Belly Spots

Horses may have isolated body spots that are not large or numerous enough to qualify them as an Appaloosa, Pinto or Paint. Such markings are usually simply called "body spots," sometimes identified by location, i.e. "belly spot," "flank spot," etc. When this type of isolated spotting occurs, it is sometimes the action of the sabino gene.

When I am refering to belly spots, I am not talking about Birdcatcher spots, which are small white spots, usually between 1 mm and 1 inch (25.4 mm) in diameter. In contrast, belly spots are big splashes of white. By the way, I am a fan of them!

Here is an interesting thesis about belly spot heredity:
http://stud.epsilon.slu.se/515/

The more I researched the more confused I got, regarding the heredity of belly spots. From what I could gather, they are not heritable necessarily.  The interesting thing with the Overo patterns - sabino, splash, frame, dw - is there are zero guarantees of color production even if the genetics are there. Exceptions are homozygous forms of sabino and splash, where appreciable color is almost guaranteed, at least with SB1 and Splash.

Here a some horses with belly spots:
Hilife (Valhalla Farm) - ATA Approved Trakehner Stallion, By Martini Pg*E* out of Henna by Hilarious.

Tacord: 2000 KWPN Chestnut 17.2hh (Concorde x Goodtimes x Damiro x Aktion) Stands at Klondike Victory Farm

You can see his belly spot really good from behind!

Selle Francais super star FURIOSO II. FURIOSO II won his 100 day test, and has been incredibly influential to the Oldenburg breed. Based on money earned by offspring, FURIOSO II was the top producing stallion in Germany from 1979-89. In 1990 he was the top producer of dressage horses. During his lifetime, he produced over 200 state premium mares and over 70 approved sons, including VOLTAIRE and FOR PLEASURE, and the Grand Prix dressage stallion COCKTAIL.

And one of my favorite horses, Punkt: