BREED SPECIFIC COLORS & MARKINGS
X - - - - - - - X
These mutated markings help define how an ACH differs from other horse breeds.
They can only be obtained through breeding or rank awards.
Brindle* - nX/XX
Brindle has been found as a random occuring gene throughout many horse breeds, but somehow it stuck in Cattle Horses. Most commonly these marks cause striping, banding, or dashed spots along the body.
Brindle tends to react more with Wild Bay & Dilute modifiers, which will cause almost chimeric stripes/spots across the body of the horse. These stripes can be lighter or darker than the base color.
*No longer an anomaly in natural horses
EXAMPLES:
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Pazu | Blue Brindle
Color Shield - nCs/CsCs*
Named for its tendency to shield all other markings from the middle of the horse. The white is only found on the topline & belly; the white markings starts at the rump and moves toward the head of the horse.
It has naturally hard edges and can have spotting inside and outside the white, but it will not produce leopard-type spotting unless Spotted Roan is Present.
Color Shield leaves the lower legs and the horses head unaffected, unless there is another white/paint gene. When that happens, it will always limit the white patterns to everywhere else but the barrel. Sometimes it will turn the mane white where it touches, but not always.
*Only dominant mutations will make the entire body of the horse white, except the horses face.
EXAMPLES:
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CsCs | Max Colorshield
- Max white coverage without any other white marking gene. Some small holes may be present in the shoulder, barrel, and rump area.
nCs | Max Colorshield
- Max white coverage without any other white marking gene.
Minimal Colorshield
Smallest amount of Colorshield for both Dom & Rec genes.
Hereford - nH/HH*
White is limited to the face, googles around eyes, then follows on belly. Minimal expression can be as small as a blaze, and largest expression can go to the middle of the neck. A "badger" face has been seen with this marking.
Hereford blocks all other white markings on the body, except under the knees and hocks. Color shield will still show(minimal expression only)
There is a hiccup in the gene that breaks the white up, Happens randomly in the gene-line; DNA testing hasn’t shown what causes it to break. When this happens, white markings appear normally on the body without any restriction.
*only HH shows, nH is carrier.
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EXAMPLES: Copperhead Diesel •
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Spotted Roan - nSr/SrSr*
The leopard gene and the roan gene have mutated together within ACH's and have created a new white pattern. Spotted Roan can cover the entire horse or parts of it. The white coverage can be solid and fade/roan out in spots, or can look more like a a leopard appaloosa.
Spotted roan always starts from the rump, and moves forward across the horses body; the legs and the head will always be the last places affected by the gene.
Spotted roan can affect the mane, turning it white in places, but not always.
**SrSr can be all white with minimal holes, and nSr can cause Peacock Appaloosa markings. nSr can never be all white, but SrSr can show minimally.
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EXAMPLES:
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SrSr | Max "Roan"
- small amounts of holes and/or white spots.
SrSr | Max "White"
- Max white coverage without any other white marking gene. Holes are minimal.
nSr | Normal Spotted Roan
This is the Basic coverage of the gene. It can be minimal but will generally be a combo of Roan, Spots, Holes, and white Patches.