Markings

Horse color is described with a combination of the coat colors, which we have addresed earlier in this module, and markings. These markings help us to tell apart the many horses that share a base color. White markings on the legs and face of a horse are used as a form of identification for breed registries, as well as on veterinary forms such as health papers or Coggins tests. They are unique to each animal and the marking name is determined by the amount of white as well as the location on the body. These markings do not change over time, even on gray horses. As the gray horse becomes lighter, it may be difficult to see these white markigs, but they are still there. It is important to keep in mind that the terms for markings can vary among breeds or disciplines and may be different from the those listed here.

Leg Markings

This image is from Equine Science by Jean T. Griffiths.

Coronet—thin band above coronet band of hoof

Half pastern—extends halfway up pastern

Full pastern—covers all of the pastern, not extending into the fetlock

Ankle—white on the fetlock, but below the cannon

Half stocking—white extends to any point on the cannon, above the fetlock and below the knee

Full stocking—white extends to knee, not above it

High stocking—white extends above knee/hock, onto forearm/gaskin

Full heel—white only on balls of the heel

Half heel—white only on half of heel, either inside or outside of foot

Face Markings

This image is from Equine Science by Jean T. Griffiths.

Star—small amount of white located on the forehead, not extending beyond or drastically below the eyes or past the ears

Faint star—very light, small star; may only be a few hairs

Snip—small amount located on nose, between the nostrils

Stripe/strip—thin stripe on bridge of nose below the eye but above the muzzle

**The above three markings can be combined to form a connected or disconnected "star, strip, and snip" marking (thinner than blaze)

Blaze—thick stripe that runs from the forehead to the nose, possibly to lower lip (thicker than star, strip, and snip)

Bald-faced—extension of a blaze that runs the width of the face not extending behind the eyes, may envelop muzzle

Apron-faced—extension of bald-faced; entire lower part of the head is covered as well as the lower throatlatch

Paper-faced/Bonnet—white covers entire face; extends to above and behind the eyes to the throatlatch, not past the ears, and covering the muzzle

Click here to do the Labeling Activity

Other Distinguishing Markings

People most often think of white leg and face markings when they think of horse markings, but there are markings that are not white. Cobwebbing dorsal stripes, zebra stripes and wither stripes are all examples of primitive markings, which are seen in dun horses, and are one of the ways we tell dun horses from other diluted colors.

Primitive marking-cobwebbing	Primitive Marking-dorsal stripe	PrPrimitive marking-zebra stripes	Primitive marking-wither stripe

Dappling is another variation in the coat pattern that can be distinguishing. Although we often think of dappling in regards to gray horses, other colors can have the circular, or ring shaped, dapples.

The final markings we will discuss are dark markings on a lighter background. Blood mark is a dark colored patch on the coat. Although it is most commonly seen in lighter colored horses with a dark patch, dark base colored horses can also have an even darker patch. Ink spots (also called paw prints or bear paws) are dark colored spots in the white background of pinto horses.