Where the fleas don’t bite
Even when greys are extensively fleabitten, some areas of the coat tend to have noticeably fewer spots. In the previous post, the grey...
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Jan 23
The things we notice
Artists have a different way of looking at horse color than scientists, and that perspective can be useful. Twenty-two years ago, I did...
Jun 13, 2022
Vascular patterns in dappling
Not only do dapples echo the pattern of capillary clusters, but other vascular details are visible on dappled horses. In the previous...
Jun 3, 2022
Dapples are hot!
When it comes to understanding dappling as a pattern of light and dark, the key is temperature. Darkly dappled greys like the Eriskay...
Jun 2, 2022
Condition dapples
This type of dappling is associated with good health and grooming. When paired with sooty patterning, the effect is very striking. My...
Jun 1, 2022
Dapple variations
Dappling is an almost universally popular aspect of horse color. There are distinct types of dapples with different causes. For many of...
Aug 13, 2021
Mapping on appaloosas - part 2
While some appaloosa spots have mapping from dark skin, the majority of the edging effects on appaloosas are from mixing white and...
Jul 21, 2021
Mapping on appaloosas - part 1
The borders around appaloosa patterns are less uniform in width and placement than those on pinto patterns. This post gives a brief...
Jul 19, 2021
Mapping on pintos - part 2
This is the second in a series of photos with detail shots of mapping on pinto markings In the previous post, I mentioned that mapping...
Jul 16, 2021
Mapping on pintos - part 1
For those who attended the BreyerFest horse color seminar, here are examples of mapping on pintos. If you watched the seminar on...
Jul 15, 2021
BreyerFest 2021
This post gives an update on the new information site and links to new digital publications available for downloading. Over the years I...
Jul 5, 2021
An overview of the sabino patterns
This post gives an overview of this complex group of patterns and gives a brief explanation of how they have been named. Perhaps no other...
Jul 4, 2021
Terminology - the generic sabino
The convention the author of this blog follows is to use "sabino" (lowercase with no number) as the generic term for those patterns...
Jul 3, 2021
Terminology - it's all "white-spotting"
This is not a more specific term than sabino, but rather a generic term for the absence of pigment cells. In genetics, mice are used as a...
Jul 3, 2021
Terminology - Dominant White
Rumors of the demise of this term are misleading. It's still widely used in the research community. The hunter mare pictured above...
Jan 3, 2020
Artificial coloring
The use of henna to dye the legs of horses is traditional in some countries and disciplines. Recently some photos were shared on social...
Jan 2, 2020
Recoloring
White patterns leave areas of the coat without color, but these patterns appear to add the color back again to those areas. Notebooks are...
Dec 31, 2019
A bit about explanatory models
In online settings, the most common explanatory model for talking about horse color is the base-plus-modifier concept. There are others...
Dec 30, 2019
Citizen Science
"Citizen science" is where members of the public participate in scientific research. It is how this blog came to be, and something it...
Jul 18, 2014
The new full-color book is officially released
The second release in the Equine Tapestry series – An Introduction to Colors and Patterns – is now available. The blog has been quiet for...
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