Odriozola (author of A Los Colores Del Caballo in 1951) reported that Solanet "says to have seen - only in two cases - slightly sinuous and interrupted markings all over the body of the horse." Odriozola also said that "gateado barcino" was reserved for horses "very highly dun factor marked." He also reported "Marrero (1945) said that circa 1860 it was not difficult to see with relative frequency not only the "gateado" color (ordinary dun factor) but its variety "bragada" - (more highly marked than the ordinary duns), only inferior to the "gateado barcino."
J.K. Wiersema in his 1977 Dutch book on horse color Het Paard in Zijn Kleurenrijkdom, on page 156-157 reportedly says "An even further developed pattern of striping can be found among the South American breed of Criollo-horses of the so called "gateado" type of colour. Of these "gateado" type horses some, most clearly of the so called "gateado barcino" sub-type, show the full pattern of stripes as found on zebras but with a wild colour (dun) as groundcolour; which means both body and legs are extensively striped in zebra-fashion; maybe a bit less complete as a real zebra, but more like "streaming" or the "brindling" colour found in some cats, dogs, and also crossbred British cattle.... In the Spanish book "A Los Colores del Caballo" of the researcher-writer M. Odriozola can be found a photograph between page 338 and page 339 of a like "brindled" coloured horse from Russia." (Photograph in the slideshow).
The "gateado barcino" color could have resulted from several causes. While there is a wide variation in expression of dun factor markings, the "gateado barcino" could have been the maximum expression. The "very highly marked" dun factor horses could also have resulted from a combination of "brindle" and "dun factor," such as seen in the photos below, and of POCOS SCOOTER BAR (in the slideshow), and also in some of the unnamed horses in the "You Can Help" section below). Indeed, Wiersema must have thought so, for above he says "photograph of a like brindled horse from Russia." In the illustration shown at the top of the page for the "gateado barcino", the sinuous striping on the barrel is very reminescent of the striping seen on the Russian horse (although not as heavy, since it has probably been partially restricted by the dilution gene).
If you have a horse that you might think is a "gateado barcino", I would be interested in seeing photos if possible. While most probably are just highly marked dun factor horses, some of them might be carriers of the brindle pattern. I am also interested in locating other references to the "gateado barcino" color. If you know of any, please contact me.
Volume 1, number 3. Written information was last updated April 1, 1997. We will update the written information approximately once a month - however, because Brindle Horses are so rare, we may not be able to update the photos in the slideshow that often. When returning to this site, remember to select the refresh or reload icon from your internet explorer tool bar at the top of the screen, so your screen will reload the latest information. The address of this web site is http://www.geocities.com/sbatteate - You may e-mail me at [email protected]