I have an interesting event happening in my barn. I have a 7yo Quarter Pony Palomino. Last winter we clipped him and found that he had a few black blotches on his rump and I thought, hmmm must have some Appaloosa in him. As the summer has progressed, he has gained now quite a few black spots and blotches, and not only across his rump, but on his body and shoulders. Does anyone have any experience with a mature horse changing colors like this?
Google “Bend Or Spots.” It could be that.
From Wikipedia:
“Bend-Or spots (or Ben d’Or, Smuts, or Grease Spots) are a type of spotted marking found on horses. They are fairly rare and range in color from slightly darker than the horse’s coat to an almost-black shade. These random spots are most commonly seen on palominos, chestnuts, and darker horses, and may not appear until the horse is several years old. It is still unknown what causes these markings, as they do not appear to be related to other spotting patterns. However, they are often correlated with horses showing sooty traits.”
Here is a web site with all kinds of different colors and markings.
Scroll down for Ben D’Or spots:
I always knew these spots as “Ben D’Or spots.” But, when I googled “Ben D’Or spots” last night to find a snip to cut-and-paste into my post, almost everything came up as “Bend Or spots,” so I used that spelling.
I notice that Bluey used “Ben D’Or.” Is “Ben D’Or” correct, but has simply been corrupted to “Bend Or” over the years or is it really supposed to be “Bend Or”? Anybody know for sure?
The old, original books/articles spell it Ben d’Or.
Sometime mid-twentieth century it was corrupted
I had a palomino quarter pony who’d get those, mostly in the summer and normally in the same place - and they’d go away in the winter. We have a sorrel paint mare at our barn who seems to get more and more grease marks every year. Extra painted, I guess! 
I heard the story in Europe and understood it to be a french name for a turn of the 20th century race horse, so that is how I have been spelling it:
Guess that I didn’t quite get the story right, according to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bend_Or
Never too old to learn new stuff, are we.
Thanks for the correction.:yes:
The mare I’ve been riding, the lovely Bella, recently came out in dime-sized white spots all over her chestnut coat. My trainer Sonja took one look at her and said “birdcatcher spots. Toytown has them.” Coat colour is so crazy and interesting!
I have known a number of palominos with Bend Or spots – I think it is fairly common, and yes they develop over time. Very different than Appaloosa spots!
[QUOTE=Bluey;6541390]
I heard the story in Europe and understood it to be a french name for a turn of the 20th century race horse, so that is how I have been spelling it:
Guess that I didn’t quite get the story right, according to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bend_Or
Never too old to learn new stuff, are we.
Thanks for the correction.:yes:[/QUOTE]
d’or in French translates to “of gold” in English
[QUOTE=DeeThbd;6548246]
d’or in French translates to “of gold” in English :)[/QUOTE]
I do speak French, really.:yes:
As per that story, the reference to “gold” was the gold band in the shield.
Thank you guys! I knew I could find some relevant experience here, as I always do. I have never heard of this, Bend D’or, but then as a Thoroughbred guy, I don’t run into this. Thanks again and I’ll quit worrying that this pony has some kind of melanoma! Lol!
Well, the joke to that is that Ben d’Or was a Thoroughbred. The spots happen on all kinds of chestnuts. Your “chestnut” just happens to have a palomino dilution.
[QUOTE=Bluey;6539673]
Here is a web site with all kinds of different colors and markings.
Scroll down for Ben D’Or spots:
http://www.whitehorseproductions.com/ecg_basics4.html[/QUOTE]
Funny story about that link. That Haflinger with the extreme pangare. I know him really well. 
[QUOTE=dreamswept;6554225]
Funny story about that link. That Haflinger with the extreme pangare. I know him really well. :D[/QUOTE]
How well, is he standing in your pasture?
[QUOTE=Bluey;6554229]
How well, is he standing in your pasture?;)[/QUOTE]
Naw. Well, maybe not in my pasture … but …
Even his summer coat show very extreme pangare. It’s a jolly life trying to keep those legs clean, I tell ya.
Hunh… I loved the link! I don’t understand all that stuff, leave that to others, but I sure like the odd markings and colors.
Well, we have a palomino POA who we HOPE is growing spots. Some of it is brindle, some look like spots, we’re hoping next summer she might have enough to pass inspection. What do you think?
That’s a great link and explains that bay hunter mare whose owner has posted her pictures here.
