apppatterns

Appaloosa color patterns in the Miniature Horse

This page will help you identify what pattern your mini may have: There are six basic patterns : Blanket,Leopard ,Snowflake, Frost, Marble/Roan,as well as the reverse leopard. ****Please! These photos may not be reproduced, copied or used for any reason! Thank you!

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Blanket

The blanket pattern is characterized by the rump area being white. It may or may not have spots included. Without the spots is often referred to as a "snowcap blanket" and with spots, a "spotted blanket". The blanket may also be just a close collection of white and colored hairs mixed in the rump region creating a "roan blanket". When the blanket is small and seems to consist of bunching of white spots and hairs it is sometimes called a "lace blanket" and occasionally "hip blanket". See more examples of the blanket pattern here.

Leopard

The leopard pattern one of the most easily recognized appaloosa patterns. This pattern consists of a white body (base coat) with any colored spots. True leopards are born with their spots and do not change color over time. Quite often a foal may be born a solid or semi-solid color (such as a blanket or roan) and shed off as a yearling or older to look like a leopard. They are considered to be "near leopards" and often retain some roan coloring (aka varnish marks) on the knees, chest, flanks, underside of the neck and cheeks. See more leopard examples here.

Snowflake

The snowflake pattern looks like the horse has stood out while snow has fallen and it has collected on the coat. The horse can be any base color and the "snowflakes" are white and can coat just the topline or often are found all over the body. You often see this pattern coupled with the one or more of the other patterns on the same horse.

Frost

A frost pattern can be any base color with white hairs scattered throughout the coat and concentrating typically on the back and rump giving it a frosted appearance. When concentration is particularly heavy over the rump it is often said to have a "frosted blanket".

Marble, Roan (or "Appy Roan")

This is most often referred to as "Appy Roan" as a way to differentiate between normal roan and the appy roan pattern. The appy roan foal is often born nearly solid in color and sheds out nearly white as an adult. They often retain varnish marks (concentrations of darker hairs) on their knees, forearms, nasal bones, ears & stifle. This pattern is often found in conjunction with other appy patterns.

See more examplesof appy roan here.

Reverse Leopard

The term reverse leopard is not recognized by the full sized Appaloosa registry (ApHC) but has been recognized by miniature owners and breeders as a horse with any base color with darker colored spots (instead of the normal white on a dark base) on the coat. Often the spots are hard to distinguish the dark spots if the base coat is very dark.

Near leopard - Chianti- born with a blanket, shed out to be a near leopard (note the remaining concentrations of darker hairs or "varnish marks" on legs, underside of neck and cheeks)

Pintaloosa and overoloosa

The pintaloosa is a combination of both an appaloosa and a pinto pattern. This is a common cross in minis that is considered "taboo" in the big horse world. This cross can create some very loud and interesting patterns.See more examples of pintaloosa and overoloosa here.

How to identify the appaloosa by the additional characteristics

note*other colors may have some of these characteristics but a typical appaloosa will have all three.

Ticking, Lacing, Lightning marks and Peacock spots

These are additional "types" of coloring an appaloosa may have. Ticking refers to the scattering of white hairs throughout the coat in a very diverse pattern (heavily dispersed would be a appy roan or frost). This often accompanies blanket patterns. Lacing is lines of white often found in horses with appaloosa background- particularly those that can be traced back to Falabella's. Lightning marks are found on the front of the cannons (on the legs between the knee and the hoof) and are white "zig zags" within the dark hair. "Peacock or halo spots" refers to those spots that seem to have a roany edge around them like a peacocks tail spots. It isn't necessary to have these markings listed here to be an appaloosa but they are an interesting aspect to a colorful package.