1. What exactly is an Appaloosa horse ?

To us , an Appaloosa horse is a horse descending from Appaloosa ancestors.

Appaloosas come in all colors : Leopards , Near Leopards , Blankets , Snowcaps , Few Spots and solid colored horses and Roans. Here are some examples :

LEOPARDS : Appaloosa horses with a spotted coat pattern all over . The base color can be white with spots in one or more colors. The base pigment ( ears , around eyes and nose and part of the legs , eye lashes ) is brown /bay/black /chestnut/palomino and the spots show from nose to tail .

NEAR LEOPARDS : Appaloosas with a spotted body coat , but a dark pigmented neck, head and legs may show lightning markings.

BLANKETS : Blanketed Appaloosas have a pigmented base color and a distinctive blanket over back and hips . The blanket contains spots in various colors . Sometimes the muzzle of those horses has a spotted appearance , too .

SNOWCAPS: Appaloosas with a dark pigment base and a white blanket over hips/back without spots in it . The blanket can reach up to the withers on the back and cover the loins , too .

FEW SPOTS : Few Spots are Appaloosas who are basically white or off white , maybe with some roan pigment along the neck , armpits and knee region . They usually do not have more than 6 distinctive spots on their body .

SOLIDS : Yes , there are solid colored Appaloosas around . Bay , black , dark bay , brown , chestnut , palomino and even white. Solid colored mares make lovely loud colored babies bred to a Few Spot stallion .

ROAN looking horses : Roan looking coat patterns can be seen in all base colors within the Appaloosa breed and appear at the neck and hips only or all over the body .