Ink Spots

[pintabian]

Hi I don't have mini tobiano's I have the big ones but was wondering seeing the back and forth on ink spots or paw prints which ever you want to call them and wondered if any of you have seen the research and thesis done in the U.S on this and HZ ?

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

I'm not a breeder, just a person of great curiousity with breeder friends. However, I do have an Honors Thesis by A. Tadlock from May of 2011 bookmarked that discusses this. It is a very interesting read though. Will you be posting a link?

With the advent of more advanced color testing, one doesn't have to guess like our foundation breeders had to.

 

[chandab]

Pawprints do not indicate homozygous tobiano. With testing they've proven both homozygous and heterozygous can have them (or not have them).

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

The OP may have been referring to Annamarie Tadlock's Honors Thesis titled "Ink Spots as an Indicator of Homozygosity in Tobiano Paint Horses" that was posted to the University of Oregon website on 13 June 2012.

The conclusion reached (in this small study of 66 horses) was that horses with 5 or more inkspots were homozygous for pinto coloring.

Yes, it's a small study. It's also now a moot point, as color testing for pinto variants has advanced beyond the need to guess.

https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/panel/white-pattern-panel-2
Above is the link to the current white pattern panel testing available through UC-Davis. Who'd have thought, 20 years ago, that there were so many gene variants that affect white coat patterns?