page_title: Splashed white
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Splashed white / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: Splash White Mare and Foal
context_page_description: Splashed white or splash is a horse coat color pattern in the "overo" family of spotting patterns that produces pink-skinned, white markings. Many splashed whites have very modest markings, while others have the distinctive "dipped in white paint" pattern. Blue eyes are a hallmark of the pattern, and splash may account for otherwise "solid" blue-eyed horses. Splashed white occurs in a variety of geographically divergent breeds, from Morgans in North America to Kathiawari horses in India. The splashed white pattern is also associated with congenital deafness, though most splashed whites have normal hearing. Splashed white can be caused by multiple variants across two different genes, for which genetic testing is available.
context_section_description: The splashed white pattern is characterized by the appearance of having been dipped, feet-first, into white paint. Blue eyes are common, but not universal. The margins of the white markings are crisp, smooth, blocky, and well-defined. The head and legs are white, and the tail is often white or white-tipped. The underside of the body is white, and a connected white patch often spreads smoothly up either side of the thorax. On its own, the splashed white pattern is seldom responsible for white markings that reach the topline, and so it has been categorized as one of the "overo" patterns by Paint horse and Pinto horse registries.
  As sabino-type markings also originate on the underside, some splashed whites can be mistaken for cleanly marked sabinos. Both patterns can be present on the same horse, but splashed white markings are crisp and blocky, and horizontally distributed. In particular, the face markings of splashed whites are straight-edged and bottom heavy, whereas those of sabinos are often tapering or feathered, and often vertical in orientation. The presence of additional white patterning genes can intensify the amount or obscure the characteristics of splashed white markings.  There is some association between splashed white and deafness in horses that are very white, but more research is needed to determine how this occurs. White extending onto the ears is hypothesized to correlate to deafness. SW-1 and SW-2 have been found in homozygous form, but SW-3, SW-4, SW-4, and SW-6 may be homozygous lethal.
caption: Splashed white mare and foal with mask-like white faces, blue eyes, and dark-colored spots on their lips.
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