Horse Color Genetics: Leopard Complex, Part 1

Review: E=black, A=bay, G=gray, CR=cream, D=dun, TO=tobiano, O=overo, F=flaxen, Z=silver, SPL=splashed white, SB1=sabino.

In this first post, I'm going to show you the different coat colors, and then get into the genetics and how they work in the second part of the leopard complex.

The genetics to the appaloosa complex are very tricky to understand, and I'm still trying really really hard to understand more about how the pattern genes (modifiers to the appaloosa gene) work.

The correct term for appaloosa complex is leopard complex. LP. This gene is seen in the breeds like the Appaloosa, Pony of America, Knabstrupper, Colorado Ranger, and Miniature horses. When I refer to appaloosa in this post, I mean spotted horses, not necessarily the breed. The breed is capitalized.

When a horse inherits the LP gene, the first thing you need to understand is the characteristics that they receive. Regardless of the pattern genes, whether they got one or two dominant LP genes, the traits they will always have are:

Mottled skin (sorry for the gross picture!)

The sclera of the eye shows (the white part)

And lastly, vertically striped hooves.

A horse will have these three things whether they have one or two dominant LP genes. Some horses with LP may or may not have mottled skin on their muzzle, but their private parts will be spotty.

So, as in other color modifiers, there is always a base coat. To make things easy, I'll use chestnut, ee,aa. Remember, no matter what markings or color, they will all have the LP traits. Starting on down the list, I'll begin with the colors, beginning with the easiest to identify. 

The horses below are leopard appaloosa. Leopard appaloosa's have spots all over them, and the name is easy to remember. The size of the spots doesn't matter (well, a little), nor the color. Out of these three horses, which one is not an appaloosa?

If you guessed the third one, you were correct! This guy is flea-bitten gray. Here is the different post on that; gray horses don't have any LP traits.

The first horse's base coat is bay (see the little black wisps in her mane?), and the second horse's base coat is black. 

The next color is a blanket appaloosa. Blanket appaloosa have white bums; the white can be only a tiny little section, or it can nearly cover the entire horse! Technically, on the white there can be spots or no spots, but for the sake of genetics I am going to say that blanket appaloosa's always have spots. Aren't they pretty? The first is a bay blanket, the second is a buckskin blanket.

The next color is snowcap blanket. Snowcap blankets have a blanket, but without spots. It should be pure white. Genetically, snowcap and blanket are different.

The next color is few spot. Few spots are a bit uninteresting to look at, but they are important to the LP gene. Few spots may look a bit like cremello, but have LP traits. They can literally have enough spots to count on one hand, or a little more than that. Some can have roaning associated with the LP gene in their 'corners'.

Another color associated with the LP gene is called varnish roan. Varnish roan is different than normal roaning. You may or may not be able to see the difference from the first two horses and the last horse, but varnish roans carry the LP gene and have those traits.

Those are the basics. There are others that you may read about, but they are pretty rare. These are the most common and make the most sense to explain.