Monthly Newsletter Volume 3, No 7 July 2004

What Is The Color of Your Horse? Part I

A chestnut with a flaxen mane. photo: vesty.com

The accurate description of coat color and white markings is the most common method used to identify horses. Although there is some regional or breed variation in the terminology used, the basic terminology is fairly standard.

Coat color and white markings are genetically determined and, as a result, the variations are virtually unlimited.

A full, legal description of a horse would include: name, age, color, breed or type, sex, height, parentage, natural marks (which will be discussed next month in part two), whorls, as well as acquired marks such as scars.

There are five basic body colors of horses. They are:

• BROWN A brown horse has a mixture of black and brown in his coat. In Europe, a "bay" is considered to be a brown horse.
  
  
• BAY A bay horse can be any shade of brown (which is a mixture of red and yellow), with points such as tail, mane, muzzle and lower legs being black. The brown can range from a light, almost tan or chestnut to a dark, seal color.
  
  
• BLACK A black horse is completely black, including muzzle and flanks. Most horses that look black are actually a very dark bay.
  
  
• CHESTNUT A chestnut horse has brown skin and the hairs are actually red. The shades vary from a light yellowish color to dark liver. The mane and tail are usually the same color as the body but can be lighter. The lighter coloring is called flaxen. Lighter colored horses are called sorrel; very dark chestnut is called "liver chestnut".
  
  
• WHITE A truly white horse is born white and remains white. His hair is snowy; he has pink skin and blue eyes. Cream horses are a variation, also having unpigmented skin and pink or blue eyes, with a pale colored coat. Many so called "white horses" are actually light gray.

A Palomino. photo: vesty.com

There are also three major color variations in horses and three major color breeds.

• DUN Duns have black skin with an evenly distributed coat color and a black mane and tail, similar to bay coloring. The coat color can range from a pale yellowish color to the color of a dirty canvas. Dun horses usually have a dorsal stripe down their backs and some have stripes on their forearms. The lighter shades are called buckskin.
  
  
• GRAY A gray coat is actually a mixture of black and white hairs on black skin. A foal may be born a solid color with a few white hairs sprinkled in his coat, but more white hairs will appear in the coat until he is gray at maturity. "Dappled gray" looks mottled, while grays with small clusters of darker hair which sometimes include a reddish brown, are called "flea bitten".
  
  
• ROAN Roan is a mixture of colored hairs along with white hairs. White with brown is called red roan; white with red is strawberry roan; white with black is called blue roan.
  
  
• PALOMINO Palominos are golden horses with light colored, or "flaxen" manes and tails. The coat color variation is from deep gold to very pale cream.
  
  
• PINTO Pintos have a mixture of white and colored areas on their bodies. Horses with black and white splotches are called piebald, while horses with any other color than black are called skewbald. Pinto is a Spanish word meaning painted. Painted horses are divided into two categories: Tobianos, the most common, have white splotches across their backs which extend downward. On Overos, the white extends from the belly and legs upward toward the back but does not actually cross the back. Overos often have a "War Bonnet" or white face.
  
  
• APPALOOSA This is a color breed. It is divided into three color patterns:
  Leopard is a white horse with dark spots all over his body; Snowflake is a dark horse with tiny white spots; and the "blanket", the most well known Appy pattern which usually consists of a white blanket with dark spots on the rump.