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Sabino is a pinto pattern often confused with overo. It differs from overo in these ways:
-- The edges of the white areas of a sabino are jagged, feathery, or "roaned." The edges of the white areas of an overo are more crisp.
-- Sabinos often have a white feathery-edged patch underneath their throat. Overos don't necessarily have this.
-- Sabinos rarely have blue eyes. Overos often do.
-- Sabinos often have hind stockings in which the white area seeps up the front side of the leg; also, if they have no white stockings on their forelegs, they often have a white patch on the knee.
Sabino is caused by the dominant gene Sb. Homozygous SbSb horses are often almost solid white; heterozygous Sbsb horses display "normal" sabino patterning, and homozygous sbsb horses are not sabino. There is no lethal factor associated with the sabino gene.
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Chestnut sabino |
Chestnut sabino |
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Red dun sabino |
Sorrel sabino |
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Chestnut sabino |
Black sabino |
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Chestnut sabino |
Bay sabino, in foal coat |
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Liver chestnut sabino, with flaxen mane and tail (eeffSb-) |
Black sabino |
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The horse at left is a black sabino, minimally marked. |
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Black sabino |
Bay sabino |
As I said, SbSb sabinos are almost solid white with very little color. Since sabino is a dominant gene, these horses must have two sabino parents. It's believed that they will produce "regularly-marked" sabino foals when bred to solid-colored horses.
The foal at left is a sabino. She is mostly white with a bit of color in her mane (mostly up near her ears) and a small patch of color at the top of her tail. Her dam's markings can't be clearly seen, but a rectangular-looking blaze, colored upper lip, and white lower lip are typical sabino characteristics.
The foal at right is another largely white sabino. His only color appears to be a bit of red in his ears. His dam must be a sabino, although she, like the mare above, shows few characteristics.
This stallion is also a "white sabino." He appears to differ little from an ordinary white horse. To identify him as a sabino, you have to know what color his parents were. A true white horse always has at least one white parent. A "white sabino" has two sabino parents.
As for the horse below, I have used an especially large picture so that you can see the faint splotches of pale color on his flank and ribs. He too is a "white sabino," but like most white sabinos, is not entirely white -- nor is he true white. He does have blue eyes, which is unusual for a sabino.
