Cool appy foal

Thought this was cool....

Mother Nature can throw some curveballs, and when it comes to putting color onto a horse, she outdid herself with the markings she put on an filly born last year in Montana.


With several generations of straight Appaloosa breeding behind her, this filly--registered with the Appaloosa Horse Club as Uniquely Destined--is one the likes of which few folks have ever seen.


(And in case you're wondering, she underwent genetic testing for presence of the tobiano gene, and her test came back N/N--meaning no such gene was passed from either parent.)




"Unique" is owned by Jan Taylor of Huntley, Montana. She plans to show the filly this year at halter. Her sire is a few-spot leopard, Predestined, and her dam, a leopard, is The Kids A Bimbo, by The Vigilante Kid.


If you'd like to look into her bloodlines for yourself, the pedigrees of both parents are available here (be sure to select the Appaloosa named Predestined, as that name also has been assigned to horses of other breeds.)

Awh that is such a neat looking baby!

There was a thread about her a few months back. I can't remember if it was determined if she was chimeric or not.

I don't think she was tested. I think there was speculation that she was either chimeric or not.

I think there have actually been a few threads on here. I know that one of them is in the breeding section.

Could it just be that she is a blanket Appaloosa whose blanket got skewed somehow in utero? I mean, the blanket would look pretty normal if you could slide it back on her bum. What do you think about that theory?

I guess that doesn't explain the tobiano-like markings though does it?

Leopards have a "clumping" that can happen with her spots. There is another theory that she just got an abundance of the "clumping" and ended up with this pattern.

I'm positive she was tested and is NOT chimeric. The breeding thread touched on that. However, she does have PSSM which was a huge debate. The owner actually ended up wandering onto HF and completely freaking out because someone interested in buying her was asking opinions (the filly was listed publically for sale). So watch what you say about her, or we could have another outburst!

Very cool though, it's very much like the Manchado horses from Argentina that display pinto/appaloosa like markings and yet do not have any gene for it. It's believed to be an environmental thing, as it only seems to happen to horses from Argentina. If that's possible there, it's likely just some oddball environmental factor went into play with this filly as genetically she's completely "normal".

Very cool, and interesting on the genetics side of things!

Wow that is gorgeous!

Yep she was tested for chimerism and was negative. The theory is that in utero conditions made her coat go a little wonky. Genetically I think she is a leopard appy.