Natural Horse Markings

Facial Markings:-

BLAZE- covers the forehead and front of the face and extends
towards the mouth.
FEW WHITE HAIRS on the forehead should be described as just that.
MUZZLE markings cover both lips and extend to the nostril area.
SNIP - isolated patch of white between the nostrils.
STAR - a patch on the forehead. Any description should include
size, shape and position.
STRIPE- extends down the face and is no wider than the nasal
bones. If it is the continuation of a star then it is described
as a star and stripe conjoined.
WHITE FACE - white covering the forehead and the front of the
face.

Leg Markings:-

CORONET - the hair immediately above the hoof is white.
DISTAL LEG SPOTS are small to large spots of colour that occur in the white on leg above the ankle, these could just be in spots or paw prints that are occurring on the legs rather than the body.

ERMINE - small to large spots of colour in the white close to the hoof.
HEEL- white from the back of the pastern to the ergot.
PASTERN -white from below fetlock joint downwards.
SOCKS - white hair covering to just above the fetlock joint.
STOCKINGS - white hair to just below the knee or hock.

Horse Swirls, Whorls, Cowlicks (Trichoglyphs):

Whorls are formed by changes in direction of flow of the hair. Their recording is one of the oldest methods of identifying horses from birth, since their site and character vary to some degree in every animal. They may take various forms, depending on the interface at which two or more flows of hair meet, e.g. simple, tufted, linear, crested, feathered, and sinuous. A guide to the recognition of the various types of whorl is:

Simple - a focal point into which the hairs seem to converge from different directions.

Tufted - as for a simple whorl, but the hair converges and piles up into a tuft.

Linear - two opposing sweeps of hair meet from diametrically opposite directions along a line. Crested - as for linear, but the hair from each of the two directions rises up to form a crest.

Feathered - two sweeps of hair meet along a line but the direction of flow of each sweep is at an angle to the other so that together they form a feathered pattern.

Sinuous - two opposing sweeps of hair meet along an irregular curving line.

Kyro Kinetics - Trichoglyphs

PetPlace - The Importance of Horse Identification

PROPHET'S THUMB MARK is a pronounced dimple occasionally found on the neck. It is believed to be lucky.