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What do YOU want to see happen with Wild Horses & Burros?
Tell President Obama!


Main Sections in this website:

BUY THE BOOK!

Working with Wild Horses

Second (Improved) Edition
A Handbook of
Gentling and Training Tips

By Nancy Kerson
Support independent publishing: Buy this book on Lulu.

Paperback $22 or
Downloadable E-Book $7.50

For more information about the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program, please call (866) 4MUSTANGS or Click HERE

This website is owned and created by Nancy Kerson, a private citizen - I am not the BLM or any other branch of government!

Information about BLM adoptions is offered as a service, to help mustangs find homes and to promote public appreciation of wild horses and burros.

Please direct adoption questions to the BLM, not to me.

And I sure as heck am not a Mustang car dealership!

I have NO horses or burros for sale and am not interested in buying or listing or otherwise promoting your sale animals!

This website:
Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
All Rights Reserved.
I am happy to share, but please give me a credit when you "borrow" things off my website! Thanks! Just say, "author, Nancy Kerson www.mustangs4us.com "

VIDEOS OF INTEREST TO MUSTANG & BURRO ADOPTERS:


Kitty Lauman:
From Wild to Willing:
Using the Bamboo Pole to Gentle Mustangs
More from Lauman Training available now!

DVD or VHS
(2-DVD or 2-VHS set) almost 3 hours of instruction!

$39.95 plus $5 shipping/handling = $44.95 total

BUY 2 DVD Set:

Can't Order Online?
No Problem!

Just email us and we'll tell you how to mail order


Lesley Neuman:
The First Touch
Gentling Your Mustang
$45.00

Lesley works with 3 wild horses at a BLM adoption, and very clearly explains what is happening, what she is doing, & what she sees in each horse as it progresses. Study this video and you can learn "pressure and release" gentling techniques to gentle your own new mustang!

Format:


Help for Burro adopters!
Crystal Ward
Donkey Training

All the basics of gentling, handling, and training. A MUST for new burro adopters! Good for domestic donkeys, too!

FORMAT

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1-877-345-6748
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____________________


 
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OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN
WILD HORSE GENTLING:

WHITE SPOTTING PATTERNS:

Appaloosa

PINTO/PAINT

TOBIANO

THE OVERO GROUP:
> Frame
> Sabino
> Splash

TOVERO
(not clearly either Overo or Tobiano)

Click one of these to explore a specific pattern:

OR read on down the page
HOW IT WORKS:

Pinto genes block the base color from expressing itself, leaving the hair white. Imagine a batik, in which certain areas of the cloth have a wax covering that prevents it from taking on color when dipped into a vat of dye. In the same way the pinto gene blocks a horse's normal base color from showing in certain areas, creating a spotted or mottled pattern.

Here's an excellent reference website: Coat Colors: The Genetics Behind the Hide

Paint/Pinto genetics

Paint/Pinto patterns were present among the original Spanish horses brought to America.

Click HERE for Dr. Philip Sponenberg's article about the Spanish Colonial Horses in America.

The Paint/Pinto patterns were very popular among Native American horsemen. Certain patterns, particularly "Medicine hat" Toveros, were considered to have special powers. Others were simply valued for their good looks.

"Indian Ponies" are attractive to modern romanticists, and today the loudly patterned horses are much in demand. But for many years, racism against the Indians trickled down into the horse world in the form of a prejudice against paints/ pintos that still exists today, although the American Paint Horse Association and others have done a lot of good work to overcome this.

Paint is a Breed Registry.
Pinto describes the coloration and is the correct term for Mustangs

(although many people prefer the term "paint" -  and "Pinto" can also refer to a registered Pinto, which is essentially a spotted Arabian)

OTHER PAINT/PINTO TERMS:

  • Piebald: black and white

  • Skewbald: Any other color than black, with white 

These two terms are outdated and rarely used any more.

(Pendleton Blanket)
 

Why Most Mustangs Are Not Pintos:

This picture composite of Root Beer & Sparky may illustrate why Paints/Pintos are rare among wild horses, even though they are common among domestics. (Sparky likes to hide behind bushes and pretend we can't see him - a mountain lion would not be fooled!)

Pintos are among the rarest colors in Mustangs, comprising less than 5% of the overall population (and zero percent in many herds). Some of the best pinto-producing herds are the Southeastern Oregon, Northeast California, Northern Nevada, and Wyoming herds areas. South Steens (Oregon), High Rock (California-managed), Calico Mountains, Granite Range, Little Owyhee (Nevada), and McCollough Peaks (Wyoming) are known for their wildly spotted horses (as well as other colors, of course)

There are TWO major types of Paint/Pinto: Overo and Tobiano.

1. OVERO


The "Overo" category includes at least three distinct color genes: Frame Overo, Sabino, & Splash, and the term is used to describe any pattern that is not clearly Tobiano

Each of these patterns has its own gene. However, any individual horse may carry and exhibit traits from more than one of these genes. The patterns created by these genes can look much alike. For these reasons, they are often lumped together under the heading of "Overo." With OVero, the white is usually confined to the sides and underside of the horse. White does not cross the topline, except above the withers. (Exceptions: Medicine Hat Tovero or Maximum White Sabinos or Toveros)

FrameSabinoSplash

Frame  Overo mare

 

2. TOBIANO
   



For more about Tobiano, click here

  • White extends over the topline on the back and/or rump
  • Tail is tipped in the base color (black or red)
  • White patches are large, soft, rounded blobs

3. Other Pinto Types:


Wild-looking Pinto from BLM adoption at Roseville, CA

There are also variations and less common sub-types, including TOVERO and MEDICINE HAT. Most of these sub-types are extreme expressions of overo, or a mixture of tobiano and overo.

MAXIMUM SABINO & TOVERO

A PURE WHITE horse, with normal skin coloring can be a MAXIMUM TOVERO. Such a horse may have no dark areas, or only a few very tiny ones, that may go undetected, because the white mask is so extensive.


Pure white foals born of overo mares may be Lethal Whites (homozygous Frame Overo is lethal) but may be perfectly normal Maximum Whites, if one parent is sabino or tovero
 


Heather Doherty's medicine hat pinto
Tovero, Medicine Hat, Pintaloosa  & Maximum White Pintos

The endless variations of spots and splashes that occur in horses - and mustangs in particular - are a source of endless delight and discovery. They include the Pintos, the Appaloosa Complex, Splashed Whites, and Sabinos.

Genetics of White Patterns:

All patterns of white are block the horse's normal color, just as white paint can cover up a brown or black base, or a stencil or wax covering can prevent paint from sticking to a cloth or paper.

INDEPENDENCE:
Genes that control the colored parts of the horse and the genes that create the white patterns are not related and act independently of each other.

A horse can have a red or black base. This base can be modified by ay of the other color genes, such as Roan or Champagne or Creme. This can also have an overlay of Tobiano or Overo or Sabino or whatever.

EXAMPLE: This colt is a black-based horse with dun dilution and possibly Creme and/or Agouti as well. The resulting color is partially blocked by Tobiano, which creates the white patterns and high white leg stockings.

 

The Base Colors: Red  Black

Major Headings:

The Single Dominant Genes: Agouti | Appaloosa | Brindle | Dun | Grey | Pangare | Pintos Rabicano | Roans & Roaning | Silver | Sooty |

The Pinto Patterns: Tobiano | The Overo Complex: Frame | Sabino | Splash | Tovero

The Incomplete Dominant Genes: Champagne | Creme

The Recessive Genes: Red | Flaxen

Colors with multiple genetic bases: Blue | Brown | White | Roan-like Effects

Miscellaneous Color Issues: Lethal White | Palomino or Flaxen Chestnut? | How to tell the Overo Patterns Apart |
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Disclaimer: Horses are inherently dangerous. Use the information contained within this website at your own risk.