Horse Coloration: Is this a Sabino? Rabicano? Knowledgeable answers only, please!?
I'm working on a Horse Colors and Variations page for my horse website. When researching this, I thought I had it all figured out, but some of the coloring is so technical, and I want to be certain I am only putting out correct information for the public to view. So can you help me with a few questions, please?
Is this horse a Sabino? (Its ad says it is an Overo, I've emailed the seller for permission to use the photo, and asked if it might be a Sabino.)
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc25/DaisyKJ/overo2-equine.jpg
And would you call this horse a Rabicano? Or a Sabino?
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc25/DaisyKJ/IMG_0796_x.jpg
And is this horse just a plain Appaloosa, or does it have a different color name?
Thanks for any KNOWLEDGABLE answers you can give me!
Jesayre- Our website is up, it is http://www.liverystable.net . Has horse advice and articles on subjects such as colors, how to tie a horse with a quick release knot, and trail riding tips. Lots of good reading, plus horses for sale and classified advertising.
The page I am currently creating will be: http://www.liverystable.net/horse_colors_and_variations.html and it should be up in a few days. Thanks for asking.
Rabicano coloring is defined as: A rabicano is a roan-like effect that is caused by a genetic modifier that creates a splotchy roaning pattern on only a portion of the body. The rest of the body will not have white hairs througout, and the legs or head are not darker than the rest of the coat. A rabicano is only a roan in spots or splashes.
That's why I thought the second horse is a rabicano, it only occurs in splashes over the body, not roaning all over. I can see that he is also a sabino, so I wonder if he is both?
Rabicano is more of a term in AQHA language, so probably not as recognized in Paint coloration.
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February 11th, 2010 at 5:48 am
Ok, the first one does look likea sabino, the second looks likea rebicano, and the third is an Appaloosa with a small blanket it looks like
February 11th, 2010 at 6:15 am
I still don’t have down all the specifics of Overo, Sabino, etc., so I can’t really help you there.
But the last picture, the horse is a blanket Appaloosa. I found a website that seemed pretty helpful in explaining the different coat patterns for Appaloosas, if you’re curious: http://rosaroca.net/index_Page1323.htm
Hope that helped a little!
February 11th, 2010 at 6:41 am
sorry I can’t help you but when you get your site up
Please tell me as I think your site will be helpful to me
thank you
February 11th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Attention all experts : APPALOOSA IS A SNOWCAP.
February 11th, 2010 at 7:06 am
1) I’d say he’s could be sabino, with that pattern you normally don’t see that much white so it’s hard to be definite.
2)He’s a sabino, with rabinco roaning in my opinion. With rabinco you normally have ‘ribbing’ and he does have some (however faint). Also his flank is totally roaned out.
3) Full blanket few spot appy.
Hope this helps!
February 11th, 2010 at 7:50 am
Photo one of the overo is most likely not a sabino. But be aware that the sabino gene is actually several different genes, so there can be variations. Your photo number two, that you suggested in rabicano, is a sabino, you can tell by all the flecking and small spots that lead into a large white spot.
Listen to how APHA defines sabino. “You can expect extensive leg white and facial white. The body spots are often on the belly and may appear as roan or speckled areas. White markings tend to have a narrow extension up a leg or down the throat”. In other words, you seldom have such sharp, clear definition between the white and the dark areas in the way that your first photo shows on the horse’s head and neck. It is true there appears to be some roaning on the horse’s belly, but even then there is a fairly clear defining line between the dark and light, which you normally don’t see in sabino. But to make things really confusing, if you breed a sabino overo to a frame overo you can get markings such as shown in photo one. The only way to positively know would be through DNA testing. So if it was me I would not use photo one as a clear demonstration of sabino since it certainly isn’t totally typical.
Use photo two for a sabino demonstration, this is much more typical. As for rabicano, that is not an official word APHA uses or totally defines, but I always was under the impression that a rabicano had white high on their tail on a normally dark horse. You see this in AQHA horses sometimes, a dark horse such as a sorrel with this unusual white in their tail. So I do not think that photo two demonstrates this at all, you can’t even see the horse’s tail.
Photo three is a blanket/few spot appaloosa.
I would suggest you contact APHA and ask for their free color posters which clearly show demonstrations of overo (frame, splashed white and sabino) plus tobiano. Plus look at the APHA online site and you will get tons more info on color markings. There is no doubt it is a complicated topic.
February 11th, 2010 at 8:34 am
The first horse IS a sabino. The white on the face and lower body denote that. However there is no overo gene. Overo is the term given to non tobiano horses so it is also an overo. It does not exibit the frame gene which in the homozygous form leads to OLWS.
The second I am not sure because Rabicano is a term that is either new or not in fox trotters (or at least very rare in them) so I have never had the opportunity to look up the term though I have heard its use before.
The third is a sorrel appaloosa with a FULL blanket. Actually that is one of the fullest blankets I have seen.
OK I would say the second horse is probably both a partial roan (rabicano) and a sabino. The two genes can occur simultaneously and it looks like in this case they have.
Most of the sabinos in the fox trotters do have fairly distinct definition between dark and white, as does the half arab half fox trotter I raised.This may be due to a slightly different version of the gene than the paints but the vast majority of the ones I have seen have clear color separation.
After a little more reading some sabinos have roaning due to the sabino genes so number 2 may be a straight sabino. Again the fox trotters I have seen seem to have a distinct border between color and white but this is not true with many other horses. I am not sure if it is a breed thing or not.
February 11th, 2010 at 9:31 am
I would not consider the first horse a sabino. I think he just looks like a tovero paint to me.
The second one I would consider sabino.
The third is a just a plain ole’ blanket app.