SHARP DRESSED GENTLEMAN (ZZ Top X Psychedelic Answer), 2004 bay splash stallion owned by Dennis Bontrager. This stallion has four white feet, a blaze and one blue eye (the right). His paternal great grandsire is Cedar Creek Harlequin, a known splash producer, and he has Orcland Leader, another source of chrome, in his dam's lines. Photo by Anne Wyland.


JOURNEY'S RUMOUR HASIT (Medicine Wheel Jubilee X Arapaho Angel Dust), 2006 palomino splash mare owned by Kathleen Fisher. This mare has one half blue eye, her right, along with a blaze and 3 white feet. Two of her paternal half brothers are also splash and are pictured elsewhere on this page.


VS MORO MYSTIQUE (raf) (Blue Spruce High-Majestic X Moro Hill Mamosa), 2007 bay splash filly owned by Valley Stables, MI. "Misty" is a full Lippitt. She is linebred to two Lippitts who had markings possibly indicative of splash, Moro Hill Manito and Moro Hill Prophet. She traces to both stallions several times, on both sides of her pedigree. As closely bred as Lippitts are, one would have thought we would have seen some more obvious splash type markings and blue eyes before Misty. It is possible that this is because of the selection against white markings in the Lippitt gene pool.


ANCAN TRUE COLORS (Fiddler's Blackriver X Aquila's Miss Bee Haven), 2002 palomino splash (possibly also sabino) stallion owned by Anne Wyland, Ancan Morgans, Davison, MI. "Blitz" has no white on his legs, but his skewed to one nostril, bottom heavy blaze with straight edges, along with his mostly blue eye (his left eye is brown) are strong indicators of the presence of splash. Even more evidence comes from the fact that several of his offspring (out of different mares) have flashy white markings and a partial blue eye.

The source of splash here can only be speculated upon. It is probably coming through Blitz's dam line, as his sire never produced another blue eyed individual- and he sired 85 offspring. Blitz's dam, Bee, only has white hind anklets for markings, but both of her parents have markings that could indicate splash. Her sire Futurity Command is conservatively marked, but does have a star and snip. Bee's dam is Aquila's Queen Bee, and behind her are several horses liberally marked with white including Foxy's Cotton Queen, Foxfire and Bonfire. Queen Bee's sire Paramounts' Nominee (and his grandsire Paramount Ambassador) had a lot of white for a bay, including big snips- a hallmark of splash. Other Aquila horses from these same lines have a lot of white too, like Aquila's Top Command. Photo courtesy of Anne Wyland.


ANCAN KODACHROME (Ancan True Colors X Nocturnal Melody), 2006 palomino splash colt owned by Anne Singer-Mayden, Expat Morgans, Belgium. "Koda" has one partially blue eye (his left), white on both hind and the right fore as well as a big blaze. Photo courtesy of Anne Wyland.


ANCAN SAND PIPER (Ancan True Colors X Ancan Second Chance), 2006 palomino splash filly bred by Anne Wyland, Ancan Morgans, Davison, MI. Piper does not have any leg white but her bottom heavy blaze (it skews over to her left nostril, and there is a detached spot behind/above her right nostril) and partially blue right eye are good indicators that she is carrying a splash gene. Piper is now owned by Sue Dixon of Ammolite Acres in Alberta, Canada.


SONDARLING'S GYPSY LOVE (Higuera Sondarling X Futurity's Passion), 2003 chestnut splash + sabino mare owned by Anja Grell, Germany. Besides her star, offset snip and blue eye, this mare has a left fore partial coronet, left hind sock and right hind fetlock. Several of her white markings have distal spots and she is also getting roan hairs, indicating the presence of sabino. Her "chromed out" (white on all 4, star and stripe) sire has produced other horses with belly spots and high white more typical of sabino; her dam has a star and a faint lopsided snip as her only white. This might indicate the splash is coming from her dam's lineage, (there are two lines to Orcland Leader, a known source of white, behind her through Rapidan Apollo) though this is only guesswork at best.


NORCAL SPECIAL KITTEN (A Midnight Special X Kizzy's Kitten), 2006 bay splash filly owned by Gerry Paiva. This filly has one mostly blue eye (her right) and one brown eye. Her white markings consist of a star and snip and both hind fetlocks. While her sire is marked only with a telltale snip, Kitten's paternal grandsire is Farceur Morgan, a horse whose markings look suspiciously splash, as do the markings of his sire, Kings River Morgan. Another son of Farceur Morgan who has produced blue eyed offspring on several occasions is the palomino stallion Farceur's Fool's Gold. Photos courtesy of Gerry Paiva.


ICE FARCEUR'S HONEY (Farceur's Fool's Gold X CTM Whirlwin Romance), 2007 palomino splash filly owned by Ingela Isetoft of Ice Morgans. Honey has one blue eye and one brown eye and a crooked, spreading blaze which skews towards one nostril.  Shown on the left with her dam. Honey's splash gene is probably coming from her sire. Photos courtesy of Ingela Isetoft.


REGENCY CARROUSEL (Farceur's Fool's Gold X Aquila's Royal Satin), 2000 buckskin splash mare owned by Julia Allen Rose. Carrousel has one blue eye- the left- and one brown eye, a big blaze, left fore and right hind white fetlocks, and a left hind sock. Like her half sister Honey above, her splash markings are likely coming through her sireline. Photo courtesy of Erika Bronstrup.


So, how minimal can an expression of splash be? GSV REMBRANDT (Spring Hills Finnlee X Prairie Hill Mercedes), a 2004 dark bay/brown splash gelding owned by Valerie Larson-Lohr, demonstrates that they may be as simple as a single blue eye! He has no other visible white markings. Often horses who are thought to be "solid" have lighter areas of hoof horn visible only when their otherwise black hooves are viewed from the bottom. This is thought to be a white marking that simply did not extend up onto the limb. Tiny snips of no more than a few hairs are frequently missed, as well. Rembrandt's sire is marked with just a star, but his dam has a star, a snip and a hind fetlock white; the splash gene may be coming through her. Photos courtesy of Jerri Ostendorf.


MEMC ON TARGET (MEMC Crown Royal X WB Her Royal Highness), 2007 buckskin splash colt (homozygous) owned/bred by MEMC Morgans. The more flamboyant homozygous expression of splash includes white extending up onto the body from below; the horse looks as though it was dipped in paint. Photos courtesy of Jennifer Monroe.


The dam of MEMC On Target is WB HER ROYAL HIGHNESS (WB Enchantmint X Icestone Whitewing), 1997 black chestnut sabino + splash mare owned by MEMC Morgans. While this mare's pattern is typical of sabino- white that travels up the hind legs into a pointed shape, with detached white above it, and dark spots within her blaze- her son MEMC On Target proves that she is carrying the splash white pattern as well. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Monroe.


MEMC CROWN ROYAL (Robbi-Sue's Mr. Alert X King Blaze Mint), 2003 buckskin sabino + splash stallion owned by MEMC Morgans, pictured as a two year old. "Caesar" has four white socks, a large blaze with a white chin and a partial blue eye on the right side- a tip-off that he is carrying the splash gene. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Monroe.


All three pictures above are of SHAHAYLEE (Marvelous Intrigue X Marvelous Phophecy), a 1994 bay splash (homozygous) mare owned by Karen Burridge. Shahaylee is the horse that made Morgandom aware of the existence of splash in the Morgan breed. When she came to my attention in April of 2005, I really was not sure what type of pinto she was, and neither was her then-owner, Liz Alanne! I showed her pictures to friends knowledgeable about pinto patterns and shared them on the Morgan Colors list. Some folks thought she was a splash white; others, a sabino/frame combination. Frame overos have dark legs, but it was thought that the white on her legs could be from sabino. Sabinos with this much leg white, however, generally have white lower lips, and this mare has no white on her lower lip at all. Sabino leg white generally comes to a point at the front of the leg, not blunted off as this mare's leg white is. Tobiano is not known to exist at all in Morgans and was quickly ruled out as tobianos generally have white on the topline or in the tail.

I emailed Dr. Phil Sponenberg, author of EQUINE COLOR GENETICS, and he responded "This one is tough. She is most likely a splashed white, but could be an odd sort of frame. Sabino is unlikely, although some sabinos are indeed this "nonroan" type." Elizabeth then had Shahaylee tested for Lethal White Overo and the results were negative, proving she is not a frame overo.

Shahaylee's coloring traces back to the mare Royal Glo (Emerald's Aristocrat X Caven Glo Saguaro). I learned from her owner Eleanore Mason that Royal-Glo had produced several blue eyed foals (at the time, unregisterable) from different sires. Shahaylee traces to Royal Glo on both sides of her pedigree. Getting a splash gene from both parents resulted in Shahaylee's homozygous, full blown expression of the splash pattern. All photos courtesy of Liz Alanne. For more about Shahaylee and the splash white pattern, see the article MAKING A SPLASH in the April 2007 issue of THE MORGAN HORSE magazine.


A close-up of the left side of Shahaylee's face, showing one of her blue eyes.


Shahaylee at three days old with her dam, MARVELOUS PHOPHECY (her name was accidentally misspelled this way on her registration). Phophecy (Marvelous Gem X Lippitt Rita Roy), foaled in 1971, was a heterozygous splash herself; although most people would not see her as a pinto, she is one! The lopsided blaze and blunt topped stockings are the only clues that this is not a "solid" as she might first appear. Photo courtesy of Eleanore Mason.


Shahaylee's sire MARVELOUS INTRIGUE (Marvelous Ideal X Marvelous Legacy), 1990 dark bay heterozygous splash white stallion, owned by Eleanore Mason. Like Marvelous Phophecy, Intrigue's only signs of his splash gene are a crooked blaze ending in a lopsided snip along with two blunt topped hind socks. Photo courtesy of Eleanore Mason. You can see many more pictures of this lovely stallion here.


SCARLET TARA (Marvelous Intrigue X Marvelous Scarlet Lady), 1995 bay splash white (heterozygous) mare owned by Beth Hendricks of Kennewick, WA. Tara is not what most people would think of as "pinto", but she is a prime example of why we need to re-think the definition of that term! Her blue eye on the left, blaze which does not include the lower lip, and straight across hind socks belie the fact that she is, indeed, carrying the splash gene.


OUT OF ORDER (Whitmorr Law and Order X Molly Creegan), 2005 bay splash gelding owned by Carol Prindle, pictured on the left as a foal and then as a two year old. The off center, faint snip and  the two blue eyes are clues that he is very likely a heterozygous splash white. The leg white on this colt is very minimal- just two hind fetlocks. His sire Whitmorr Law and Order has Serenity Flight Time behind him, which is a possible splash line (in addition to sabino). I have heard of several instances of blue eyes from horses with close up Serenity Flight Time, including the splash mare, Shock and Awe (complete with blue eyes and white tipped tail) by his grandson, Cedar Creek Harlequin. It is also interesting to note that so far, most of the splash/suspected splash horses in our breed are bays or bay based colors. Keep in mind that sabino tends to express itself more on chestnuts, not bays, and that blue eyes are not a feature of sabino.


SKYLOFT DREAM CATCHER, 2006 bay splash + sabino colt (Medicine Wheel Jubilee X Rosewind Summer Dream). The dam of this colt has no white markings, indicating the splash gene is most likely coming from his more "chromed out" sireline to Old Ways Bimbeau. He has two blue eyes and the typical twisty, skewed to one side, bottom heavy blaze often found on the more minimally marked heterozygous splashes. He also has a detached lower lip white marking indicative of the presence of sabino. Owned by Jennifer Hartwell of Skyloft Morgans. Photos courtesy of Roger White.


JOURNEY'S DOUBLETAKE (Medicine Wheel Jubilee X Silvershoe Shadys Sadie) 2006 black splash colt owned by Stonelake Morgans in GA. The dam of this colt (shown with him in the middle picture) has no white markings, so like his half brother Skyloft Dream Catcher it is most likely he is getting his splash gene from his sire, a son of Old Ways Bimbeau. Note the crooked, offset star and snip and his blue eye on the right side, all signs of splash. Foal photos courtesy of Kathleen Fisher; yearling photo courtesy of Sue Martin.


BATTERSEA PHOENIX (Battersea L'Enfant X Sunleaf's Sassafras), 1999 chestnut sabino + splash gelding owned by Carlton Huhn, pictured as a weanling. This colt's very striking blue eye is a clue that he likely also has a splash white gene in addition to sabino.
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