Since it is an overo, the frame overos are characterized by their blue eyes and the extensive white markings and patches on the head. The splashed white overo is rare and, interestingly, they have high chances of deafness. Their coat color demarcations are always crisp and clear, often with little to no roaning. Most overo horses have solid colored backs, but for the splashed whites, the white color will often reach the horse’s topline.
However, the main difference between the splashed white and the overos is in the level of the white spots. Similar to overo paint horses, the splashed white overos have splashes of white markings on their underbellies, legs, heads, and even the blue eyes, the reason why they are considered overos. The color-line borders are often scattered and irregular but often look bordered, meaning that the borderlines are often made of mixed colored hairs, having both the solid color and the white color. Overos can also be apron-faced, bald-faced, or bonnet-faced, and either one or both eyes will often be blue. However, the white marking found on their undersides and heads rarely crosses to their backs. Unlike tobianos who have clearly defined white patterns on the body, the overo horses often have scattered white marking on their legs, heads, and underbellies, making them look like they had a good play in a low pool of white paint enough to splash on their underbellies and their heads. Therefore, for a horse to be of the tobiano coat color, it has to have the genotype “Toto” which shows the presence of one dominant and one recessive tobiano gene respectively. The tobiano gene has a color pattern mainly manifested by the dominant gene “TO”. This color pattern is often prevalent in most pony and draft horse breeds. Therefore, tobiano color patterns often constitute mainly solid body colors with the bright white color occasionally appearing on the heads, backs, or feet. Regardless, every toby horse pattern has unique patterns as evidenced by the well-defined boundaries and color articulation of their multicolored tails and manes. Other tobianos will have solid-colored heads with either a white strip, star, blaze, or snip.
Therefore, for a horse’s coat color pattern to be formed, it takes the combination and blending of all these color genes to give the final color.Īlso known as “Toby,” the tobiano is a Paint horse with a solid-colored head and white coats over their backs and on the legs, often below their hocks and knees on multiple legs if not all the legs. They can also inherit other color genes like the cream dilution gene that is responsible for the lightening of the coat color. However, horses might also inherit other color genes such as the dominant white gene called sabino-1, which is greatly responsible for the formation of white patches and whitening of other horse breeds. The color genes inherited from the parents always have either red or black color genes, and either of these will form the base color of the horse’s coat. Paint horses can be of pure solid colors. However, Paint horses do not need to have white patches to be paint horses. For Paint horses, it is always a solid or darker color with white spots or patches. Many times, the coats are described as colored, which implies that the horse might be double-colored or more. The genes they inherit determine not just their color, but also many more body features and characteristics. The different variations in horse coat coloration all come down to the horse’s genetics.Ī horse’s coat color is defined by the set of color chromosomes received from both parent horses. Why Do Different Paint Horse Colors and Patterns Exist? To clearly distinguish the two from each other and promote the welfare of the American Paint horse, the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) was formed. Physically, it might share some characteristics with other horse breeds such as the American Quarter Horse, but there is a major difference when it comes to the colors of the American Paint horse.Īmerican Quarter horses have fewer white markings on their coats compared to the American Paint horse. What Qualifies as an American Paint Horse?Ī paint horse is a North American horse breed officially recognized as the American Paint Horse.Why Do Different Paint Horse Colors and Patterns Exist?.
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