American Appaloosa

Britney Daughton and Audrey Plenty-Hoops

Click for a printable Word version of this Appaloosa Termpaper with tables.


The 1st Horses

The first horse was called Eohippus. It had four toes on the front legs and three toes on the hind legs. This species is almost enticed there are only three spices left. They are the tapir the rhinoceros and the modern day horse. The horse was hunted to extinction in the Americas by the first Americans.

Horses were not only hunted in the Americas but also in Europe by the cromagnon in 1800 B.C. In central France is where we see the first appaloosas. The cromagnon preformed “magic” rituals with life like paintings and statuettes, molded out of clay or carved out of bone or ivory. The paint was made out of colored earths and mixed oils, making these paintings and statuettes last through the centuries, giving us a peak into the past on what the wild horses looked like. They had neat clean heads, sharp pointed ears, and trim legs. They had dark symmetrical spots. They were red to light brown or tan

In Europe there were two specific types of horses. One was a large slow horse that lived in the north, the prehistoric Great northern horse of Europe. The other was the smaller, high strung, sensitive steed of the south.



How the appaloosa got its name

The Name appaloosa is believed to be derived from a river. Early French-Canadian fur traders called the river the “Pelouse” or “Palouse” which can be translated to “the river with green meadows”. Or the Nez Perce word for “something sticking up out of the water”. It also could be derived from a native word Appaluchi, Appalachian or Apulousa.Other names for the appaloosa/spotted horse, “in Persia it is called Kurandagh, in Austria it is called pinzgau, in Denmark it’s called knabstrupper or tigre, in England Chubarry, Blagadon, pibald, in Spain it’s Chubarri or Atigrado, In France it’s called Tigre, In Argentina it’s called Tigre, pintadoin Mexico it’s called Guinduri or Wynduri, In china it was called heavenly horse or blood sweating horse, in the in the rocky mountains and in the mid western united states it is known as the Nez Perce horse, raindrop dollar spot or the leopard spot” . (Haines, 4-5)(Haines, 4-5)






History of the appaloosas across the world
• In Egypt and northern Africa, horses were not seen until after 1780 B.C. in Egypt, and the rest of northern Africa at 520 A.D up to 1831 spotted horses is still nonexistent in 1962. In Egypt horses are used for chariot racing, farming and art. They were painted with a sliding scale making them smaller and thin. They were “average in size for that time strongly built moderately deep-chested, strong body frame and a large head” (Haines, 13).

• Horses in Indo-Europe were mainly sacred animals and were sacrificed, and were bread like cattle for their meat. The Assyrians prized their white and spotted horses. They were built like the western stock today, trim legs neat heads sturdy bodies. Persians sacrificed horses in temples and ate there meat. They were heavier and blockier than the Assyrians’ horses. The pure white and speckled horses were highly prized and rare .They got the honor of pulling the sacred chariot of Ormazd for state processions and were decorated with elaborate trappings. They were the only ones to carry the name the sacred horses of Nisaea.

• In china the horses were stocky, heavy, and had weak hooves. The ever opposing Huns had better steeds and would pillage and plunder pastures and horse breeders. Every year the Chinese would lose 10,000 or more, horses. Western and northern horses began being captured and bred for the Chinese empires, like Wu-Sun and the jade gate (Ferghana). They were much like the western stock today. Horses were mainly used for war, trade, and sacrifice at burials. Many were buried with paintings and statues or statuettes. Better breads of horses were exchanged between Europe and China. Spotted horses became more common in the 7th century A.D. but had been slightly common the past 1300 to 2000 years. Horse’s name of “blood sweating” could easily come from the horses that were infested with parasites, particularly the spotted ones. They had swelling under the skin that was behind the shoulders and along the back. When they were exercised, the boils bled through the hair follicles so they looked like they were sweating blood.

• The appaloosa horses in Korea and Japan were given as gifts or acquired in trade. They are not often found in literature and only in historical pieces of art in the middle of the 13th century at the earliest. There are some spotted horses in Korea, but none are found in Japan.

• In India they came through invaders, and no historian is sure if they existed there previously, but they are considered honorary mounts.

• In Persia the spotted horse was there earlier and more abundantly than in most areas. Spotted horses were in Persian art before 6th century A.D when the Muslims took over. They were also in the great legends of Rustam (Persian hero) and Rakush (his spotted mount).

• The appaloosa horses in Austria, Germany, and Scandinavia are believed to have been brought by attacking nomads. The spotted horse became important when it split its powers to become mounts for the royal family and various other nobles. The Spanish Riding School was also started (between 1740-1780). In 1671 the royal ridding school in Denmark received a spotted horse from the breeding farm, and as a result, in 1745 the breeding of Appaloosas increased. Other superb breeds like Knabstruppetrs were one of the top strains of the spotted horse, known mainly for their speed. The spotted horse was also very popular in their art, particularly seen in Swedish and Nordic art.



• The appaloosa appears in French art around the 11th century carrying saints, royals, and nobles. There are no known French appaloosa breeding farms, like in Austria and Denmark so it has been concluded that they were most likely imported. They were often given as gifts to the royal family and were seen in the circus

• In Spain, horses were imported from all over, making their breeding capabilities better. When the Romans took over the Spanish peninsula, the horses from Spain were prized for their beauty and speed. When the Goths took over the breeding, the number of horses greatly declined which eventually led to the breed’s down fall and to Islamic forces invading and taking over. The Spanish bred small to medium horses for speed, agility and endurance, most of which were of the spotted strand.

• In New Mexico, the horses were they only transportation and herding mechanism for the herders and ranchers, and by Spanish law only Europeans could ride horses. It was still considered illegal for an Indian to ride. Spanish herders were called vaqueros each needed anywhere from twelve to fifteen horses to assist in his duties. They were also a used for the army, as well as transportation for the commoners. Horses were rarely eaten, even by the plains Indians. The Spaniards would not sell or trade horses to Indians unless a runaway slave was captured and the Indians would only except hoses for the trade of the slave. They also held settlers prisoners with horses as the ransom. When all else failed, they would steal them from wherever they could. When they had more horses than they needed, they would trade them to other tribes for food, other animals, and various other things, which helped slowly spread the use of horses to other tribes. They were used for transportation and for battle. Indians in the west typically had more horses than those to the east, due to more ranchers and travelers and better conditions for the horses. Indians would steal horses from other tribes as a symbol of wealth. The Shoshone had the most horses.

• The Nez Perce started breeding horses for their spot patterns. They were very good at raising and breeding horses, but not as elaborate as current breeding. They castrated the lesser stallions and traded them and the lesser mares to other tribes. These horses were often considered better than the Spaniards’, as they had learned many of their techniques from the Spaniards but were native horses. They traded their common horses for goods. They used their appaloosa horses for hunting and traveling and soon became more of a nomadic hunter gatherer tribe than a sedentary fishing tribe. They had little difficulty hunting with their superior horses and bows


The appaloosas uses and reputation from past to present
The Appaloosa horse breed is known to be used in different purposes such as old style culture, back when the Spaniards first introduced horses to the North American people. This breed was used for range work by ranchers and horse breeders. There are many traits unique to this type of horse, different than any other breed, such as being bred for an old style range horse but with an unusual coat pattern. Also, the old time Appaloosa had a sparse mane and tail known as the rat tail trait. In modern breeding the horse breeder has bred away from the rat tail trait so the modern versions now have full manes and tails. The modern Appaloosa is refined and more muscular, reflecting on what breed it is crossed with such as the Arabian or the American Quarter horse. This more modern breeding has brought more uses for people today in western riding discipline activities such as reining, cutting, rodeo, for hunting style events and are used in movies because of their beautiful coat color and spots.









Genetics of the appaloosa horse

The Appaloosa horse has never really been understood genetically until very recently. Scientists are interested in understanding the genetic basis for the coat color and spotting. It is common for the Appaloosa horse to have many base colors such as bay, black, chestnut, buckskin, palomino, or any variation of dun and grullo. The Appaloosa Horse Club recognizes 13 base coat colors which may be overlain by the 5 recognized spotting patterns such as Blanket, Leopard, Few Spot Leopard, Snow Flake, Varnish Roan and Frost.(see print out).

The genetics of these base colors is well known and, for example, it is known by the tables that a black horse will have the genotypes E, aa, CC, dd, gg, ww, toto. The genetic formula will determine what the coat color will be, such as E represents that the horse has the ability to form black pigment in skin and hair. Black pigment in hair may be either in a point pattern or distributed over all. (aa) represents if horse has black hair, (E) then that black hair is distributed over body and points, (A) has no effect on (ee) red pigment. CC means horse is fully pigmented, (dd) means horse has undiluted coat color, (gg) means horse does not show progressive silvering with age, (ww) means horse is fully pigmented and (toto) means no there is no tabiano pattern present. This is what is genetically needed for a black base coat for any horse breed except for the Appaloosa which shows one difference on the chart. Using the black horse chart, for example all the genetic types would be the same for the Appaloosa except for the (toto) gene which for the Appaloosa breed would read LP. The LP gene represents a single dominant gene, and is thought to be responsible for the inheritance of these patterns and traits, while modifier genes are thought to play a role in determining the amount of white patterning that is inherited. Horses that are homozygous for Appaloosa spotting (LP/LP) tend to have fewer spots than heterozygotes on the white pattern areas. What is the LP gene in general? According to research done by scientist in the Horse Genome Project the theory is that the Appaloosa or LP gene is responsible for the Appaloosa patterning and other color characteristics, while other factors, possible genes, determine the exact spotting pattern. Scientists believe, and are still studying to find out, that the chromosome 1 gene may be a gene-complex rather than a single gene. Also, we know that the LP gene is responsible for the hair coat spotting, however some horses will show characteristics such as vertically striped hooves, white sclera of the eye, or mottled skin around the eyes, lips and genitalia. Protein in the gene is what causes the LP Leopard coat color and determines the leopard complex which is the collection of patterns such as the Lace Blanket, Spotted Blanket, Leopard Blanket, and the Snowcap Blanket. Any horse that shows Appaloosa markings carries the LP gene and this gene must be present in at least one of the parents. The mysterious genetic markings of the Appaloosa horse are interesting because of the chromosome 1 gene that no other breed carries.





Types of spotting