Appaloosa Panel 1

Leopard complex or appaloosa spotting is a white pattern in horses characterized by a variable amounts of white in the coat with or without pigmented leopard spots. Horses homozygous for this variant have an ocular condition known as congenital stationary night blindness.

Appaloosa Pattern-1 is a modifier of the leopard complex spotting (LP) and controls the amount of white in the coat pattern.

The extension gene, or red factor, determines whether a horse will have a chestnut base coat color or a black or bay base coat color.

The agouti gene controls the distribution of black pigment, and determines whether a horse will have a bay or black base coat color.

Splashed white is a variable white spotting pattern characterized by a broad blaze, extended white markings on the legs, variable white spotting on the belly, and often one or both blue eyes. Eight mutations in two different genes have been shown to cause the splashed white pattern.

Dominant white is a variable white spotting pattern caused by many different mutations in the KIT gene. The VGL tests for the five most common mutations known as W5, W10, W13, W20, and W22. Homozygosity for W5, W10, W13 or W22 is thought to be non-viable.