This type of ‘marking’ is not a genetic thing, or even a rare marking thing. In fact, it’s not particularly rare at all. This type of marking comes from injury to the animal deep enough to affect hair follicles and a regrowth of hair without pigment. They can vary depending on the type of injury sustained. While they can be found anywhere on the body, they are commonly found around the withers, belly and girth area. Which helps to distinguish them from birdcatcher spots which tend to be round and are randomly scattered throughout the coat. Also not to be confused with white markings which come from fungal infections.
The one real exception to white hair regrowth is roans, after injury their hair grows back base colored. Probably most commonly seen and easy to spot on wild animals, particularly stallions, like the roan pictured below.
Injury is Sad
We are not oblivious to the fact that these animals were injured and that most of them didn’t injure themselves. The examples provide a wide variety in age and physical condition, but some look pretty sorry. The location of said injuries makes it pretty obvious many of them were injured by something a human made and strapped to them. While we’d love to show glossy images of perfect animals, that isn’t reality. We show them because it’s the truth.
