Dominant white, the most confusing coat colours

My erudite readers are no doubt saddened by my grammar in that title. They are right to be, of course. But you have to break eggs to make an omelette, and when it's time to describe a coat colour with one name (kind of, anyway) but over twenty known causes, consistent use of plurals is just one of the things that I'm prepared to sacrifice.

"The Opera House" shows the colouring expected from some types of dominant white horse: no pigment in the skin or hair, but normally pigmented eyes.

The frame overo coat color in horses

Horses and ponies have a really diverse range of white coat colour markings. Frame overo markings include eye-catching white patches and often a white face accompanied by one or two blue eyes. The amount of white on a frame overo horse or pony varies widely, ranging from a very discrete patch of white on the belly all the way up to majority white coat colours.

The 'frame' part of the frame overo name refers to fact that markings on the main body rarely if ever cross the spine, so if you squint a bit you can almost imagine the body colour making a darker "frame" around the white markings when viewed from side on. Yeah, it's kind of a stretch I know. People get a bit poetic naming horse colours (champagne, silver and pearl, I'm looking at you too).

One of the gorgeous 2013 frame overo filly foals from Winning Colours Farm.