I suppose I should have come to this part of the forum before jumping in to ongoing discussions. Oops!
I have enjoyed the website, but only recently posted. I read a lot of the color discussions, but often don't say much because it's awfully tempting to chatter when I should be working!
I have been involved with horse color for... well, a long time! I started writing on the subject back in 1991, primarily for other artists (which is my "real" job) but then later for horsemen. I got online not long after that, and spent many hours pontificating on horse color to anyone who would listen. :) I did my first presentation on horse color back in 2001, and continue to do that as I can find time. Most recently I've been working on a set of books on the history of horse color in the different breeds. The first volume, which covers draft and carriage breeds, is due out this summer. I just recently launched a blog to go with the books (equinetapestry.com), which has been fun.
Breed history as it relates to color has probably been more of my focus than the mechanics of the genes, though I find that fascinating, too. As for specific colors, my personal obsessions have been sabino and splash so that is where my own research has been focused. I also have a soft spot for appaloosas since I have owned one for the last five years. (I wasn't exactly looking for one... I wanted a nice spotted saddler, so I'm not sure how she got here!)
As I said my real job is equine art. I run a home-based pottery company that produces realistic equine figurines. That's actually how I became interested in horse color all those years ago, because I wanted the finish on the sculptures to be accurate. You can see my work on the website for the pottery here:
[url=
http://www.horsecolor.info/]Blackberry Lane Pottery[/url]
Somehow the research for that took on a life of its own.
On a more personal level, I have been married to my husband (a scientist, though in a very different field) for 18 years, and have two sons ages 14 and 10. I have the aforementioned Appaloosa and an Aussie-Setter mix. I try to juggle all of them with the pottery business and my horse color obsession. :)
I wanted to at least say "Hi!" here, and I'm looking forward to meeting more of the participants on the forum.
Lesli Kathman
Welcome!
Welcome!