Sabino

Sabino (Sah-BEE-no) is a white spotting pattern that can be confused with overo and splash white, in that it can display characteristics of either of these patterns.

It is however a different gene then both Overo and Splash white and it can not produce lethal white foals like Overo.

Sabino occurs in many, many breeds such as: purebred Thoroughbreds, Arabs, Quarter Horses and Morgans, just to name a few. There are actually very few breeds in which Sabino does not occur - Icelandic Horses being one.
Clydesdales and Shires are exclusively Sabino, although these breeds call it "Roan"... How often do you see a Clydesdales WITHOUT the white legs, blaze, areas of ticking etc?

The sabino traits below are NOT from a mini - they are from my pure Arab - a chestnut sabino.

Body

Body spotting can range from very minimal that usually begins in the belly area to maximum effects involving the entire body.
The minimal expressions can be seen as ticking or flecking, to speckled areas to larger white patches.
Sabinos with a moderate amount of white can look very similar to Splashed Whites, the difference being that Sabinos generally have some ticking to the edges of their white.
Sabino can also cause ticked areas or spots that may not be present at birth and grow with age.

Head

One Sabino characteristic is white marking on the face which can vary from a few white hairs to a large blaze.
Another very common characteristic of Sabino is white on the lower lip and/or chin, ranging from small to large. Some very minimal Sabinos may not have this characteristic white spotting but will have other traits of the pattern.
Blue eyes do happen in sabinos, however it is not as common as many believe. Often extreme sabinos are born with blue eyes, they may or may not darken with age to a deep blue or brown.

Legs

Leg white that ranges from a coronet to a high stocking is also common.
There really is no rule as to how many legs are white, but generally at least one will have some white on it.
A very common trait is to have 3 high white legs and one with just a patch or two on or around the knee.
Whites that are above the hock tend to end in a spike.

One belief is that sabino is polygenic - meaning that there is more then one gene controlling its expression...
another is that the sabino gene is responsible for all white markings in horses that have no other pattern gene (such as pinto or overo) - in other words, that every horse who has a star or sock must carry some form of sabino - after all, where else would the white come from? These ideas are still being investigated.