15 Friends of Freckles

Happy New Year! I've had two series running for the past year and decided to change it up and add a third. So posts will be color tested pony, historical pony, and current herd pony. Starting the new current pony series with 15 Friends of Freckles! I've gone through the known and assumed color of current ponies in the past so this will be similar to that.

15 Friends of Freckles, Freckles for short, is one of the most recognizable mares in the current herd on Assateague. She was born in 2006 and was sired by the chestnut tobiano half Arabian North Star and out of the bay tobiano LZS Mark's Island Liberty. Both of her parents are long deceased. Her dam's sire was Copper Moose, another of the half Arabians.
Half Arabians by Premierre: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/halfarabian.html

Freckles is a bay like her dam was. That means she has a copy of extension, which causes black. And a copy of agouti which restricts that black to the points, which is a bay. Freckles has had a black foal so that tells us she only has one copy of agouti. If she had two copies of agouti then she couldn't have produced a black foal.
Bay: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/bay.html

Her sire was a chestnut so that means she carries recessive chestnut. If that wasn't known her foals tell that story also, she's produced two chestnuts and a palomino. Since chestnut is recessive both parents must have it, visible or hidden.
Chestnut: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/chestnut.html

She's very obviously a tobiano pinto and it appears she has two copies of tobiano, known as a homozygous tobiano. All 12 of her foals have been tobianos. Freckles received a copy of tobiano from both of her parents.
Tobiano: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html

The spots that inspired Freckles name are called cat tracks, alternatively paw prints or ink spots. Cat tracks can be found on tobianos with one copy but when they have two copies they tend to have many like Freckles does.
Cat tracks: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/cattracks.html

The edges of Freckles white markings have a roany outline to them. This is usually called mapping. It can happen on any white markings. It's pretty common but hasn't been studied to know if there's a genetic component.
Mapping: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/mapping.html

Freckles has a blue eye. Her granddam Carol's Little Freedom also had a blue eye. So have several of her foals. Blue eyes in horses aren't a separate inheritance like they are in people. Instead they're linked to a pinto pattern. Splashed white is the most common reason for Chincoteagues to have a blue eye or two. So Freckles may have it. We've also recently found other pinto in Chincoteagues via testing that can cause blue eyes. So she could have one of those instead. At this point without test results from one of her siblings or foals we can't know for sure. The way that Freckles pinto pattern is so complex and broken apart is another indication that she has an additional pinto pattern affecting her tobiano.
Mixed Pinto: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/mixedpinto.html
Splashed White: https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/splash.html