Tobiano
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Tobiano (TO) is the most well-known of the pinto patterns and is the pattern most identified with the Chincoteague Pony. Tobianos usually have four white legs, three rarely. Tobianos will usually have solid heads with normal markings. White is generally on the shoulders and hips. Body spots will usually have edges that are rounded and well defined. Tobianos often have manes and tails with multiple colors. Chestnut tobianos with white tails often have dark tail tips that look black. Tobiano can be extremely minimal and extremely maximum. Minimal/cryptic tobianos will have little or no body spotting, but will still have the white legs. Maximum will still generally have dark heads. Tobianos have dark skin and eyes with striped hooves.
Cat tracks and roaning are commonly found on tobianos. They are not a separate inheritance but a characteristic of the tobiano pinto pattern. Both are more common on homozygous tobianos but can also be found on heterozygous tobianos. Tobiano is dominant, meaning it cannot skip generations. A genetic test for tobiano is available. Tobiano is located on the KIT gene. Tobaino is reported from multiple sources to have been introduced through Shetland Pony outcrossing, Once Upon an Island by Kirk Mariner states that Clarence Beebe was the one do so. Ronald Keiper, who studied the Maryland ponies, stated in his book The Assateague Ponies that pinto was introduced in the 1920's. The outcrossing would have had to have occurred prior to 1930, as a Delmarva Star article describing the 1930 Pony Penning described the ponies as "many colored, with blacks, browns, bright bays, and so many with spotted coats." The earliest known photos of tobianos found to date is from the 1931 Pony Penning. Tobiano is common in both the Virginia and Maryland feral herds.
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