.Before I discuss badger faces I’d like to show you another appaloosa horse, from Stephs collection. These photos were taken at the 2012 Midwest Horse Fair. Please forgive me for not perfecting the color adjustments, on them. This particular horse seemed determined to stay in the shade. I had to make tweaks to the settings in order to bring out its pattern more clearly.
Appaloosas, with clusters of hairs are often referred to as snowflake appaloosas. When these clusters overlap and become larger they are sometimes called marbled. Horses that inherit both roan (Leopard complex or Lp) and grey genes appear to be especially prone to developing the pattern. However it can also occur in non greys like this horse. These appaloosas stand out from other appaloosa roans because they have a blotchy and contrasting appearance as shown in the picture, alongside appaloosas.
Upon observation it appears that this individual possesses a lace like patterned covering around the hips in addition, to the marbling on the coat. It is worth noting that these marbled markings extend down to the tailhead in a pattern, which I found intriguing. Similar to the speckles on yesterdays horse the overall appearance exhibits an effect, with the spots seemingly situated atop the “uppermost layer” of the coat.
The distribution of marbling on the coat was not even. Focused on the front part and especially, on the chest. This becomes more apparent in this shot.
In ways these areas remind me of the patterns we often see on horses, with white fungal markings. Interestingly there are also horses that develop a pattern without any connection, to the appaloosa patterns. You can find some examples of these horses, including appaloosas on this Pinterest board.
It’s quite common for appaloosas to develop clustered spots of white as they age. Like my own near leopard mare has them around her ears.
Around the time she developed patches on her neck, chest and face. However, due to the existing speckling they were not as prominent as the ones, on her ears.
It remains unclear why certain appaloosas exhibit such a form of clustered spotting while others do not. One possibility is that there is a modifying factor that alters the roaning process to how the Bend Or pattern seems to influence the clustering of hairs, in certain horses. Another explanation could be that some of these horses possess spotting patterns as breeders often select breeding groups based on similar looking colors despite having distinct genetic causes.
