Splashed White

Splashed white or splash is a horse coat color pattern in the "overo" family of spotting patterns that produces pink-skinned, white markings. Many splashed whites have very modest markings, while others have the distinctive "dipped in white paint" pattern. Blue eyes are a hallmark of the pattern, and splash may account for otherwise "solid" blue-eyed horses. Splashed white occurs in a variety of geographically divergent breeds, from Morgans in North America to Kathiawari horses in India. The splashed white pattern is also associated with congenital deafness, though most splashed whites have normal hearing. There now exists a DNA test for three forms of splashed white, and there is speculation that the SW-2 and SW-3 alleles may be an embryonic lethal when homozygous. In the Gypsy Vanner horse, this pattern is called "blagdon:" "a solid colour with white "splashed" up from underneath."