Well, this has nothing to do with breeding for color, it has to do with breeding for quality. When you see a horse that is promoted heavily on the basis that he is black with 4 whites and a blaze, most of the time, THAT is what the breeder was looking for in selecting that horse. Quality is obviously NOT the most important thing on that breeder's mind. Color and markings do not breed true. Ideal throws a great percentage of foals with 4 white socks, as high a percentage as any shire stallion breeding.
Markings are a crap-shoot every time.
Ideal has NOT been overused as a premier shire stallion. We don't have a large herd of mares, and stand Ideal to only a limited number of Shire mares each season. This ensures that we don't flood the market with foals by him. Unlike with some overused sires, Ideal blood will never be in a high percentage of shires worldwide. Ideal's pedigree is stacked with some of the best shires that the world has ever known.