Rabbitzfizz - you are EXACTLY right with the whole can of worms thing - but honestly, I can't wait!! Appaloosa's are my true passion and i'm constantly learning new things about their color patterns. A lot of it is still confusing but then I just go ask Dr. Shiela Archer at The Appaloosa Project - she's working to create the test for testing homozygous appaloosa patterns - she sets me straight a lot lol but I love to learn!
"I think the main problem with the term Leopard is that very few people can identify the difference between a True Leopard- born spotted with a white base and no body colour- and a "Near Leopard" which has body colour and spots in a leopard pattern.
I am not sure I count anything except white base with spots as True Leopard- I have always described my Palomino base stallion as a Near Leopard as he did not get his spots until he was two years old, and was a Palamino base."
Shiela Archer has an awesome chart set up based on her years of studies - with this chart you can compare your horse and see which color pattern they really are. This chart is an awesome way of figuring out if you have a "True Leopard" or a "Near Leopard" -
http://f4.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/0Jw_RCJd16fC1...rnGuide.pg1.JPG
http://f5.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/0Jw_RLl08ZPC1...rnGuide.pg2.JPG
http://f6.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/0Jw_RCNmxTnC1...rnGuide.pg3.JPG
these three pages I refer back to a LOT and it helps to be honest with yourself when you look at these charts =)
"The only two proven by breeding fewspots I have personal experience of were both born solid- one black one sorrel, BUT weirdly, (Remember we had little idea what we were dealing with then so this was really weird) within two days the coat colour had completely faded and was only present in the mane and tail and flanks - like varnish as stated above.
The black faded to white with blue eyes and characteristics, the sorrel faded to white with a peachy overtone and pale eyes - loads of characteristics."
This is another of my favorite subjects with appies - we just had this topic not too long ago, people saying a foal born solid and later coloring out cannot be homozygous and must carry the grey/roan gene (not appy roan).....I had to stop talking in that discussion because SO many people were set on their ways of thinking that was true - i'd rather believe Mr. Carr and Mr. Lapp's paragraph as follows:
"Homozygozity does not require 100 percent color or characteristics at birth. Anywhere from 5-10 percent of foals may be born non-characteristic or with characteristics only, but will develop Appaloosa characteristics at a later age."
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Suzy - you are totally not alone when it comes to how frustrating it is to see a solid base colored horse, with a few white spots on them, called "few spots". Those horses are sold to people who are just entering the appy world and don't know much more than that few spots are supposed to reproduce lots of appy color and characteristics. I really just want to smack those people upside the head and ask them what the heck they think they're doing selling their horse as a few spot!! (ok ok, no I don't want to start any wars here! I wouldn't really do that =) Great photo of the few spot by the way - another thing to look for as a homozygous characteristic are the "lightning streaks" and "triangles" like your photo'd foal has - the triangle of color above each hoof has been studied and noted as a homozygous characteristic. Great foal!
Ok I think I blabbed enough!
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) In fact they both lost some of the dark pigment on there muzzles and are now very light skinned there. There is no mistaking both of these foals are pintaloosas. For whatever it is worth this sire has only had 3 foals that werent pinto so he does tend to throw that alot. I am looking forward to breeding this mare to my palomino stallion and hoping for a loud palomino appy. (I used to own a palomino leopard appy son of this mare)
