Combination Paint patterns
 While
each of the Paint patterns--tobiano, frame overo, sabino and
splashed white--can mark a horse on its own, many horses sport
combinations of these. When these patterns combine, the result
is a horse with a pattern that can sometimes be difficult
to classify.
Any combination is going to be marked with white from all
the patterns going into the combination. That is, the combinations
pick up the white from each of the components and add them
together so that wherever any of the component patterns would
have been white, so is the combination.
Many of the combinations go by the term "tovero," because
most are tobiano plus one of the other patterns. Coming up
with names for each specific combination is fun and can yield
some fun-sounding names, but few of these communicate the
specific combination very well.
The combination patterns have a few very important consequences
for the Paint Horse breed.
One consequence of combinations is that they may well not
be correctly identified, and so may be unwisely used in a
breeding program. The frame overo pattern, with its association
to lethal white foals, should probably only be present in
one parent of a mating. This strategy avoids lethal white
foals.
Accurately identifying frame/sabino combinations can be
very difficult in some cases, and most horses with this combination
are identified as sabinos. The addition of frame, though,
means the addition of the potential to produce lethal white
foals if mated to another frame horse.
Another consequence of accurate identification of combinations
is increased spot production.
A combination of tobiano and frame (or tovero), if mated
to solid colored horses, will produce about 25 percent tobianos,
25 percent frames, 25 percent tobiano/frame combinations,
and 25 percent solid foals. The color production goes from
50 percent for most spotted heterozygotes to 75 percent.
If we add splashed white to the combination, we probably
end up with a very white horse, but the spot production jumps
to about 87 percent, with many interesting combinations in
the foal crop.
The combination horses, therefore, can be a good addition
to a breeding program.
Breeding for specific
colors> |
