There are five recognized color patterns for the Appaloosa, but not all spotted horses are actually Appaloosas. The coat configurations are as follows: blanket, which has white hair over the hips, which may or may not have dark spots; marble, when the coat is a red-or-blue roan, with dark coloring at the edges of the body and a white, frost pattern in the middle; leopard, a white coat coloring with dark spots; snowflake, with dominant spotting over the hips; and frost, which is white speckling on a dark coat. All Appaloosas have mottled skin on the nose and genitalia, and tend to have white sclera around the eyes. Often the hooves have dark vertical stripes on them.

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