These bachelors were in an area called La Fragua Canyon (or very close). Family bands and at least one lone bachelor (Anthony’s “favorite” bay stallion!) also were in the area.
I was intrigued by the “white” horses with a few bands. They seemed young to be so completely “greyed out.” So I walked out into this sage flat to get a better look … and I discovered that the “white” horses actually are pintos.
Do you see the darker shading on his cheek? Pink skin on his muzzle. Black hairs in the middle of his tail.
This side, no pigment on his face.
This made me realize in a flash that the “grey” pinto stallion isn’t grey at all. I’m not sure what you’d call this pattern? The white gene clearly is dominant over the dark/black color gene? (**Update: See the comments for a website link to more color info. This color pattern likely is “sabino white” or sabino “maximum white.”)
Of all the horses we saw – 105 – only one looked like a true grey. Quite a difference from grey-dominated Spring Creek Basin.
Colorwise, the Jicarilla has many bays (all shades), sorrels (at least one handsome boy I’d call a liver chestnut) and blacks, some duns and buckskins and palominos. Lots of pintos.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 
http://www.whitehorseproductions.com/ecg_basics3.html
Maybe a Sabino White
What a great website! Also, Dr. Phillip Sponenberg notes that there’s such a thing as “maximum white” among sabinos, to indicate “more than 90 percent white.” This fellow fits that bill, for sure. Your horse Crow is a sabino with the “roaning” and high/wide white markings but no spots (?). Same with the “strawberry roan” mare in Spring Creek Basin a few years ago (removed in 2007); she was sabino, not roan. I always wondered where her color came from. She produced at least one offspring that color, but we’ve never had that color again.
Yes he is a Sabino. He does have a few spots. Next time we get together you can check him out.
You mentioned that the ‘white’ pinto was a gelding. Are many of these horses gelded?
Yikes. Good catch. No – he’s a stallion! I must have had somehing else on the brain! And I meant the “grey” pinto from the first post about the Jicarilla mustangs. (Templeton Thompson sings a song about Alzheimer’s that mentions “that old grey gelding.” I was bawling my eyes out while listening to it the other day. Maybe that was my trigger?!) I’ll correct it!
That palimino is stunning! They have ads on craigslist for some of the ones that I guess in holding pens but being worked with. My friend adopted a mare her at the time filly and the mare was also bred so she had a colt.
The Jicarilla Mustang Heritage Alliance took four horses – from Jarita Mesa, I think – and worked with them. They had an adoption day not long ago and were able to get three of them adopted. They’re definitely looking for more adopters for the future.
I’m wondering if your white/grey pinto stallion is a greyed out tobiano? The photo of his off side shows a barely discernible pattern on his head. You know how some maximally expressed tobianos only have dark on their heads and a bit on the tail? Maybe that was this guy and then to color got greyed out?
Another good theory! Our horses’ colors in Spring Creek Basin are pretty straight forward, so it’s interesting to see these different patterns in other herds! Off-topic, thank you so much for the print of Aspen! Just got it in the mail! What a wonderful treasure out of my mailbox!
You are so very welcome TJ 🙂 It was a collaboration between the two of us!