Would like to give you a little information about the Sabino Coat Pattern. Would like to give you a little information about the Sabino Coat Pattern.
This article was originally printed in the Paint Horse Journal, December 1998 and was written by Frank Holmes.
"A Lighter Shade of Red."
When it comes to describing Paint spotting patterns, the term sabino (sah-BEE-no) seems to be one of the most confusing and least understood.
In his book, Western Words—A Dictionary of the American West Ramon F. Adams lists sabino as being Spanish for “a horse with light-red, almost pink, roan-colored body and a pure-white belly.”
This accurately describes one of the many variants of the pattern—the one at the median of the spectrum.
But what about the opposite ends of the palette?
Minimally-expressed, the sabino pattern manifests itself in the form of white markings on the head and legs on an otherwise solid-colored horse. These sabinos are often confused with solid horses that have unusual white markings. The sabinos are different in that their white markings tend to have narrow, pointed extensions up the legs or down the throat. A classic example of this type of sabino is the well-known Hank Wiescamp-bred stallion, St. Sheila.
Minimally-marked red roan sabinos are often confused with classic roan horses, with the only difference being the sabino’s extended leg and face markings.
As the sabino pattern progresses, the white markings on the legs get higher, extending up the forearm and chest in the front, and the stifle in the rear. Belly spots appear that are often visible from the side. On the head, the white markings become more extensive, spreading outward over the eyes, and up from the lower lip to the throatlatch. In some instances, the head is completely white, or apron or bonned-faced. Two early-day Paint show champions—Nylon and her maternal half-brother Jacket Bar’s—are classic examples of this phase of the pattern.
As the sabino pattern progresses even farther, it becomes more flecked or speckled over the entire body. The belly and the head are often completely white. This phase of the pattern is probably the most readily identified as sabino. Scenic Frosted Jet is an excellent example of this type of sabino.
At this point, however, the pattern again becomes somewhat ambiguous. Sabinos with sharply-edged, large spots on their sides are sometimes confused with frame overos. Because, as the pattern progresses the white in it extends vertically over the back, some sabinos are confused with tobianos.
Finally, in its maximally-expressed form, the sabino pattern evolves into an extremely white horse. Although most horses of this pattern are born as medicine hats, with dark pigment on their ears and/or foreheads, often times the pigment fades to the point of becoming virtually undetectable. The well-known sire Scenic Jetalito is a class example of the predominantly-white sabino. White sabinos are sometimes erroneously classified as lethal whites. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Along with being misidentified, the case can be made that the sabino pattern is also grossly under appreciated. It is a pattern that is much more prevalent than commonly perceived, and one that Paint breeders have been manipulating for years with far-reaching results….
See the Paint Horse Journal for the remainder of this article.
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