You'd be excused for thinking you're seeing things with this array of unusual horse markings. Step aside snips, stripes and stars — these are a whole lot more entertaining...
The gazelle
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“This is our pony Just William (Billy) who has the face markings of a gazelle. He is 12 years old and my kids love him.” Tara Alexander
The arrow
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“This is my two month old mule colt Storm. The arrow on his butt points the direction of travel!” Sarah Stewart
The map of Africa
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“My six-year-retired racehorse Julier Pass has a star that either looks like Africa or a horse’s head turned on its side.” Rachel Wilson
“This is Mr Reggie who has an usual marking of a heart on his muzzle.” Maria Little
The Olympic torch
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“My daughter Jen’s six-year-old dressage horse Charlie carries the distinctive shape of an Olympic torch on his face.” Lou Tiffen
The cowboy pony
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“This is Knappside Dakota, a yearling filly we bred. Her father is our stallion Clononeen In A Pickle, a traditional piebald cob, and her mother is Cheyanne, a New Forest x appaloosa who is a strawberry roan with a few spots. She’s come out like a cowboy pony.” Jo Howse
The heart
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Sent by Heidi Førstøyl
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The stars
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“This is four-year-old Hana. Her dapples are all in the shape of stars. Her sire was Star Kingdom, so quite apt. She is just in the process of being backed. My dream horse.” Vicki Loynton
The Batman logo
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“This is my Irish sports horse mare by Cavalier Jump For Joy. She is seven-years-old and 15.3hh. I compete her in dressage and showing. She has the batman logo on her chest!” Emma Bevan
And finally… some serious spots
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“Bubbles is a 35.5 inch spotted draft type horse. He has shown successfully and started indoor carriage driving three years ago. He is also used as a therapy pony along with many others at Thompson House Equestrian Centre.” Naidene Bubbles
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A graduate from Durham University, Madeleine joined H&H in 2011 and became Features Editor — producing content across the magazine and website, including the popular inside back cover article ‘The horse that made me’ and the weekly ‘The best of my fun…’ interview. She has written on topics as diverse as hay making and headcams, to hot totty in the horse world and circus horses. Madeleine now works as a freelance feature writer for Country Life, The Telegraph, Horse & Hound, cntraveller.com, The Spectator and The Field, as well as writing obituaries for The Times.
