Spotted Coat Patterns

Leopard complex, spotted coat patterns, or "appaloosa" colors refer to a collection of related coat patterns. The most important characteristics of these patterns are:
Mottled skin - Small dots on the skin of the anus, genitalia, mouth, and eyelids. On pink skin, these are pigmented, while on dark skin they are pink or white.
Stripped hooves - Vertical dark and unpigmented lines on the hooves.
White sclera - A white area around the pupils.

Other characteristics include:
White patches with or without pigmented spots.
Varnishing - Lighter hairs intermixing in the coat, also called varnish "roaning" (although not related to the roan white pattern!).
Color shifting - Black coats changing to look bronze/red in color.

Spotted coats are typical for the Appaloosa horse breed. As a result, these patterns or horses that have them are often called "appaloosa". This can lead to confusion as not all spotted horses are Appaloosas, and not all Appaloosas have spots! Therefore, we prefer to avoid this term.

Patterns

Few Spot

Gene

PATN1

Presence in horses

Spotted coat patterns are very old, and have even been found in prehistoric cave paintings in Europe, as well as artwork from Ancient Greece and the Chinese Han Dynasty. The patterns were often well-liked and present in many different breeds, but lost popularity in the Middle Ages and became less common as a result. Spotted coats can still be found in breeds such as the Knabstrupper, Noriker, Mongolian Horses and, of course, the Appaloosa.

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