Also seen on Hamiltons painting "Brood-mares in Lipica".Coat patterns in the leopard complex range from being hardly distinguishable from an unaffected coat, to nearly pure white. Unlike most other spotting patterns, the spotting and especially the white regions associated with the leopard complex tend to be symmetrical and originate over the hips. Furthermore, a certain amount of this inherited white patterning is present at birth. The amount of white, even if none is present at birth, often grows throughout the horse's life by gradual "roaning" which is not related to graying or true roan. Colored spots reflect the underlying coat color, be it black, chestnut, gray, or silver dun-buckskin. A number of factors, each separately, genetically controlled, interact to produce familiar patterns such as "snowflake," "leopard," and "fewspot".
Andreas,
AntwortenLöschenWhat type of horse is he?
Romy
Also a Noriker (just like the "Mohrenkopf") A traditional Austrian, very old breed.
AntwortenLöschenNice light draught horses, famous because of their very colorful robe varieties.
See, f.e.: http://www.zoovienna.at/e/index.html , under [research]
{quote}
History By Dr. Harald Schwammer:
Archeological digs dating from 600 BC show that Celtic inhabitants of the Alpine region owned horses, in some cases even spotted breeds. After the foundation of the province “Noricum” in today‘s Austria by the Romans, medium-weight Roman draught horses were introduced to Central Europe at the time of Christ’s birth, giving rise to a new type of horse. This breed owes its name to the former Roman province Noricum. Breeding of this heavy stock reached its highpoint in the 8th century, under Charlemagne. The first historical record of a Noriker stud farm dates from 1576 in Schloß Rief near Hallein. Horse breeding there was under the ownership of the archbishops of Salzburg. The frescos of the famous “Pferdeschwämme” (horse washing pool) in the city of Salzburg portray stylized horses with Roman-nosed heads and massive bodies – unmistakably cold-blooded or heavy horses. Many works of art from that period bear witness to the popularity of conspicuously colored and patterned horses, a trend that held up until the turn of the 20th century. Salzburg’s archbishops continued to promote the breeding of these horses, even drawing up strict breeding guidelines in the 17th century. They predominantly found use as ceremonial and parade horses, with colorful specimens being the most prized. While most Noriker were bay horses, cross-breeding with Mediterranean races yielded unusual colorations such as Isabels, piebalds, tigers, and so-called Möhrenköpfe. This explains the brown, red, and dapple-gray colors of today. [etcetera] {end quote}
The director of stud Piber, Dr. Max Dobretsberger and his wife own privately a very nice Noriker breeding stallion!
Atjan,
AntwortenLöschenThank you so much! The Schönbrunn Zoo article was very informative. I hope their breeding program is very succesful. It would be a very sad thing to lose the Tiger and Plattenschecken variants.
Romy
I agree!
AntwortenLöschenBy the way: I have some ancient pictures of Norikers, in use by the Imperial Stables in Vienna. As working horses for common transportation. (Beside all Lipizzaners and Kladrubers, for the more 'official' work) ;-)
Atjan
AntwortenLöschenI would very much like to see the pictures you have. :-)
Romy
Thank you for the great info, Atjan! There is also a "spotted" horse portrait in my photo albums, a portrait painted in 1653. This horse has the spotted pattern mainly on the hindquarters, much like the American Appaloosas.
AntwortenLöschenhttp://missscribbles.multiply.com/photos/album/6/Paintings_of_colored_horses
Liike Romy, I also very much enjoyed the link to the research site of zoo...many thanks!