LP and lack of tail/mane?
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That's very interesting! I
That's very interesting! I didn't know that, so thanks a lot for the explanation! Interesting to hear about the difference in color as well. Since chestnuts seem to be affected more by white markings, greying out faster ect, I would have assumed that it was the other way around when it came to the hair falling out.
And since the hair grow back as you say - does that mean that the thin tails are mostly just a passing phase as the horse is roaning out, or is it somethin that's permanent in some cases?
Why I was wondering was because when looking at appaloosas I personally seem to have found a lot of those "rat-tails", but on the other hand most Knabstruppers I've seen (both on photos an irl) haven't looked a lot different than ordinary WB's. Same thing goes with the British Spotted ponies that a few friends of mine have, where all of them have had nice looking tails. That made me wonder if there's anything more - perhaps breed related instead of color - to it than just LP.
It would be very interesting to hear more about te subject, so if anyone would know more about this then I'd love to hear about it!
It seems like the sparse
It seems like the sparse mane/tail could be related to lp, or it could just be a trait that happened to also be in horses that had lp, and was bred out of some animals (minis for example). I know the varnish mini we have, who is black silver, has the thickest mane on the entire farm, his is probably 2in wide.
Working for an appy breeder
Working for an appy breeder myself, I don't feel it's linked to a pattern. I do see it in some bloodlines. And some breeders would tell you that if your appaloosa was a foundation appaloosa it would have a rat tail. But really with all the breeds allowed to cross into it, I think it's a trait that can be bred out regardless of pattern.
And minis are just hairballs as it is LOL When DON'T they have manes/tails thick as mud lol
I think it could very well be
I think it could very well be activated by LP as I have yet to see a non LP appaloosa with a natural rat tail not caused by a skin condition or worms. From what I've read the appaloosa project appears to believe it is an LP activated trait.
If this is the case it means that many non LP horses could carry it but not express it without the presence of LP. And it could be 'bred out' (or at least bred into significantly reduced numbers) given enough time if most of a breed had LP to make sure those without it passed on their genetics.
There is. Some, but not all
There is. Some, but not all LP horses can have sparse manes and tails. This often affects black colored manes and tails more than chestnut ones. Some horses manes and tails turn white during the LP roaning process and the old hairs will actually fall out and then regrow back in white. The newly colored white hairs are often able to grow longer than the pigmented ones that came before. It appears to be a LP activated trait but I personally don't know more about why it acts this way or its inheritance.