COLOUR GENES
A Quick Guide
Paint vs Pinto - As for the amount of colour they produce, one does not produce more than the other. A Paint is a coloured horse from Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred stock, whereas a Pinto is a coloured horse, any breed. So you can feel secure in the knowledge that you can simply choose the horse you like the best.
As for the amount of white, a Tobiano or Overo that has minimal amount of white will still produce loudly marked babies, which also broadens your choices when looking for a stallion. Individuals may seem to produce more colour, but it is unrelated to the colour of the horse (unless it is a Tobero which carries both Tobiano and Overo genes and therefore will throw more coloured babies theoretically than a single gened stallion) There are some homozygous Tobiano stallions in the country which will give you guaranteed colour every time.
These colour descriptions are very general and will differ depending on the individual horse, but this gives you an idea on how to identify them.
Overo: - Sabino: The sabino gene is very common in the Arabians, this is what gives stockings, belly splashes, blazes etc. Therefore it is possible to get a purebred arabian that is dual reg with a pinto society as an overo. These do not belong to the same 50% colour rule as in the Tobiano and Frame/Splashed overo genes. It's very much a hit and miss. A sabino overo will very often have what looks like spray painted markings - not clear edged. A common identifier for sabino, is sharp edged/pointy stockings - very common in Crabbet Arabians.
Overo: - Frame: This normally would have a baldy type face, belly splashes, solid legs, and will always have a solid coloured spine (Except for Medicine hats) - Medicine hats are a combination of sabino and overo and are the predominantly white horses with a bonnet, and maybe some chest markings. When you put a Frame Overo stallion to a Frame Overo mare, there is a 1 in 4 chance, that they will produce a lethal white baby which dies within the first 24 hours.
Overo: - Splashed White: These are normally solid on top, but look like they have been rolled over onto their back and splashed with paint. Markings tend to be rounded. Normally extreme white on face and black eyeliner. For a long time, horses with minimal Splash colouring were not classified as carrying Splash. It is thought that what was previously considered a normal frame overo with eyeliner, may in fact be Frame Overo, plus Splashed White, which would make it much more common in the horse community then previously thought. There is some stigma attached to horses that appear with the "classic" Splashed White markings due to the belief that they may be deaf. Some may be, however the majority are not. These days, there is much more research being done on this gene and it is now the belief that the blue eye in non Frame Overo horses, is an indication of Splash, and not sabino.
The Overo gene can sometimes be "hidden" and be hard to identify. If in doubt, it is best to have your horse DNA tested to confirm or deny before breeding with another Frame Overo horse. Occassionally it is possible to produce an overo foal from what appears to be a solid coloured parent.
Tobiano: The easiest way to identify this is that the horse will have normal head markings (eg, star) and will have white that reaches over the spine. The Tobiano gene very rarely "hides". The belief has always been that solid coloured foals from Tobiano parentage will NOT produce tobiano foals when put to another solid parent, however with the introduction of widespread DNA testing this has been proven to be untrue. Although rare, it could still be possible for a seemingly solid parent to produce a coloured foal. For Pintabian fans - this is the only acceptable colour gene for this registry.
Tobero/Tovero: Quick clues to identify a possible Tovero equine is that their head will show the Overo gene (see description above) and patches on their body will show their Tobiano gene. Sometimes markings on their head are confused with extensive sabino markings. A Tovero is only produced when parents carry both the Overo and Tobiano gene in some fashion.
Overos and Tobianos, technically produce the same 50% of coloured foals.
There are exceptions to all of these rules, and these horses come in minimal and extreme versions and some are easier to identify than others.
Blue eyes: Blue eyes from a Tobiano parent do not seem to be 'attached" to the gene - meaning that you can get a "solid" coloured foal with a blue eye. Parents without a blue eye, but carrying the gene may also produce a blue eye (eg: Larrikin Razikh (2 brown eyes) siring Arabec Razikhs Legacy (1 brown, 1 blue eye). Blue eyes that appear in horses from Overo parentage, would indicate that the horse is carrying the Overo gene. It is possible to have one or two blue eyes, and also possible to have 1/2 a blue eye (Arabec Extravaganza). It is now theorised that the blue eye is attached to the Splashed White gene when it isn't attributed to the Frame Overo.
Grey: All horses are born a normal colour and if they carry the grey gene, then they will grey out as they age. If a horse carries the grey gene - you will see it. A non-grey horse from grey parentage will NOT produce grey foals. A grey foal with one grey parent, has the potential to produce 50% of foals that will grey out, and if you have 2 grey parents, you risk a homozygous grey foal which will produce 100% foals that will go grey.
"Bellamy Zorros Mark" Tobero Stallion with eyeliner (perhaps carrying Splashed White)
"Arabec Extravaganza" Frame Overo
with sabino characteristics (white legs) and half a blue eye with eyeliner (perhaps carrying Splashed White from his sire)
Blue eye with Tobiano gene
"Starwood Marrakesh" Sabino Arabian
"Arabec Xena" Minimal Frame Overo, perhaps with sabino presenting in the white stockings
"Larrikin Razikh" Tobiano stallion
ARABEC PINTOS
Undeniably Arabian...
L to R "Arabec Zavannah" Overo filly
"Arabec Zhakira" Tobero filly, 2 blue eyes
"Arabaec Azaar" Tobiano colt
Frame overo, with Sabino (white legs) and 2 blue eyes with eyeliner (perhaps carrying Splashed White)
Tobiano with blue eye plus Sabino mimicking Overo on the unusual face marking. There is no Overo in this filly.
