Bend Or Spots

What are Bend Or Spots?

Bend Or spots (also called Ben d'Or, Smuts or Grease Spots). are small to large spots of color that range from a couple of shades darker than the base coat to very dark, almost black. They're most commonly seen on Chestnuts and Palominos but also occur on darker colors, they're just harder to see. These are randomly distributed on a horse. These may not be present at birth, some horses may not get them until they are a few years old and some horses may not get them for several years. The genetic control of Bend Or spots isn't known, more than likely they're a dominant trait.

Bend Or spots are named after a Thoroughbred (shown at right) that was a described as a golden chestnut with peculiar dark spots on his body. In this photograph, the horse's dark spots are not able to be seen however.