The most controversial of colors: Why do Quarter Horses get pinto markings?

Splash Of Silver, owned by Kirk and Kristy Nielsen of Malad City, Idaho, is a bay with splash white markings.

From Quarter Horse Coat Colors and America’s Horse

Is a foal born to two American Quarter Horses that has big white spots on its body an American Quarter Horse? Traditionally, the answer was no, but in 2004, AQHA’s “excessive white” rule was rescinded, allowing horses with these markings to be registered. Any horse with excessive white – see Rule 205(d) in the AQHA Handbook – will have a notation on its registration certificate saying “This horse has white markings designated under AQHA rules as an undesirable trait and uncharacteristic of the breed.”
The only pinto pattern known to exist in American Quarter Horses is the overo (oh VEHR-oh) pattern. This includes subpatterns splash and sabino. The other pinto patterns, tobiano and tovero (a mix of tobiano and overo) have yet to be discovered in the Quarter Horse breed.

Get answers to all your coat color questions with AQHA’s Quarter Horse Coat Colors report. This full-color, 20-page report is packed with easy-to-understand information about all 17 recognized colors.

Overo most commonly describes frame, which is a coloration that looks like a frame of color surrounding a patch of white. Horses with this pattern usually have white on the face and at least one dark leg. The white on the horse’s body rarely crosses over the horse’s spine, and the spots are usually fairly jagged.

Splash white horses look as if they were picked up and dipped in white paint. The white begins at the bottom (legs and lips) and moves upward. The markings can vary from normal markings (sometimes as little as just a snip) to much more extensive markings. Markings are usually crisp with smooth edges, and blue eyes are very common.

A master of disguise, sabino (sah-BEE-no) produces an extremely variable amount of white spotting from normal socks to wildly colored pintos. Its most common characteristics include markings on the face from snip to bald face, almost always accompanied by a white spot on the lower lip or chin; leg white; and roan hairs interspersed in the coat. The roaning is not necessarily evenly spread over the horse’s body. Sabino differs from true roan by the amount of white – true roans are dark only on their head and legs. It is also different from a rabicano, as the latter always affects the tailhead, producing the “skunk tail” effect that we talked about in “Skunk Tailed.”

Patches of white on the leg (especially the knee) unconnected to white markings is another sabino trait.

Get answers to all your coat color questions with AQHA’s Quarter Horse Coat Colors report. This full-color, 20-page report is packed with easy-to-understand information about all 17 recognized colors.

In its most minimal form, sabino presents itself as a set of normal-height white socks and white on the face – markings so minimal one would never think the horse could produce pinto when crossed with the right mate.

Color Facts

• Early directors of AQHA and old-time horsemen thought paint markings were a sign of mongrel breeding, thus prompting them to exclude such horses from the registry.

• A foal from two American Quarter Horses that shows undesirable white must be parentage-verified through DNA typing.

• Breeding two overo horses can cause a recessive trait called Lethal White Syndrome. This is an all-white foal that is born with intestinal tract abnormalities and dies shortly thereafter. If a breeder crosses two frame overo horses that are heterozygous carriers, there is a 25 percent chance of producing a lethal white foal (homozygous carrier). If an overo carrier is bred to an unaffected horse, there is no possibility of producing a lethal white. The University of California-Davis has a test available to determine if a horse is a carrier.

• The 1961 Rondo Leo stallion Mr Gunsmoke was famous for siring horses with sabino characteristics. He is the sire of National Reining Horse Association Hall of Famer Hollywood Smoke and grandsire of famous reining stallion Trashadeous.

Wall of Honor

Introducing your new Wall of Honor Plaza just in time for the holiday shopping season!  The Wall of Honor Plaza, showcasing bricks from the Wall of Honor Brick Program, offers many exciting opportunities to memorialize and honor people or horses with commemorative medallions or pavers.  These items are an ideal gift for your favorite horse or horse person.  
 The American Quarter Horse Foundation is offering three gift ideas:

Gift Medallions at $350 each
Hall of Fame Medallions at $1,000 each
Plaza Pavers at $5,000 each. 
 
 Please click here or call the Foundation at (806) 378-5036 to learn more and to order your medallion or paver today.
 
 Proceeds from your purchase will help us protect and serve our horses.  We hope you will consider a medallion or paver to celebrate a horse, honor a life and complete your holiday shopping.