White ticking refers to scattered white hair appearing randomly throughout an otherwise normally pigmented coat. The hair may occur individually or in small, irregular concentrations, with the amount varying considerably between horses. White ticking does not follow a consistent body pattern and may occur on any base coat color. White ticking should not be confused with roan, rabicano, or sabino. Roan and sabino can be identified through genetic testing - roan (Rn) is extremely rare in the Thoroughbred and is confined to a very narrow family line tracing to the stallion Catch A Bird, while sabino (Sb1) is not present in the breed at all. Rabicano, unlike the regular white ticking, has to be always complemented by a “skunk tail”. It is generally considered an individual coat characteristic rather than a distinct, established white-spotting pattern, and no specific genetic cause has been identified to date.