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Horse & Pony Breeds
Hotbloods
Coldbloods
Warmbloods
Alphabetical
List of Breeds
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Types of Horses
Hacks,
Hunters and Cobs
Horse
Colors
Equestrian
Sports
Training
& Riding Styles
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Horse Color Descriptions
Standard Chestnut
One of the two basic horse colors. Chestnut horses produce no eumelanin
(black pigment) in their hair, causing their coats to be reddish with a
copper sheen. Chestnut comes in many shades, but the most common is
standard chestnut, characterized by a carroty brown body with a mane
and tail the same shade or only slightly lighter or darker.
Flaxen Chestnut
This is a chestnut horse under the influence of the flaxen gene. This
gene only affects pheomelanin (red pigment), so it is only expressed in
chestnut-based colors. It lightens the mane and tail and, many times,
the lower legs. The horse represented here is a flaxen honey chestnut.
Black
The second basic horse color. Black horses produce both eumelanin and
pheomelanin (red pigment). They are uniformly black, save for the
sunburnt brown hairtips of fading blacks.
Bay
A bay horse is a black horse whose black pigment is restricted to its
"points" - mane, tail, legs, and ears. The result is a red-brown horse
with a black mane, tail, and legs.
Standard Brown
Many researchers consider brown simply a shade of bay. A brown horse is
a black horse that has been lightened to brown, most noticeably in the
"soft parts" - the muzzle, girth, flank, and quarters.
Seal Brown
Another shade of brown. This coloration is frequently mislabeled black.
Seal brown horses are indeed very black, but they have brown hairs on
their muzzle and other soft parts. This qualify them as brown.
Dapple Grey
Grey horses are born normally pigmented, but as they age, their hairs
lose pigment causing them to gradually turn grey or white. Dapple gray
horses grey in such a way that it forms a spotted pattern over their
bodies.
White-Grey
A white-grey horse has fully greyed so that is has no color left in its
coat. White-grey horses are often mislabeled as white, but their dark
skin and black muzzles prove them to be greys.
Fleabitten Grey with Blood Mark
Some greys never fully grey (become white), but are instead covered in
tiny flecks of their base color (the horse pictured here is a
chestnut). Rarely, these flecks condense to form a patch known as a
blood mark.
Palomino
A palomino horse is a chestnut horse possessing one cream dilute allele
and one "normal" allele. The red pigment of the coat is lightened to
give the horse a golden body and a white mane and tail. Unlike the
similar-looking flaxen chesnut, palominos have a silver, not a copper,
sheen.
Black Buckskin
A black buckskin horse is a horse possessing one cream dilute allele
and one "normal" allele. The cream dilution only minimally affects
black pigment so the horse can appear to be a dark, murky color (as
pictured here) or it can appear to be nothing more than a faded black.
Buckskin
A buckskin horse is a horse possessing one cream dilute allele and one
"normal" allele. Its body is lightened to a cream or golden color, but
it keeps its black points. Like palominos, buckskins have silver
sheens, not copper, which helps discern dark buckskins from light bays.
Cremello
A chestnut horse with a "double-dose" of the cream allele is lightened
to a cremello. This pale cream coloration is often mistaken for white
or albino (albinism does not exist in horses).
Smokey Perlino
A black horse with a cream "double-dose." It is noticeably darker than
the cremello, and typically has a mane and tail darker than its body.
Perlino
The bay version of cremello is called perlino. Though perlinos
typically have a darker mane and tail than cremellos, they are
indiscernible in many cases and require pedigree analysis to determine
their true color.
Red Dun
A red dun horse is a chestnut horse affected by the dun dilution. This
dilution lightens the horse's body and gives it darker points and a
dorsal stripe (a stripe down its back). Many duns also have shoulder
stripes and zebra striping on their legs. A few also have cobwebbing on
their foreheads, shadowing, and pale guard hairs (though they are not
pictured here).
Grullo
This is a black or dark brown horse affected by the dun dilution. It is
sometimes called blue dun. The body is murky brown-gray to gunmetal
silver with black points and markings.
Dun
The classic dun color, a bay horse under the influence of the dun
dilution. It very closely resembles buckskin, but it possesses the
tell-tale marking of a dun: a dorsal stripe. The horse pictured here
also has a shoulder stripe, leg barring (zebra striping), and pale
guard hairs around the mane and tail.
Red Taffy
A red taffy horse is a bay horse affected by the silver, or taffy,
dilution which affects only black pigment (having no affect on
chestnut-based colors). It appears to be a bay horse with a pale mane
and tail (often streaked with black hairs). It is frequently mislabeled
as flaxen chestnut, but it has dark legs, which flaxens lack.
Blue Taffy
A blue taffy horses is a black or dark brown horse under the influence
of the silver/taffy dilution. This horse is bluish-grey or murky
brown-grey with a silvery mane and tail. It may display dappling,
though the pictured horse does not.
Silver Dapple
The silver dapple is another shade of taffy on a black/dark brown base.
It is a warm chocolate color with an ivory mane and tail and cream
dapples throughout the coat.
Chocolate Flax
This horse is a silver dapple that lacks dapples.
Gold Champagne
A gold champagne horse is a chestnut horse affected by the champagne
dilution. It resembles a palomino with a metallic sheen, but can be
discerned from a true palomino by its pink, usually speckled, skin.
Classic Champagne
This is a black horse under the influence of the champagne dilution.
Its body is murky gray-brown to rich chocolate with dark brown points.
Its skin is pink and speckled.
Amber Champagne
The bay version of champagne, this pink-skinned horse is cream with
dark brown points.
Gold Ivory Champagne
This horse is a palomino under the influence of the champagne dilution.
It is almost indiscernible from cremello, but its speckled skin gives
it away.
Classic Ivory Champagne
This is a smokey perlino horse with the champagne dilution. It has a
pale body with reddish to warm grey-brown points. Its skin is pink and
speckled.
Amber Ivory Champagne
An amber ivory champagne horse is a perlino horse affected by the
champagne dilution. It is, many times, indiscernible from perlino, but
it has tell-tale speckled skin and its mane and tail are typically
chocolatey.
Chestnut 'Strawberry' Roan
A strawberry roan horse is a chestnut horse affected by the roan
modifier. Roan horses have white hairs interspersed with base color
hairs throughout their coats (though not on the head and legs). Bay
horses and intense blacks and browns appear their normal color only
with pale bodies, just like this chestnut, so I have not pictured them
here.
Brown 'Blue' Roan
A blue roan is a murky black or brown horse affected by the roan
modifier, giving the horse's body a pale bluish color.
Sooty
The sooty modifier causes the color of a horse to be considerably
darkened and is usually accompanied by seasonal dappling. Sooty can
severely distort a horse's true color, for example, causing flaxen
chestnuts to appear silver dapples.
Lemonsilla
Lemonsilla is an unusual coloration caused by the sooty modifier on a
palomino horse. It appears to be a dull gold horse with a dark mane and
tail.
Pangaré
This is a modifier that strikingly lightens a horse's underbelly,
insides of the legs, forearms, buttocks, and muzzle. It can also
lighten the area around the eyes and the entire lower legs. The horse
pictured here is a flaxen chestnut with Pangaré modifications.
Brindle
This is a very rare horse coloration, characterized by dark vertical
striping over the entire body.
Tobiano
Tobiano is a form of piebaldism (patches of no pigment) in which white
seems to descend vertically from the spine and covers the legs. It is
pictured here in three degrees. Medicine hat is so named for the
tendency of a largely white tobiano to retain pigment in the form of a
"hat" on its head.
Overo
Overo is a form of piebaldism in which white tend not to cross the
spine or cover the legs, but instead stays to the middle of the body
and covers the head, spreading horizontally. It is pictured here in
three degrees.
Splashed White
Splashed white is a form of piebaldism, characterized by a white lower
half and dark upper half, as well as a completely white head. It is
pictured here in three degrees.
Sabino
Perhaps my favorite horse coloration, sabino is a form of piebaldism in
which white appears to vertically ascend the body in jagged peaks. It
is characterized by the presence of a chinspot, speared white on the
legs, and white on the belly. It is pictured here in three degrees. The
sabino-white is the true white horse. Its coat is pure white, its skin
is pink, and its eyes are dark. It is not a true albino, as albinism
does not exist in horses and albinos have pink eyes.
Rabicano
Rabicano is an unusual modifier that seems to be closely linked to
sabino. It is characterized by roan-like ticking originating from the
belly, and white barring at the base of the tail.
Snowflake Appaloosa
Snowflake appaloosa is a spotting pattern characterized by little white
spots throughout the coat.
Snowcap Blanket Appaloosa
Snowcap appaloosas appear to have large white globs congregating on
their coats. A congregation over the rump is called "blanket."
Spotted Blanket Appaloosa
This is a spotting pattern resembling snowcap, but has spots of the
base color throughout the white patches.
Near-Leopard Appaloosa
A near-leopard appaloosa is largely white with base color spots through
the coat, as well as a head and legs that are the base color.
Leopard Appaloosa
A leopard appaloosa is completely white with base color spots
throughout its coat.
Few-spot Appaloosa
A few-spot appaloosa is completely white with base coat spotting
restricted to only a few areas, typically the face, legs, girth, and
flank. The mane and tail are typically dark.
Varnish Appaloosa
Varnish appaloosa is a modifying pattern in which the horse appears to
be frosted with white over its bony prominences.
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