This is a list of markings, with descriptions and or definitions.
N A indicates that no definition could be found for the marking.
Appaloosa Markings:
General Markings
Face Markings courtesey of "Registering Your American Paint Horse", provided by the American Paint Horse Association, in 1994
Leg Markingscourtesey of "Registering Your American Paint Horse", provided by the American Paint Horse Association, in 1994
Paint Markingscourtesey of "Registering Your American Paint Horse", provided by the American Paint Horse Association, in 1994
SABINO -
MEDICINE HAT -
FRAME OVERO -
SPLASH OVERO -
WHITE BLANKET - light body with dark back and/or hindquarters
SPOTTED BLANKET - white blanket with dark spots
EXTENDED BLANKET - a spotted blanket that extends forward almost to the shoulders and down to the hocks on the back legs
LEOPARD - all over white background with dark spots
LOIN BLANKET - a spotted blanket that is well forward, covering the loins of the horse
SEMI-LEOPARD - similar to a Leopard, but turns back to a solid color at the front of the horse, such as at the neck and front legs.
SNOWFLAKE - all over dark background with white spots
FROST/FROSTED TIPS - dark background with light colored or white spots on loins and hips
MARBLE - starts as a dark coat that fades to almost white, except some markings on legs and face
NO SPOT BLANKET/SNOCAP - a blanket, similar to spotted blanket, that is solid white
LACE BLANKET - a solid white blanket that is rather tattered, or lacey around the edges, often quite small
PEACOCK SPOTS - the spots on these horses are surronded by a shading, the dark skin underneath the light coat showing through, making them look similar to the spots on a peacock's tail
PATCHY BLANKET - a very patchy, ragged looking white blanket, often rather small
MINIMAL BLANKET - a very small, white blanket, well on the top of the rump
BLACK POINTS - black shading along legs, sometims along muzzle, around eyes, and on the tips of the ears
CHUBARY SPOTTED - N A
COUNTER SHADING - a shading where the top of the horse is darker, with a lighter stomach, and frequently a lighter muzzle. Responsible for sooty/smutty colorings.
DAPPLES - where the horse is fading from a darker color to a lighter color, circular shapped spots of the new color, or late in the process, circles of the old color
DORSAL STRIPE - a stripe running down the middle of the horses back, usually black
FJORD PINTO/SKJEVET - an irregularly bordered oblong white patch running diagnolly from the neck, over the whithers, and downward to the shoulders, sometimes being associated with smaller spots on the back and rib areas. White ticking and white legs are also found on such horses. Believed to be extinct.
FLAXEN - a pale yellow color
GIRAFFE - a rare marking similar to that of a reticulated giraffe pattern, where there is a pattern of lighter colored hair in lines, making patch shapes. Usually along the topline, and usually found in miniature horses.
REVERSE DAPLING - similar to dapples, but dark on the inside and light on the outside, the opposite of usual dapples.
ROAN - a uniform mixture of individual white and colored hairs. the roan is born roan or sheds to roan after the foal coat. In some cases, the color changes little after the inital shedding, however, in some cases they may "roan out" to almost white in later years
STRIPPED HOOVES - seen frequently on Appaloosas, the hooves have vertical stripes of different shades
TRANSVERSE STRIPE - a stripe, usually black, that runs across the whithers
WHITE SCLEREA - seen frequently on Appaloosas, the eyes have a white circle, like that of a human
WHITHERS STRIPE - see transverse stripe
ZEBRA STRIPE - horizonatal stripes on the legs or a darker color, often black, usually above knees
APRON-FACED - similar to bald faced, but apron shaped, with it being more narrow at the top and becoming wider at the bottom to include the nostrils
BALD-FACED - a very broad blaze that can extend around the eyes and down to the upper lip and around the nostrils
BLAZE - a broad, vertical white marking extending the length of the face
BONNET-FACED - N A
SNIP - any white marking, usually vertical, between the nostrils
STAR - any white marking on the forehead
STRIPE - a small, thin line running down the length of the face
WHITE FACE - see Bald-Faced
ANKLE - a white marking extending from the top of the hoof to the top of the ankle
CORONET - a narrow white marking above the hoof and covering the coronet band
HALF-PASTERN/SHORT WHITE PASTERN - a white marking extending from the top of the hoof up to and including half of the pasterns
HALF-STOCKING/SHORT SOCK - a white marking extending from the top of the hoof to the midway point of the cannon bone
PASTERN/WHITE PASTERN - a white band that includes the coronet and pastern
SOCK - a white marking extending from the top of the hoof to halfway up the cannon bone on the foreleg or halfway to the hock on the back of the leg
STOCKING/LONG SOCK - a full white marking to the knee on the foreleg and to the hock on the hind leg
OVERO -
1. The white usually will not cross the back of the horse between it's whiters and its tail.
2. Generally, at least one and often all four legs will be dark.
3. Generally, the white is irregular, rather scattered and splashy, and is often referred to as calico.
4. Head markings are distinctive, often bald-faced, apron-faced, or bonney-faced.
5. An overo horse may be either predominantly dark or white.
6. The tail is usualy one color.
TOBIANO -
1. The dark color usually will cover one or both flanks.
2. Generally, all four legs will be white, at least below the hocks and knees.
3. Generally, the spots are regular and distinct as ovals or round patterns that extend down over the neck and chest, giving the appearance of a shield.
4. Head markings will be like those of a solid-colored horse - solid or with a blaze, strip, star, or snip.
5. A tobiano may be either predominantly dark or white.
TOVERO -
These individuals combine the characteristics of both overos and tobianos. They do not clearly belong to either the tobiano or overo pattern.
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