Appaloosa Coat Patterns

Now we come to the Appaloosa coat patterns. It is important to know that in order for a horse to be an Appaloosa, it needs to have mottled skin, white sclera (white around the iris of the eye), and striped hooves. Having the trade marked "spots" is not a requirement for the breed, but is highly sought after. Appaloosas often change their coat patterns as they get older. What they look like as a baby, is not necessarily what they will look like as an adult. Appalousa's frequently "Roan Out", getting whiter as they get older. However, this does not make them Grey as with other horses. Appaloosa's come in all colors.

In all the pictures, I tried to draw mottled skin, white sclera and striped hooves. An appy is simply not an appy without them. Now, on to the patterns!

Here is the pattern Blanket with no spots. The horse generally has a large patch of white over the hips. This pattern can very large covering the majority of the horse's back, barrel, and haunches. The pattern can also be broken such that it is not a solid white area.

This horse has a Spotted Blanket. In her case, her spots are only found on her blanket and they are the same color as her coat. The spots can be darker or lighter than her coat and can be all over her coat instead of just on the blanket.

This horse has Dark and White Spots on a chestnut background. The spots are generally found on the horse's haunches.

Here is the appaloosa we all know and love, the Leopard! This horse is white with dark spots. It is possible to have few to none spots, or have a plethora of spots.

This horse is roaning out. This horse could be a yearling. By the time she gets 15 years old, most of her body would be completely white. This effect can occur on appaloosa's that were born solid, or with any of the other appaloosa coat patterns.

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Disclaimer: I do not consider myself an expert about appaloosa. However, I'm an not totally ignorant about them, either. In fact the last horse I rode was a Red Dun appaloosa with no coat patterns. His full sister is also a red dun and she was born plain, but is now roaning out. Any way, just thought I'd immortalize them here. Hi, Terry!!!

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