posing at 4 days old Her barn name "Hallie" came about because of her big white forhead spot which looked like a halogen headlight. Hallie was born solid black, with no indication she would be a roan. However she started shedding and showing her roan coat at one months old (see the small roan patch on her neck):
yearling photo
photo May 23, 2004 (2 yrs old)
Hallie shows FOUR roaning patterns: True Roan - Minimal white hairs can appear with a minimal affect (aka: black roan) to a maximum affect (aka: blue roan with many white hairs causing a grey-ish color)A true roan has few or no white hairs mixed in with the colored ones on the head, legs, mane and tail. These areas of the horse are noticeably darker and true to the base color. The rest of the body however has about 50%-85% white hairs in it and there's no mistaking that the horse is a roan. A true roan does not grey out with age. The amount of white may vary from summer to winter. The base color does NOT have the roaning (white hair) on the: head, ears, mane/tail, and their legs have the classic inverted 'V' of base colour at the knee. Frosty Roan - roaning in the mane tail, over bony areas and often over the topline. It is not usually present at birth but shows as an increasing amount of white hairs through the coat soon after. The adult coat has white hair throughout the body and neck, with silver hair through the mane and tail. In the spring, as the winter coat molts, a roan becomes a pale silver colour apart from the lower legs, points and face which usually more or less retain the base colour. At this time, there is a striking contrast between the upper and lower leg with the classic inverted 'V' of dark colour at the knee. As the winter coat starts to grow in, the body takes on a colour closer to the basic colour of the horse. They do not grey out with age. The amount of white may vary from summer to winter. Frosties tend to have roaning that extends onto the jaws or down the legs further than most true roans, as well as more irregular/patchy roaning on their bodies, and white hairs in mane and tail. Otherwise they're the same as true roans, and they breed the same way, including the linkage to E or e. It's probably just a variant or modification of true roan, but it does throw people since all the literature says that true roans don't have white hair in the mane/tail. Rabicano Roan - It consists of white hairs interspersed in a faint brindling pattern along the flank area, belly and up between the front legs. It also causes a "coon tail" of white banding at the tailhead. Rabicano horses can have such minimal expressions of the pattern that it is missed. It's a white pattern that varies in degrees, but these are the phenotypes: Small "flea bitten" patches of white hair on either side of the base of the tail, a few white "flea bitten" looking spots on the flank and sometimes the ribs are outlined in white hairs, and a few white hairs throughout the coat. As with any gene, it can show itself in vary-ing degrees and not ALL of these traits listed above may be present. The horse may only have white hair patches on either side of the base of the tail and that's all. Sabino Roan - Sabino can also cause roaned areas that may not be present at birth and grow with age. Sabino horses are the result of the sabino (pinto?) pattern of white on any base color. The most common expression is "high white" stockings, a blaze that wraps around down under on the chin, and perhaps a belly spot or two, but sabinos can show more -or even less***- white. Sabino horses with the maximum expression of the pattern are nearly all white, but usually retain a small patch of their base color on the ears or along the topline. Sabinos often have roaning, which often increases as the horse ages (but not gray/white), and so may be mistaken for true, dark headed roans. In the TWH breed history Roan Allen F-38; Merry Boy; and Pusher are sabino (marked up) horses. ***Sabino is thought by some to be the gene for: white sclera, blue or parti-blue eyes; as well as any white markings on a solid colored horse, re: a star, a snip, a sock, etc. FYI: classic/true roan patterning V.S. the Lp Appaloosa Roan
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