Color and Spotting Patterns
See also: Equine coat colorThe coat color of an Appaloosa is a combination of a base color with an overlaid spotting pattern. The base colors recognized by the Appaloosa Horse Club include bay, black, chestnut, palomino, buckskin, cremello or perlino, roan, gray, dun and grulla. Appaloosa markings have several pattern variations. It is this unique group of spotting patterns, collectively called the "leopard complex", that most people associate with the Appaloosa horse. Spots overlay darker skin, and are often surrounded by a "halo", where the skin next to the spot is also dark but the overlying hair coat is white.
It is not always easy to predict a grown Appaloosa's color at birth. Foals of any breed tend to be born with coats that darken when they shed their baby hair. In addition, Appaloosa foals do not always show classic leopard complex characteristics. Patterns sometimes change over the course of the horse's life although some, such as the blanket and leopard patterns, tend to be stable. Horses with the varnish roan and snowflake patterns are especially prone to show very little color pattern at birth, developing more visible spotting as they get older.
The ApHC also recognizes the concept of a "solid" horse, which has a base color "but no contrasting color in the form of an Appaloosa coat pattern". Solid horses can be registered if they have mottled skin and one other leopard complex characteristic.
Base colors are overlain by various spotting patterns, which are variable and often do not fit neatly into a specific category. These patterns are described as follows:
| Pattern | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Spots | General term that refers to a horse that has white or dark spots over all or a portion of its body. | |
| Blanket or snowcap | A solid white area normally over, but not limited to, the hip area with a contrasting base color. | |
| Blanket with spots | A white blanket which has dark spots within the white. The spots are usually the same color as the horse's base color. | |
| Leopard | A white horse with dark spots that flow out over the entire body. Considered an extension of a blanket to cover the whole body. | |
| Few spot leopard | A mostly white horse with a bit of color remaining around the flank, neck and head. | |
| Snowflake | A horse with white spots, flecks, on a dark body. Typically the white spots increase in number and size as the horse ages. | |
| Appaloosa roan, marble or varnish roan |
A distinct version of the leopard complex. Intermixed dark and light hairs with lighter colored area on the forehead, jowls and frontal bones of the face, over the back, loin and hips. Darker areas may appear along the edges of the frontal bones of the face as well and also on the legs, stifle, above the eye, point of the hip and behind the elbow. The dark points over bony areas are called "varnish marks" and distinguish this pattern from a traditional roan. | |
| Mottled | A fewspot leopard that is completely white with only mottled skin showing. | |
| Roan blanket or Frost | Horses with roaning over the croup and hips. The blanket normally occurs over, but is not limited to, the hip area. | |
| Roan blanket with spots | A horse with a roan blanket that has white and/or dark spots within the roan area. |
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