# White flecking in bay



## Gageholmes1 (Feb 14, 2013)

*Rabicano?*

The white hairs you mention in the tail makes me think the white could be rabicano. Rabicanos usually whiten in the midsection and have white at the base of the tail and sometimes the mane. But I'm confused about the bird spots, I guess I would just have to see what you mean when you post pictures and I might have a better idea then


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

does she have a '**** tail?' if she does than she is for sure a rabicano.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

White hairs scattered here and there on a solid horse is not uncommon and can be even more noticeable on a solid with a paint/pinto parent. I have a mini mare that would almost qualify as being a roan if she would have had a roan parent. However she came from a solid mare and pinto sire and since none of those white hairs are concentrated enough to give her pink skin anywhere she's just a black mini.


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

This is Panacea's tail. Freya hasn't got it this much. I'll get body photos today


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

So here's the spots of Freya's back, Pans tail and hip


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

Huh...well I don't think Rabicano any more- maybe some kind of skin condition? Thats really weird.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Could be sabino showing up. My best friend has a filly who is pitch black in winter, but come summer, she looks almost like a roan. She's got white socks and a belly spot, plus a big blaze, all of which are very sabino-looking. Sabino is known to cause random white flecking (just google "sabino arabian" to see what I mean :lol: ).


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

looks like lacing or scaring from a skin issue


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

She was born with those marks so no scaring or rain scald or such. Her full brothers and sister also have the same sort of marks and Panacea (her daughter) has a patch of white on her wither which she was also born with.
Maybe they're just weird lol 
Or, she's trying to be a pinto. I'm sure if I put all those marks together she'd have a big enough splodge to pass as a pinto 
I'll have a look tomorrow and see if there's any pink skin under the bigger ones. I've never looked before!


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

lostastirrup said:


> Huh...well I don't think Rabicano any more- maybe some kind of skin condition? Thats really weird.


Tell me about it :shock:
It's annoying as hell as I have to explain over and over again that no, she hasn't had a major injury, no, not rain scald, no she's not some type of freaky appie...she was born this way


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

I have a mare that is a Reg Paint but solid brown colour. She did have some white hairs at the wither when I bought her and some flecking of white hairs through out and I notice that when she shed out this spring (she's 11 yrs now) that there are more white hairs. I am guessing that as time goes by she will look more like a roan.
Her paint breeding?


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

EquineBovine said:


> So here's the spots of Freya's back, Pans tail and hip


The tail doesn't have that much white in it - a few white hairs like that are quite common. Sometimes white hairs at the tail root are caused by irritation from rubbing against the back of a horse trailer.

The horse's back looks like what we get with things like sweet itch in Australia - and with certain fly bites. My father has several mares which got white flecking like that from sandfly bites to which they had allergic reactions. The only genetic thing about that was the predisposition to allergy. Not all horses bitten by these flies or afflicted by various skin conditions end up with white patches. My father used a special long-lasting pour-on insect repellent to stop them getting progressively worse in subsequent sandfly seasons. That worked - but didn't undo the existing white patches, of course.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

PS: Being born with some of this: Insects etc aren't the only things that can lead to depigmentation. If it happened in utero, at an early stage, then even a single cell with some kind of disruption can produce a patch of similar cells as the embryo grows. Sometimes it can just be a mutation in the pigmentation "engine" in one particular cell that starts it. I really doubt this is a heritable condition (i.e., I doubt it affects the gametes).


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

Interesting thought SueC
Re genetics - Freya's full sister has exactly the same markings, which is why I'm thinking genetics. Their full brother also had them, more so on his rump. Their half brother (by another stallion) did not. The stallion (black and white pinto) has these spots over his rump as well. 
Whatever they are, whilst I like them, it doesn't stop people thinking of injuries. Pan only has a splodge on her wither. I'll get a photo tomorrow.


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

Woodhaven said:


> I have a mare that is a Reg Paint but solid brown colour. She did have some white hairs at the wither when I bought her and some flecking of white hairs through out and I notice that when she shed out this spring (she's 11 yrs now) that there are more white hairs. I am guessing that as time goes by she will look more like a roan.
> Her paint breeding?


Solid horses commonly have a scattering of white hairs when you look closely. Sabino can also be a cause for scattered hairs around the body because it loves to make messes lol
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

EquineBovine said:


> Interesting thought SueC
> Re genetics - Freya's full sister has exactly the same markings, which is why I'm thinking genetics. Their full brother also had them, more so on his rump. Their half brother (by another stallion) did not. The stallion (black and white pinto) has these spots over his rump as well.


Yeah, my dad's horses that have the white flecking from the fly bites are also related. The _depigmenting response to the injury_ is the heritable thing in that case. It's not a colour pattern built into their DNA. And the same thing could be true for in-utero irritations and responses to them (the uterus is a pretty safe place, but viruses do make it in, etc.).

As for point mutations during embryonic development, these don't make it into the gametes. They only affect the few cells that mutated. Usually it's actually just one cell starting it, and the offspring can "drift" around, space themselves out as at early stages of development tissues can be quite fluid.

The patterns you have posted photos of don't have the ring of heritable colour patterns encoded in the DNA to me. Of course, that's just my hunch - but it's a hunch based on a lot of embryology and genetics under my belt!


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## Southern Grace (Feb 15, 2013)

Looks like the begining of lacing to me. There isn't a whole lot known about it, but I'd say genetics is possible. I know there is a line of minis someone has (can't remember which forum) that have this, mare and foals. It spreads/develops with age regardless of treatment (indoor, fly sheets, etc).


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

The tail doesn't look uncommon for a "normal" horse at all. My definitely wild bay boy has a similar looking tail, actually. 

Back in high school I had a friend with either an appendix or QH (don't remember which, I think he was a QH) who would randomly get tiny white spots all over his body during the winter time. During summer it would shed out to his normal orangey chestnut, but they'd return the following winter. Never caused any problem or seemed to indicate any problem. Spots on horses can be weird.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Lacing is a thing lol that's why people keep on using the term. As to WHY? I'm not sure that is known yet.

The white hair mixed in? Agree it's common.


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