Piebald Horse Information

A Piebald dray horse working the beachfront route

A piebald horse refers to a particular color pattern, and you typically find the piebald coloration in horses that qualify as either a Paint horse, a Pinto or both. Pintos are bred for the color pattern and do not otherwise have consistent conformation. Paint horses have similar color patterns but also must have Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred, or Paint Horse breeding. The kinds of classifications that apply to Paint or Pinto horses such as type of conformation and action, therefore, also apply to piebalds.

Distinctions

Horsepersons divide Pinto horses, and therefore also piebald horses, into four types: saddle type, hunter type, stock type, and pleasure type as described at the Oklahoma State University website. In the United States, horsepersons generally refer to horses having a coloration incorporating large dark spots interspersed with white simply as either Pinto or Paint horses rather making the distinction of different darker colorations. Europeans use the term piebald more commonly than do United States horsepeople as described at the Cowboyway website.

Coloring

Pinto or paint horses typically have coloring made up of a pattern of irregular, large patches of white alternating with a dark color. The nature of the darker color determines classifying the horse either as a piebald or a skewbald pattern. Piebald horses have white and black patches; all similar coloring patterns incorporating any color except black are skewbald as described at the Irish Piebald & Skewbald Association website.

Saddle and Stock Types

Saddle Type piebald horses exhibit animated, high action and also have high head carriage. The bloodlines of saddle type piebalds predominantly comes from Tennessee Walking Horse, Saddle Horse, or Hackney breeding. Piebald ponies of the Saddle Type have conformation similar to Thoroughbred horses or Shetland or Hackney ponies. The Stock Type of piebald horse is a western style horse with breeding predominantly originating from the Paint Horse or Quarter Horse breeds and with the conformation these breeds exhibit. Ponies of this type exhibit the conformation of the Quarter Horse and the Shetland Pony.

Hunter and Pleasure Types

Hunter Type piebald horses have breeding associated with Thoroughbred horses. Piebald ponies of this type have configuration also associated with Thoroughbred horses as well as with the Connemara pony. The Pleasure Type of piebald horse originates from Arabian or Morgan horse breeding, and can include horses with bloodlines of both Arabian and Morgan horse breeds. Ponies of this type exhibit the conformation and carriage associated with Morgan and Arabian horses and with the Welsh pony.

Fun Fact

In Enid Bagnold's classic novel "National Velvet," teenager Velvet Brown aspires to ride a piebald gelding -- called "the Pie" -- in Britain's Grand National steeplechase race. In the 1944 film adaptation starring young Elizabeth Taylor, the filmmakers used a chestnut horse, not a piebald. In the film, "the Pie" was a nickname for "Pirate."

References

• Irish Piebald & Skewbald Association Ltd.: Piebald / Skewbald -- A Brief Colour Definition
• Oklahoma State University: Pinto
• Cowboyway: Horse Colors

Resources

• The British Skewbald and Piebald Association: BSPA
• National Velvet, Enid Bagnold, 1935