you see that you want to say is white, is really a gray. Think lipizzaners.