The Appaloosa horse
Appaloosas generally have a mottled (or 'spotty') coat, colorless sclera (the part of the eye around the cornea) and striped hooves.
The history of this attractive horse is not completely known. There is some proof that spotted horses were being bred in many geographical regions in Asia and europe, and archeologists have found cave drawings which are as old as to 18000BC clearly showing spotty horses that might be related to the horse we know today. It is possible that the mottled skin was first a form of camouflage, serving a similar purpose to the stripes on a zebra.
The modern-day Appaloosa is descended from horses shipped over to America by spanish conquistadors. These got into the hands of the Indigenous people known as the 'nez perce', who cleverly bred them into the superb horses that we know right now.
Appaloosas were first referred to as the "Palouse horse", although over time its name changed into the modern-day adaptation, "Appaloosa".
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