Editing Appaloosa (section)

== Breed characteristics ==
The Appaloosa is best known for its distinctive, leopard complex-spotted coat, which is preferred in the breed. Spotting occurs in several overlay patterns on one of several recognized base [[Horse coat color|coat colors]]. There are three other distinctive, "core" characteristics: [[mottle]]d skin, striped hooves, and eyes with a white [[sclera]].<ref name="ApHCrules">{{cite web | url = http://www.appaloosa.com/registration/handbook.htm| title= 2012 Appaloosa Horse Club Handbook |publisher=Appaloosa Horse Club|access-date=April 2, 2011|format=PDF| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110422185434/http://appaloosa.com/registration/handbook.htm| archive-date= 22 April 2011 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref>

Skin mottling is usually seen around the muzzle, eyes, anus, and genitalia.<ref name=Rule128/> Striped hooves are a common trait, quite noticeable on Appaloosas, but not unique to the breed.<ref name="Identify" />  The sclera is the part of the eye surrounding the [[Iris (anatomy)|iris]]; although all horses show white around the eye if the eye is rolled back, to have a readily visible white sclera with the eye in a normal position is a distinctive characteristic seen more often in Appaloosas than in other breeds.<ref name="Identify" /> Because the occasional individual is born with little or no visible spotting pattern, the ApHC allows "regular" registration of horses with mottled skin plus at least one of the other core characteristics. Horses with two ApHC parents but no "identifiable Appaloosa characteristics" are registered as "non-characteristic," a limited special registration status.<ref name="ApHCrules" />

[[File:Sclera and mottling.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Mottling on the skin is particularly visible around the eyes and muzzle. The sclera of an Appaloosa's eye is white.|alt=The head of a light-colored horse with dark spots, showing spotting around the skin of the eye and muzzle.]]

There is a wide range of body types in the Appaloosa, in part because the leopard complex characteristics are its primary identifying factors, and also because several different [[list of horse breeds|horse breeds]] influenced its development. The weight range varies from {{convert|950|to|1250|lbs|kg}}, and heights from {{hands|14|to|16}}.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.amappaloosa.com/mainpage.cfm?contentid=147 |title=Characteristics of the Appaloosa|publisher=American Appaloosa Association Worldwide |access-date=November 13, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101025085808/http://amappaloosa.com/mainpage.cfm?contentid=147| archive-date= 25 October 2010 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref> However, the ApHC does not allow [[pony]] or [[draft horse|draft]] breeding.<ref name="ApHCrules" />

The original "old time" or "old type" Appaloosa was a tall, narrow-bodied, rangy horse.{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|p=392}} The body style reflected a mix that started with the traditional [[Iberian horse|Spanish horses]] already common on the plains of America before 1700. Then, 18th-century European bloodlines were added, particularly those of the "pied" horses popular in that period and shipped ''en masse'' to the Americas once the color had become unfashionable in Europe.{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|p=391}} These horses were similar to a tall, slim Thoroughbred-[[Andalusian horse|Andalusian]] type of horse popular in [[Enlightenment in Spain|Bourbon-era Spain]].{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|p=391}}{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|p=170}} The original Appaloosa tended to have a convex facial profile that resembled that of the [[warmblood]]-[[Jennet]] crosses first developed in the 16th century during the reign of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]].{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|p=392}}{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|p=308}}

The old-type Appaloosa was later modified by the addition of draft horse blood after the 1877 defeat of the Nez Perce, when U.S. Government policy forced the Native Americans to become farmers and provided them with draft horse mares to breed to existing stallions.{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|p=392}} The original Appaloosas frequently had a sparse [[mane (horse)|mane]] and [[tail (horse)|tail]], but that was not a primary characteristic, as many early Appaloosas did have full manes and tails.{{sfn|Richardson, ''Appaloosa''|pp=27–28}} There is a possible genetic link between the leopard complex and sparse mane and tail growth, although the precise relationship is unknown.{{sfn|Sponenberg, ''Equine Color Genetics''|pp=90–91}}

After the formation of the Appaloosa Horse Club in 1938, a more modern type of horse was developed after the addition of American Quarter Horse and Arabian bloodlines. The addition of Quarter Horse lines produced Appaloosas that performed better in [[horse racing|sprint racing]] and in [[halter (horse show)|halter]] competition. Many cutting and reining horses resulted from old-type Appaloosas crossed on Arabian bloodlines, particularly via the Appaloosa [[foundation bloodstock|foundation stallion]] Red Eagle.{{sfn|Bennett, ''Conquerors''|p=393}} An infusion of Thoroughbred blood was added during the 1970s to produce horses more suited for racing.{{sfn|Harris, ''Horse Breeds of the West''|p=12}} Many current breeders also attempt to breed away from the sparse, "rat tail" trait, and therefore modern Appaloosas have fuller manes and tails.{{sfn|Richardson, ''Appaloosa''|pp=27–28}}