I need some guidance from knowledgeable people

I was talking to some friends, and to cut it short, they think that a blaze like this

Is 'normal' and in no possible way can point to a 'pinto gene'. They say that "yeah, my horse has a blaze, and yes, it bleeds onto their bottom lip, but they don't have a 'pinto gene'."

I was really hoping someone could break down and explain what white facial markings mean, and how they can be 'pintos' without really showing any signs. Basically I need help explaining to these people that horses like the above do indeed carry some sort of 'pinto gene'/white pattern gene and it's not always just a average blaze that means nothing.

Also, another question pertaining to our discussion;
Is it true that if a horse has any white marking that it means something genetically... like say they have a largeish star and a couple of socks/white feet, then they carry something or at least have traces of it in their pedigree somewhere...? It's kinda hard to explain in words.
But for example, I heard on another forum by an Arabian breeder that a horse can have sabino with very very minimal markings, ie only a snip and maybe a sock or two.

This horse he hetero for Sabino 1

For example, and shows very little 'sabino' or pinto characteristics.

I'm not sure if any of this really made any sense.
I've been to the ER twice in the last week :p (poor excuse, I know)

Markings are tricky. They don't necessarily have to be pinto markings, as they can be present in any breed. Splash likes a bottom heavy blaze, which he has. Frame likes a top heavy blaze, which he also has. Sabino likes to avoid the eyes, which is what his blaze is doing. That doesn't mean he has all of those genes, but those are characteristics. Genes are complicated, but they can show up in any breed.

Thanks. I pretty much know all these things, but it can be pretty hard to explain sometimes to people that don't know a whole lot, and believe that a wide blaze like above is normal.
Thanks again for the response anyway C:

A wide blaze like he has IS normal, and doesn't necessarily mean there's a pinto in the woodpile. The only way to be mostly sure would be to pull tail hair and have him tested for certain characteristics. I say mostly sure because there are certain genes that are known to exist but can't be tested for yet.


My horse is purebred Arabian and may carry Sabino and Splash but I've never tested him. His doesn't carry any pinto characteristics (I used to say his only flaw was no belly spot) and the Sabino gene Arabs carry isn't testable yet. His blaze avoids his eyes, goes down over his nose and onto his lower lip and slides to the side. His lower lip white doesn't carry up into the qualifying region for pinto reg and his stockings aren't high enough.