Introduction For Part Two

After reading descriptions of pinto patterns in most breed books, people are usually left in a state of utter confusion because every book seems to have a very different explanation for pinto markings. To further confuse the issue, drawings which sometimes accompany these descriptions are usually wrong in the placement of spots. This article was written with the hope to bring better understanding about spotting patterns.

Photo Credit
Diamond Eyes, palomino frame-sabino overo stallion owned by Ernest and Gay Linz

Piebald and Skewbald

These days, we know so much about different colors and spotting patterns that entire books have been written on the subject, but back when colors were first described for horses, a simple name was sufficient. In the case of pinto patterns, the first two names that worked well enough to hang around were piebald and skewbald. Piebald horses or ponies are black and white, while skewbald is any other color and white.

Unfortunately, the descriptions given for piebald and skewbald are so general and vague that it leads one to believe that a pinto can have spots anywhere and in any pattern. It's nice to know that the current trend is to replace these out-of-date terms with the much more accurate spotting patterns called tobiano, frame overo, sabino overo, splash white overo, and a pattern which is a mixture of overo (any) and tobiano called tovero.

Photo Credits
Top: This is a "piebald," otherwise known as a black tobiano (I could show a photo of a black horse with any other pattern and it would still be called a piebald!); this is Drum's Royal Arts, owned by Sharon and John Tiger

Bottom: This is a "skewbald," otherwise known as a bay frame overo (I could show a photo of any colored horse except black with any pattern and it would still be called a skewbald!); this is Scotch Fizz, owned by Ronny and Michelle Stallings

Tobiano

This is the most common pinto pattern, and like overo patterns, is known to be dominant. This means that if a tobiano gene is present, the horse will have a visible tobiano pattern. There are some tobianos which are homozygous, which means all breedings from these horses will result in a spotted foal. (A homozygous tobiano has received a tobiano genes from each parent; these horses are incapable of producing a solid horse.) Recently, a test was developed which will tell whether or not a particular tobiano horse is homozygous or not. This is exciting news for those people who want a guaranteed spotted foal!

One of the most important indicators in finding out if a horse is homozygous or not is to look at the sire and dam. If either one is solid, the foal will NOT be homozygous. The foal must receive a tobiano gene from EACH parent; if it does, it will be homozygous. If it recieves only one tobiano gene--not two--it will have exhibit a tobiano pattern, but because it has one tobiano gene and one solid gene, it will have a 50%+/- chance of producing spotted foals when bred to a non-homozygous, overo or solid horse. A blood test can be administered to find out what tobiano "markers" are in the genes; the results will indicate whether or not a foal has one or two tobiano genes. Testing a tobiano to find out if it is homozygous is enormously valuable to breeders because in the past, one could only find out whether a tobiano was homozygous by keeping records of its offspring. In the past few years, more and more homozygous tobianos have been advertised, and likewise, there has been a surge in tobiano foals since breeders can now ensure that the foals they're breeding for will be spotted.

Another characteristic to look for in a possibly homozygous tobiano is the presence of ink spots, which are small round spots that appear on the white areas of the coat. It's important to note that many, but not all, ink spotted tobianos are homozygous, and not all homozygous tobianos have ink spots.

There are several distinctive characteristics of a tobiano:

• Tobianos almost always have a 'war shield' spot of color over the chest and shoulders plus a spot on each flank; occasionally only one flank spot is seen and rarely, none.
• Tobianos usually but not always have facial markings like a solid horse: star, stripe, snip, etc. (Bonnet and apron faces may suggest the horse is actually a tovero.)
• Most tobianos have mixed white and colored manes and tails or one of the two.
• The spots usually have even, non-jagged edges. They're usually smoother looking than overo patterns; however, this isn't always the case.
• The majority--but not all--tobianos have white extending over the backbone.



• Almost all tobianos have four white legs. I've seen thousands of tobianos and only a few, such as the two foals at the right, had with a solid leg; fewer still have two solid legs, and I have never seen one with three or four solid legs. I have put together a page which shows tobianos with one or more solid legs. Most have white markings on all four legs up to the knees/hocks or higher. One leg with dark color extending down to the fetlock is uncommon (with three white legs up to the knees), and two legs or more ending with pasterns is extremely rare.
• Tobianos can range in pattern from almost solid with just four white legs and a few white hairs in the mane and/or tail to almost white with just a solid-colored face where the color ends at the throatlatch.
 
• Very rarely, a tobiano can appear to be a tovero, showing classic tovero markings (tobiano pattern with an overo-looking head); a good example is Tru Bruiser, shown at the right. Studying these horse's offspring is the only way to truly indicate what pattern they are. These false toveros make identifying a horse's pattern so confusing!

Photo Credit
Spanish Dancer, showing lots of "ink spotting" on his shoulders, which is commonly found on homozygous tobianos; remember though, that ink spots do not guarantee that a horse is homozygous.
Easy Jet Too, bay tobiano stallion owned by Virdin Royse
Tobianos with one solid leg each: Annieand Odie, chestnut and bay tobianos. These rare beauties are both by the homozygous Paint stallion, Mr Double Seeker of Green Hills Ranch; photos provided by Cherie Reinheimer
Tru Bruiser, deceased black tobiano-that-looks-like-a-tovero stallion bred by Forrest Nelson of Meeker, CO and last owned by the Polo Ranch of Big Horn, WY

An Overview of Overo Patterns

These pintos are much less common than tobianos, and the reason lies in the nature of the spotting pattern. In the past, it was thought that the overo gene (of any type) was recessive. However, it is now thought that overo patterns are actually dominent like tobiano. Why is it then, that tobianos seem to outnumber overos? For the simple reason that minimally-marked tobianos are almost always still easily recognizable as a tobiano, whereas minimally-marked overos merely look like a solid horse! Although it doesn't seem like it, overos probably number about the same as tobianos, except that many of them don't express their pattern very loudly. It's not uncommon to find minimally-marked overos registered as Quarter Horses, and it's understandable then, why there are so many overo "crop-outs" from supposedly solid Quarter Horse breedings. (Likewise, some of these minimal overos are present in the Appaloosa, and many overo-appy patterns can be found if you look carefully!)

Another point worth mentioning is that many overos actually express a mixture of two or even all three types of overo genes. The fact is that many Paints are a mixed jumble of overo. This can make it quite difficult sometimes to exactly identify a horse's pattern because it is, in fact exhibiting characteristics of more than one type.

Photo Credit Blue Max, black overo stallion which I believe to be a combination of the frame and sabino pattern. To see a close-up of this horse's coat, click on his picture. Owned by James and Colleen Miller

Frame Overo

This pattern is distinctive and beautiful, especially when loudly exhibited. The name "frame" helps describe this pattern: white spots which appear on the sides of the horse with a "frame" of color surrounding the white. This pattern is found almost exclusively in a small number of North and South American breeds and is thought to have been brought over by Spanish horses.

Frame overos have their own set of distinctive characteristics:

• Although the classic frame has white on its sides, many frames have white spots that spread from the belly up to the back.
• Ninety-nine percent of all frame overos have solid color over the backbone from the withers to the tail bone.
• The majority of frames have clean, jagged-edged spots that often have spots within.
• Facial markings on frame overos are usually like normal face markings: star, strip, snip, blaze, bald, etc., but can also have bonnet and apron faces. The edges of these markings are usually smooth like regular markings.
• Most frames have solid manes and tails. Occasionally one will have white in its mane where a spot crossed over the neck, but only rare individuals will have wild half and half manes like tobianos; these horses are probably sabino-frames or toveros expressing their tobiano gene.

NOTE:I've only seen about five or ten frame overos with a few white hairs in their tails...a very rare sight indeed.

• Most frames have at least one totally solid-colored leg; many have no leg markings whatsoever. It's possible to find frame overos with four stockings but they're very uncommon.
• Frame overos are most common in the Paint horse but also show up in a number of other breeds, including Miniature horses, Tennessee Walking Horses, Saddlebreds, American Shetland ponies, mustangs and others. Here is a page showing other breeds showing the frame overo pattern
.

Photo Credit Mr. Norfleet, chestnut frame overo stallion owned by Larry and Nancy Sherriff

Sabino Overo

Sabino overo is the most common overo pattern and this usually roany, speckled pattern occurs frequently in many breeds from Tennessee Walking Horses to draft horses.

Sabinos have some characteristics similar to frame overos, but there are several recognizable differences:

• Like frames, the majority of sabinos have solid color over the backbone from the withers to the tail bone. Their pattern spreads from belly and legs upward and usually has excessive roaning and specked flecking in their coats. Crisp-edged spots are sometimes seen though, which makes some sabino and frame overos hard to tell apart.
• Most sabinos have lacy, speckled spots on their bodies with many tiny flecks of color or white near the spot edges. There are often roaned or speckled spots within larger spots. Some sabinos are very unusual looking! I have created a page to showcase some of these beautiful and uniquely marked sabinos.
• In the minimum expression, sabinos can show as little as a couple of low stockings and a star; in the extreme expression, sabinos can be pure white. These snow-white foals are sometimes mistaken as being "living lethal whites," but it's easy to tell the difference: pure-white sabinos are healthy but lethal white foals will die within two-three days of being born. Limited Edition is a perfect example of an extreme (but not all-white) sabino. Snow-white sabinos are not unusual to see in Tennessee Walkers and are getting more common in the Paint breed. Research suggests that the more white a sabino has, the higher percentage of colored offspring it will produce. This makes sense--Clydesdales are usually sabinos but although there are many with flecking on the belly, only a rare few have extreme expression; as well, minimally expressed sabinos which are registered as Quarter Horses rarely produce loud-colored offspring. If you would like to see some examples, I now have a page which shows photos of white sabinos. I have another page which shows photos of white toveros, which are sometimes mistaken as white sabinos until the they produce a tobiano when crossed with a solid!
• Sabinos are known for having wild facial markings--bonnet, apron and bald faces with roaning and flecking constitute a good ninety percent of all sabinos--it's hard to find one with the normal star, strip or snip.
• Sabinos usually have solid manes and tails if they don't have much white on their bodies; horses expressing louder sabino traits often have white in their mane where roaning crosses over the neck, and some sabinos have nearly white manes and tails, depending on how strongly the pattern is expressed.
• Unlike frames, sabinos almost always have four white legs; many "frame overos" with four white legs are usually sabinos or sabino-frame crosses.

Photo Credit
First Class, chestnut sabino owned by Frank and Lou McCoy

Splash White Overo

This is the rarest fully documented pattern; in fact, most people are completely unaware of its existance. I am fascinated by splash white horses because they are so unusual looking!

In Paint horses, splash whites are often cropouts from Quarter Horse breedings--examples include Gambling Man, Spanish Duke and Barlink Ultralite, (who is actually a Paint/Quarter Horse cross). Miniature horses and Welsh Ponies are also known to throw splash whites; a well-known splash white Welsh pony shown in the Pinto Associaion in the 1980's was The Hot Spot. Recently, a new web site went up which shows the remarkable Wild Horses of Abaco; amazingly, there are more splash whites in this small herd of horses than I've ever seen occupying the same area! I have assembled two pages showing numerous splash whites in two breeds: Miniature Horses and Paints (which aren't shown here). If you have a splash white and would like to have its photo added, please email IRC. I am especially interested in adding photos of splash whites from other breeds, such as Saddlebreds, Welsh ponies, and Finnish Drafts.

Like other patterns, splash whites have their own characteristics which make them easy to recognize even in the nearly solid individuals.

• Virtually all splash whites that I've seen have blue or silver eyes, or one of each; in the case of horses which are nearly solid, I'm not sure if this rule always applies.
• The color looks as if it was poured on from above, dribbling down the sides in smooth, tobiano-like patches.
• Unlike frame and sabino, splash whites very often have white crossing the back somewhere between the withers and tailbone.
• Almost all have white legs from the knees/hocks down, and sometimes have no color on the legs whatsoever. However, minimal splash whites will look like solid horses with seemingly "normal" leg markings and can be just a small amount of color on each leg!

• The top of the neck as well as the ears are almost always colored, but the eyes are only rarely surrounded by color. Near-solid splash whites give themselves away by having white faces with blue eyes along with four white legs.
• The spots are smooth with clearly defined edges like tobianos--not jagged like frames or sabinos.
• I was once told that all splash whites are deaf. This is not true, but there may be a higher incidence of deaf horses in the splash white line, especially in Australian-bred splash whites, where apparently they are all deaf. If anyone has any information available regarding deafness in splash whites, please email IRC. If you own a splash white, I would like to know if yours is deaf. For instance, Gambling Man is not deaf.

Photo Credit
Top: Gambling Man, black splash white stallion owned by Al Reese

Middle: Spanish Duke, black splash white stallion last owned by Bob and Deb Snyder

Bottom: Barlink Ultralite, black splash white mare owned by Margaret Courville

Tovero (Tobiano/Overo)

Breeding a tobiano to an overo will result in a foal which often has a mixture of both patterns. The parent with more white will usually pass its pattern down, but this isn't always the case. Contrary to what one might think, breeding the two different patterns together doesn't insure getting a spotted foal, but the more spotted genes present within each parent will contribute to the probability. A tobiano-overo breeding will certainly give the foal a higher chance of having very unusual markings with characteristics of both types.

In recent years, it's been discovered that toveros have a much higher ratio of producing spotted foals than overos or non-homozygous tobianos, as high as 80% or more. This has reflected very positively on producing more of these colorful horses. Toveros can produce tobianos, overos, toveros and solids. A tovero can be also homozygous for tobiano if its breeding was tovero x tobiano or tovero x tovero. Facts suggest that the more white a tovero has on its body, the higher its color production ratio will be. Therefore, the highest percent of spotted offspring is produced by toveros which are snow-white or nearly so. In the past, these all-white horses were registered as "solid," but it is now known that instead, these ghostly beauties are a goldmine for producing spotted foals!

It's sometimes difficult to spot a tovero because they often display seemingly perfect tobiano or overo patterns. Many toveros are incorrectly registered as either tobiano or overo even when they obviously exhibit characteristics of both patterns. Advertisements in magazines are also guilty of stating that a horse is a tobiano when it's obviously a tovero. However, there are some distinguishing characteristics that set toveros out from a crowd.

• 'Tobianos' with bonnet or apron faces (such as a "medicine hat" horse) or wild 'overo faces' are almost always toveros. Jagged, overo-like spots also distinguishing features of toveros.
• 'Overos' with excessive white in the mane are suspect. Excessive white on all four legs can also be an indication, though by itself, white legs isn't very helpful in identifying a tovero. Overos with a tobiano-like pattern but no white over the backbone are usually toveros and smooth looking spots without jaggies are also a tell-tale sign.
• As was mentioned in the Tobiano section, a tobiano can, on rare occasions, appear to be a tovero, showing classic tovero markings (tobiano pattern with an overo-looking head); Tru Bruiser, shown in the Tobiano section, is a good example. The only way to truly indicate what pattern these horses are is to study their offspring. So, just to make life more confusing, a few "toveros" are actually tobianos with "tovero" features!

Photo Credits
Top: Super Bear, chestnut tovero stallion owned by Jodie and Bud Keim

Bottom: Amigo Hustler, black tovero stallion owned by Lyman and Sylvia Nash

Other Pinto Patterns

The least common pinto pattern that I know of can be found extremely rarely in Icelandic ponies, but I have no information as to whether or not it is heritable. (That means, if it can be passed on or if it just pops out by mutation) This pattern looks like a tobiano but expresses chestnut where white usually falls, and a darker body color where the "normal" spots would go. I don't have any other information about this pattern, as this is the only photo I've ever seen of this coloring.

Very rarely seen in Fjord ponies is a tobiano-like pattern called Skjevet. Like the unknown pattern above, I have no other information about this coloring.

Photo Credits:
Both photos provided by Sharon Batteate

The Medicine Hat

One of the most asked about "patterns" is the medicine hat. Stemming from an American Indian origin, horses born with this coloration were thought to be sacred and were cherished in a tribe's herd.

The ideally marked medicine hat is completely white except for a "hat" of color over its ears and forehead. However, any pinto-colored horse can be labeled a medicine hat if it has the obvious "hat" markings amidst its other spots. (If you scroll up and down this page, you will find a splash white overo, another tovero, and a sabino overo which also qualify as medicine hats.)

The perfectly marked medicine hat is usually a tovero, but these horses can be overos and tobianos too.

Photo Credits:
Moon's Nimoway, a classic and perfectly marked "medicine hat," otherwise known as a chestnut tovero Miniature Horse filly bred by Beau and Brenda Marler of Landfair Miniatures

The Big Pinto Problem

Try as they might, Paint and pinto breeders have never been able to 'fix' every pinto pattern so that all breedings produce spotted offspring. Unless a homozygous tobiano is involved, there's no guarantee that a pinto breeding will result in a spotted foal. This problem is not isolated just to pintos, but plagues all 'color breeds' including Appaloosas*, Palominos, Buckskins and Cremellos. *There are homozygous leopard and snowcap Appaloosas.

When you breed a pinto with another pinto or solid, various outcomes can result depending on the pattern and genetic make-up of each paired individual.I have created a comprehensive table which shows the possible results in any pinto breeding.

When breeding for overo, it would make sense to the casual observer that to increase the odds of a loudly marked foal, one would breed two loud overos together. Usually, this is true. However, if both overos possess a frame gene, there is also a one-in-four chance of producing a lethal white foal. These unfortunate snow-white babies are either born dead or usually die within 24 hours because of incomplete digestive tracts. Because of the increased probability of a lethal white foal, it's a common practice to breed overos to solids; however, this also increases the chance for a solid foal. The fact is that a frame overo can produce a lethal white foal regardless of what it is bred to--the likelihood is highest when bred to another frame and rare when bred to any other color or pattern.

Breeding To Avoid Lethal White
Research indicates that, when bred together, splash whites have never produced a lethal white and sabinos have produced few--if any--lethal white foals. The outcome of crossing the various patterns together are listed below:*

 

Safe crosses will not result in lethal white foals. If you want to avoid lethal white, use these crosses in your breeding program.

Rare crosses will produce lethal whites on rare occasions (less than 1 in 4). These crosses are relatively safe for avoiding lethal white foals but they will occur from time to time.

1 in 4 crosses will produce lethal whites 25% of the time or one in four breedings, statistically speaking. AVOID these crosses to lower your chances of producing a lethal white foal.

 

PATTERN	sabino	splash	frame	tobiano	tovero*	solid***
sabino	safe	safe	rare	safe	safe or rare	safe
splash	safe	safe	rare	safe	safe or rare	safe
frame	rare	rare	1 in 4	rare	rare or 1 in 4	rare
tobiano	safe	safe	rare	safe	safe or rare	safe
tovero**	safe or rare	safe or rare	rare or 1 in 4	safe or rare	safe or rare	safe
solid***	safe	safe	rare	safe	safe	SOLID

* This table is reliable only when the horses are definately identified in their pattern. A large number of overos have multiple overo genes so it can be difficult to be positive that frame is not present in a supposedly "safe" breeding. Also, sabinos have very rarely produced lethal whites--however, the crosses may have had "invisible" frame genes present.
** If the tovero's overo gene is not frame, the cross is safe or rare; if the overo gene is frame, the cross is rare or 1 in 4
*** Remember that minimum frames are "invisible" so if a lethal white occurs from one of these "safe" crossings, there is a frame gene in the mix somewhere.

Although overos cannot truly be homozygous in the sense that a loud-colored foal will be produced with every breeding, knowledgeable breeders can increase the odds in their favor by doing a little homework. Whether a breeder decides to breed an overo to another overo or instead to a solid, the overo(s) to be used should exhibit as many pinto genes as possible. Once a person understands the characteristics of each pattern, it's a lot easier to see more than one pattern going on in a particular horse. The more spotting genes within each horse's makeup, the higher the odds of a well-spotted foal being produced. It can also be said that in the case of overos, the more white on the horse, the higher the probabilty for a loud foal. Don't forget when doing your match-up homework that if both horses appear to have frame genes in their multi-pinto gene blend, 25% of the foals from these crosses will be lethal white; if only one of the two multi-pinto gene horses appears to have a frame gene, a lethal white will still be produced from time to time. It's a risk you need to be aware of!

When it comes to producing guaranteed tobianos with every breeding, one merely needs to breed a homozygous tobiano to any color or pattern and the foal will be spotted. On a rare occasion, a tobiano produced from a homozygous breeding will be solid with four white legs and a few white hairs in the tail or mane, but it's still a tobiano, and depending on whether or not it is homozygous, this "solid" foal will produce spotted offspring from 50-100% of the time! It's interesting to note that, unlike overos, nearly solid tobianos produce loud-spotted foals nearly as well as tobianos which already have loud patterns. Also, research shows that if you breed tobianos back and forth, each generation will be successively whiter than the last, until you end up with a horse with a white body and a dark head, complete with a blaze!

Photo Credit
Maid of Crystal and her lovely foal owned by William and Martha Bubel; all Paint horse breeders hope that their mares will throw loud babies like this one, but unfortunately, not every breeding results in such a beautiful baby.

Game Points Ivory, a nearly white chestnut tobiano mare owned by Steve and Nan Marko

The Myths About Pinto Patterns

There are many incorrect thoughts on the subject of pinto patterns. Here are the ones I hear most:

MYTH: "Blue and silver eyes only occur on overos."

FACT: Actually, blue and silver eyes occur on horses of all patterns. Splash whites have blue or silver eyes; frames, sabinos, and toveros often have them because the hair color around their eyes is frequently white and this influences eye color, and the rare tobiano has one or two blue or silver eyes. As well, horses with blue or silver eyes are not blind! They can be more sensitive to light but they can see just fine!

Photo Creditsz
Lucy, liver chestnut splash white mare owned by Donna Johnson. (This mare is actually a registered APPALOOSA! She has Appaloosa characteristics and got the splash white through the minimal splash white blanketed Appaloosa stallion, Mighty Bright.)

MYTH: "Tobianos have white bodies with colored spots, overos have colored bodies with white spots."

FACT: All patterns range the full spectrum from being almost totally white to almost completely dark.

Interestingly, when it comes to the almost no white extremity, tobianos are almost always obviously pintos even with one spot of white--it's often around the the tail which is usually mixed white and the body color, or mixed in with the mane. However, overos with just a bit of white look like solid Quarter Horses or Thoroughbreds with a stray white marking. Add a saddle and so much for knowing what breed it is!

Photo Credits
Top:Master Bug, a nearly white chestnut sabino overo stallion owned by Tim and Amy Lewis

MYTH: "Pintos usually have 'shadowed' spots."

Photo Credits
Top: Close-up of Cherokee Indian, a bay tobiano stallion owned by Mike Gilliam and Gerry Johnson; click on the picture to see the whole horse

Bottom: Close-up of Mr. Exclusive, a bay frame overo stallion owned by Pete and Rosie Corrigan

References

Information for these articles was gathered from many sources. Countless issues of Paint Horse Journal and many other breed magazines were sifted through for information and pictures showing examples of patterns. Factual information was taken from many sources, including the most important and influential listed below:
Equine Color Genetics, by D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD, IA State University Press, printed in 1996
Horse Color, by D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD and Bonnie V. Beaver, TX A&M University Press, printed in 1983
The Mystery of Tovero, by Frank Holmes, Paint Horse Journal, December 1997, p. 130-139
A Lighter Shade of Red, (Sabinos) by Frank Holmes, Paint Horse Journal, December 1998, p. 75-83
A Wider World of Pinto Horses, by Carole Knowles-Pfeiffer, The Pinto Horse, May 1981, p. 35-38
Tobiano, Overo & Lethal White Genetics, U.C. Davis
The American Paint Horse by Glynn W. Haynes, University of OK Press: Norman, printed in 1936
Predicting Color, Part 1 by Kim Guenther, Paint Horse Journal, January 1995, p. 36-42
Predicting Color, Part 2 by Kim Guenther, Paint Horse Journal, February 1995, p. 48-54
Predicting Color, Part 3 by Kim Guenther, Paint Horse Journal, March 1995, p. 82-87

Any Questions?

I hope this two-part article has answered questions and given much-sought information about these beautiful parti-colored horses. If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me, J. Piercy by clicking on my highlighted name. 

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