Varnish roan

Varnish roans are born with a dark base coat color, usually with some spotting.

As the horse ages, white hairs increase over most of the body, and many spotted markings blur or fade.

The varnish roan pattern often appears to spread from the white of any original markings.

[2] Without these white patterning factors, horses with one or two copies of the dominant Lp gene are "varnish roans."

Varnish roans can be considered to have many, many very small leopard spots that reflect the mottling of the underlying skin.