Tobiano is characterized by tall white socks connecting to the topline of the horse. White topline markings generally start around the withers and rear. At minimal expression tobiano needs to have tall (near knee height) white socks on all four legs.

Tobiano always affects mane and tail where it touches.

The areas that are unaffected by white are usually round-shaped and appear as larger and smaller holes in the white pattern, starting from the head, chest and flanks but can also appear elsewhere.

Tobiano does not cause white markings on the face, which means white facial markings are only allowed within the range of Natural white (unless other white patterns are also present).

It is common for tobianos to have a "split tail" appearance where half the tail is white and half the tail is colored. This means if the white markings on the body are touching the tail, the top of the tail can be white while the lower half of the tail is unaffected. Likewise, if tobiano is not touching the tail, the top of the tail will not be affected but the bottom half is optionally allowed to be white.