What happened to Piebald and Skewbald?

[Ezme]

Now that coloured horses are all fashionable i've noticed in all the adverts nothing is piebald or skewbald anymore, its all tobanio, sabino and whatever else there is. Does piebald make people think of the old "colourds are for gypsys" stigma? I'm confused and don't know what i'm looking at anymore! I'm assuming its just another americanism encroaching on the mother tounge

 

[carys220]

I believe Tobanio is when the horse has pink skin..? And I think Sabino is when the horse has dark skin and a mainly dark base coat...?

Someone can correct me as I'm sure I'm wrong.

They are what colours Pintos are so it could just be an Americanism.

 

[EarlGrey]

Hmm...
As far as I understand Tobiano is a gene. A horse that carries the Tobiano gene has white patches (pink skin) which can vary in size and shape on a base coloured coat. So this could be bay, chestnut or black/dk brown. Which equals a Piebald or a Skewbald horse.
Sabino is more roan than patches of white. Sabino is the gene carried by Clydesdales creating the roan appearance and is also responsible for the white spots commonly found on the belly.
I have probably completely confused things now!

 

[nikkiportia]

So what if you have a horse who has pink skin, with black patches and also roan patches???? I'm also confused

 

[Ezme]

The average horse owner has no need fro knowlege on the gentic level. Piebald= Black and white, Skewbald= Any other colour and white, Tricoloured= White and colour with black points or black splodge too. Simple.

 

[EarlGrey]

Tee hee, like my horse!
He's a dark dapple grey, blue roan with a white belly and white legs. I'm guessing he is sabino coloured. He is part Clydie though so that figures.

I don't know if horses can carry both tobiano and sabino genes. I wouldn't say Earl could be be Tobiano because, although he has a solid white patch he doesn't have a solid base coat colour unlike a piebald or skewbald. He has a mixture of grey, black, white and chestnut hairs which make him roan. He's odd!

I think Tobiano patches are more defined like the horse in your signature. But I could be very wrong and confusing everyone! Someone who knows... please help! Is that your new horsey the way????

 

[EarlGrey]

Agreed Ezme!
To me they have always been piebald, skewbald etc and I too noticed all these 'tobiano' horses being advertised, then I saw an article the other day explaining it... on some level

 

[Eira]

Well my horse is skewbald

but she's not for sale

Yet

 

[Donkeymad]

Agree with you wholeheartedly Ezme. The tobiano/sabino gene thing has been discovered far more recently than the generalist colour names of skewbald and piebald. It is causing arguments among Breed Societies such as the WPCS.
bring back good-old-fashioned skewbald and piebald I say!

 

[carys220]

Don't forget Tricolour

 

[Donkeymad]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't forget Tricolour

[/ QUOTE ]

Ooops, sorry. Of course!

 

[Ezme]

I remembered tricolour! Although its fairly rare compared to the others! I think some people just can't cope with the fact they have a bog standard hair cob in thier stable, no matter how lovely they are!

 

[niaismyname]

Haha, basically its different skin colours, but to be honest, to me they are either Skewbald or Piebald (or in some cases tri-coloured). I cant really see the point in all these wonderful new names.

 

[LauraBR]

Totally agree Ezme!

 

[Ezme]

Yay! It wasn't just me being an old soul! lol

 

[TarrSteps]

Well, the genetics are important to people breeding coloured horses because that's what determines the end product. Now that funny coloured horses are a dime a dozen (and often come in quite nice sport models) people want even more fancy designs. What colour the spots are isn't anything to do with the patterns (breeding a Skewbald won't give you another one anymore than breeding a bay guarantees you a bay foal) so most people use the colour designations now - black, bay, chestnut etc. - along with a coat pattern description. Luckily Pony Club is keeping the terms alive.

Also, until horses flew around the world every day of the week pretty much every coloured horse in the UK was tobiano so there wasn't much point in making fine distinctions.

The really annoying bit is they seem to keep finding out more coat patterns, or at least mutations of the existing ones. Then you add horses that look like one type but are actually genetically another . . .

Wait until "paint" becomes fashionable here . . . then you have to keep repeating how "pinto" is a colour and "Paint" is a breed . . .

 

[carys220]

.....I prefer black horses.

I want a jet black TB x Hanno if anyone has one for sale!

LOL

 

[Ezme]

I know the genes are important for the breeders out there but still... There are come nice coloured sports horses about now, i used to discount them as they were all colour no substance but now theres some great performers about. Ok if your a breeder and talking to another breeder use to gene names but otherwise we're brits! Skewbald, piebald and tricoloured!

 

[carys220]

My friend bred a huge skewbald thing - he went away to be schooled with a dressage rider who eventually took him into a test and came third. The rider said this was really good for a coloured horse.....but why would the colour matter in dressage??

This was only about 4 or 5 years ago.

 

[Enfys]

"The really annoying bit is they seem to keep finding out more coat patterns, or at least mutations of the existing ones. Then you add horses that look like one type but are actually genetically another . . .

Wait until "paint" becomes fashionable here . . . then you have to keep repeating how "pinto" is a colour and "Paint" is a breed . . . "


As I have learned!

In the UK my painted pony would be a skewbald, here she is a sorrel( I am told this is because she has a lighter mane and tail) sabino (because she has the bald face, white legs and lacy edges) frame (because of some other technicality) overo (because she has no white crossing her back)

To us, the Vet and the Farrier, she is just 'The Paint' her stillborn colts this year were solids with high whites (lots of chrome!) but would have been eligible to be registered as Paints. This coloured malarkey is a very tangled web over here

I, too, grew up with piebald, skewbald and tri-coloured, anything else with patches was 'Odd coloured' but now they seem to have morphed into blue/lemon/palomino/dun and white etc, the only overo patterns seen commonly were on donkeys, and anything that looked vaguely like a Blagdon was a throwback to Clyde blood in it somewhere along the lines and that was that.

Wouldn't the arab and welsh people like THAT statement! Although now it is said that the sabino in those specific breeds has always been there, especially since arab blood was added to Welsh lines, just not popular until recently so not bred specifically for the patterning as happens now.

It is a shame that 'colourism' has become so fashionable that any coloured will sell regardless of whether it can actually do the job or not!

 

[Keltic]

My mare is a Clydie cross and her colour is described as either Blagdon Blue Roan, Sabino and on her passport the vet put her down as a spotted blue roan, if anyone asks me i usually say "coloured mare" it covers everything!!

 

[Ezme]

Oh while we're at it, whats with all the types of palamino/ golden duns!?

 

[carys220]

LOL and my pony is a Chestnut

 

[toffeesmarty]

We have a blue piebald who has a roan and spotty face. He is CHAPS registered. The judge in a recent CHAPS affiliated show (you'd have thought should have known better) asked my daughter is your pony a spotted coloured?

 

[kirstyhen]

I bought my horse when no one had coloureds! He has always been Dark Brown Tobiano, which would make him skewbald, but he looks piebald!

Im a trend setter

 

[carys220]

My first horse was a piebald, that was about 21 years ago!

 

[Ezme]

[ QUOTE ]

Im a trend setter

[/ QUOTE ]

Lol well done, did you get him cheap cos of it? I've never owned/looked after a coloured (unless you want to class a clydie with a white belly) come to think of it i can't remember riding one in the 11 years i've been riding! I must of at some point... but for the life of me i can't remember!

 

[kirstyhen]

When I bought Hen there were no coloured horses at our local shows, they didn't even have a specific coloured class!
Now everyone seems to have them! Obviously mine is the original and best!

He was quite cheap, for a big young horse with tack! Im sure he would have been an extra 1 or 2 grand nowadays!!

 

[Enfys]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh while we're at it, whats with all the types of palamino/ golden duns!?

[/ QUOTE ]

Can of worms! I thought a palomino was a palomino, period. Until someone told me that one of mine was actually a champagne, not palomino. Hmm! Then you have your chocolate palominos, which I always thought were liver chestnuts....ho hum, I was wrong again

Duns! An even larger can of worms! Fox, mouse, yellow, blue, buckskin, grulla etc, etc. We had yellow and mouse duns when I was a child and that was that.

 

[Ezme]

Oh god yeah. All the types of duns.... argh! I'm only 20 yet even i can see these changes are mental and new