Intro to Face Markings

The most common white face marking is a star. Stars can be as small as a sprinkling of white hairs or large enough to cover most of the forehead.

Stars are found on the forehead between the eyes. Snips are found between the nostrils, and like stars they can be very small – like this one – or cover most of the muzzle.

A narrow area of white on the bridge of the nose is called a stripe (or strip). This horse has a combination of a star, stripe and snip. These three markings can be connected, as they are here, which gives the impression of an uneven blaze.

Narrow blazes are sometimes called stripes, too. Often the top and the bottom are wider than the middle section.

The second most common type of white face marking is a blaze. A blaze extends from the forehead to the nostrils and is wider than a stripe. A dark spot on the muzzle inside the blaze is sometimes called a kissy spot.

This horse has a broken blaze, which makes him look like he has a small star and a very large snip. White markings are “broken” when colored areas overlap them.

This is another example of an overlapping dark area. Here the patch makes it look like part of the star and part of the snip were cut out.

Horses with more extensive white are are said to have a bald face (or bonnet face). Often color remains around the eyes and muzzle. A dark area that covers the front of the muzzle on a bald face are sometimes called a moustache.

Horses that have a completely white head are said to have a paper face. These horses usually have blue eyes.

Blue eyes can also occur when there is no white hair around the eyes.