Three pinto patterns exist in the Thoroughbred gene pool---sabino, frame overo, and splash white. Sabino is quite common and can be found in virtually all TBs, while frame and splash are quite rare, and have only been produced by a handful of families.
As I've explained on my main horse color pages, all pinto patterns range in expression from a minimum of white to an all white individual to everything in between. This page is primarily devoted to more extremely marked sabino TBs and pretty much any frame or splash TB I can find. :-)
| Sabino: Most modern extreme sabinos descend from only a few stallions or mares. The primary sabino producing stallions are Airdrie Apache, Puchilingui, his son Sato, Timely Roberto, and Spot Pocket. Under construction 12/01/07. |
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Frame Overo: Frame is known to exist in three TB families so far. If you know of more, please let me know! Unlike sabino, frame is very rare in TBs, and it's origins in the breed are not really known. The only frame overo TBs I know of have cropped up in the last 15 years. Because they are all the product of fairly obscure breeding, there is some thought that there may be a dose or two of non-TB blood lurking somewhere, but no one really knows. The first frames I know of are Tri Chrome (1991) and Blue Eyed Streaker (1993), both by Blue Gazi, and the mare Fillipas Puzzle (1993) by Great Deal. All three horses exhibit classic frame overo patterns, and I suspect they all carry sabino as well. Tri Chrome unfortunately was euthanized at a young age after being kicked in the paddock before a race. Blue Eyed Streaker was owned for a while by the Yellowhand Horse Co, and I believe he has been sold to a farm in KY. (I know I have an email about it; I'm just waaaaay behind.) Also, I'd love to see photos of Blue Gazi if anyone knows of any. :-) And Fillipas Puzzle is a puzzle without a doubt. Her whereabouts are also unknown, and she has no known progeny. |
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Tri Chrome (Blue Gazi x Miss Joslin, Reward Lloyd) |
Blue Eyed Streaker (Blue Gazi x Bev's Girl, by Gage Line) |
Fillipas Puzzle (Great Deal x Phillipes Doll, by My Phillipe) |
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Thankfully, the other frame overo TB family is more prolific. Oddly enough, it stems from the pairing of two "half" siblings, Pesty Axe and Torchy's Rainbow, both by Give Em The Axe. They produced two foals, Nite Spot in 1985 and Patchy Lassy in 1989. Nite Spot is a boldly marked bay frame overo + sabino, and his sister is a chestnut with a big blaze and tall stockings. Phenotypically, she only looks sabino, but clearly she is a minimally expressed frame as well. |
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Nite Spot stands at Gestüt Falkenhorst in Germany. I'm not sure how any foals he has produced, but very few of them are here in the US. |
*Photo coming soon.* Spot, Nite Spot's only TB son standing in the US. He is a new stallion and minimally marked, but has apparantly produced colorful foals from 2 solid colored mares. He stands at Hillrise Farm in PA. (Photo by Hillrise Farm) |
| Patchy Lassy has produced several frame overo + sabino foals from different stallions, the best known being full-brothers Racey Remarque (1997) and Ellusive Quest (2000). She is also the dam of Red Hot Remarque (1999) by Broadway's Top Gun and Regal Regalia (2003) by C Spot Go. (All pictures below are by Nancy McEachern, DVM of Color World Ranch.) |
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Patchy Lassy in 2000 with Ellusive Quest. She and her sons are bred and owned by Color World Ranch. |
The incredible Racey Remarque. Talk about a beautiful pattern! |
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Regal Regalia pictured here with his dam in 2003. From the few pictures I've seen, RR's markings appear to be classic sabino, but I would wager that he has minimally expressed frame overo as well, just like his dam. |
Ellusive Quest as a young horse---what a pattern! He's my favorite of Patchy Lassy's foals. Not only is his pattern gorgeous, but he's been producing some beautifully marked frame overo + sabino foals as well. Go to the Color World Ranch website and click on Foals to see some of his colorful offspring. |
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This lovely gal is Quit Starring, the 2002 daughter of Racey Remarque and She's Got a Look, by Big Leaguer. |
This lovely frame overo colt is by Ellusive Quest out of Regal Bounty, by Pirate's Bounty. Both mare and foal are owned by Colorworld Ranch. |
