5/27/2018 HORSE COAT COLORS. Kashif Ishaq (PhD; DVM)

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1 HORSE COAT COLORS Kashif Ishaq (PhD; DVM) 1 2 1

2 BAY HORSES Bay horses run from light reddish or tan shades to dark brown and mahogany/auburn shades. Bay horses always have black points (legs, muzzle, mane and tail, and the tips of their ears are black). Many bay horses have black legs that are covered by white markings. 3 DARK BAY Dark Bay Dark brown coat, reddish or black highlights, black points. An uneducated horse person may think this horse is black...but we know better! 4 2

3 BAY ROAN More or less uniform mixture of white with red hairs on a large portion of the body; darker on head, usually red but can have a few black hairs in mixture; black mane and tail and black on lower legs. 5 DUN HORSES Dun horses have a sandy/yellow to reddish/brown coat. Their legs are usually darker than their body and sometimes have faint "zebra" stripes on them. Dun horses always have a "dorsal" stripe, which is a dark stripe down the middle of their back 6 3

4 RED DUN A form of dun with body color yellowish or flesh colored, mane and tail are red or reddish, flaxen, white or mixed; has red or reddish dorsal stripe and usually red or reddish zebra stripes on legs and transverse stripe over withers. 7 RED ROAN Roan Hancock Man More or less uniform mixture of white with red hairs on a large portion of the body, but usually darker on head and lower legs; can have red or flaxen mane and/or tail 8 4

5 BLUE ROAN Rowdy Blue Man More or less uniform mixture of white with black hairs over a large portion of the body, but usually darker on head and lower legs; can have a few red hairs in mixture Blue Roan is a black horse with the roan gene 9 BROWN Body color brown or black with light areas at muzzle, eyes, flank and inside upper legs; mane and tail black 10 5

6 ROSE GRAY Rose Gray Medium gray whose hairs are tinted with red. This type of hair gives the horse a light "rose" tint. Rose gray horses often have points that are darker than their body color, including mane and tail. 11 STEEL GRAY Horses are a dark gray, silver color. The horse has a black base coat with lightly mixed white/gray hairs. Many steel gray horses lighten and turn into a dapple gray or a light gray with age. 12 6

7 FLEABITTEN GRAY A fleabitten gray is a horse with a light gray body, but with little speckles of black and/or brown. These speckles are like tiny dots that are pretty much evenly distributed throughout the horse's body. Don't get this color confused with roans or appaloosa coat patterns! 13 BUCKSKIN Buckskin horses are a light-todark sandy yellow or tan color with all black points. Buckskins are very similar to duns, however, buckskins do not have a dorsal stripe or other "primitive" markings that are shown in the dun color. 14 7

8 CHAMPAGNE Champagne colored horses are born with bright pink skin which remains pink their entire life. What really distinguishes the champagne color from other colors is that champagne foals are born with bright blue eyes. 15 WHITE Body color white; skin is pink; eyes are usually dark; small black spots may be found in the skin, but usually are not accompanied by colored hair. Some white horses may be variegated, meaning they have patches of colored hair, usually intermixed with white. 16 8

9 BLACK Body color true black without light areas; mane and tale black 17 SILVER DAPPLE Silver dapple Caused by a dilution gene that only acts upon black hair pigment it lightens black body hair to a chocolate brown and the mane and tail to silver. The gene may be carried but will not be visible on horses with a red base coat Silver dapple horses may also be called Chocolate. 18 9

10 PALOMINO Body color a golden yellow; mane and tail white; typically palominos do not have dorsal stripes 19 CHESTNUT Body color dark red or brownish-red; mane and tail usually dark red or brownish-red, but may be flaxen 20 10

11 SORREL Body color reddish or copper-red; mane and tail usually same color as body; but may be flaxen. 21 RED CHESTNUT Red Chestnut Bright reddish and/or orange shades. This color is very appealing since it is usually bright and shiny, and very saturated. The red chestnut always has red highlights that really stand out

12 LIGHT CHESTNUT Light reddish-brown. Light chestnuts do not usually have points that are lighter than their body. The tips of their manes and tails may be lighter, but the base is the same color. If their mane/tail/legs etc. are significantly lighter than their body, they might be a flaxen chestnut or palomino. 23 FLAXEN CHESTNUT Chestnut colored body with a light flaxen (cream/off-white) colored mane and tail. Legs and tip of ears are the same color as the horse's body. Many people get confused between flaxen chestnut, light chestnut and palomino. This horse is a flaxen chestnut 24 12

13 CREMELLO Light (or pink) skin over the body, white or creamcolored hair and blue eyes. True Blue McCue 25 GRULLO Body color smoky or mouse-colored (not a mixture of black and white hairs, but each hair mouse-colored); mane and tail black; usually has black dorsal stripe and black on lower legs 26 13

14 PERLINO Invest In Rodeo Light (or pink) skin over the body, white or cream-colored hair and blue eyes. Mane, tail and lower legs slightly darker than body color. 27 TOBIANO Dark color usually covers one or both flanks. Generally all four legs are white. Color is more regular with oval-shaped spots. Head markings are like a solid-colored horse. May be predominantly dark or white. Tail is often two colors

15 TOBIANO White markings usually cross the back between the withers and tail 29 OVERO Usually white will not cross the back of the horse between withers and tail. Generally dark legs. Color is irregular, scattered or splashy. Often loud head markings, for example, a bald face. May be predominantly dark or white. Tail is usually one color

16 OVERO White markings usually do not cross the back between the withers and tail Frame overo Sabino Splashed white 31 TOVERO Combination of tobiano and overo characteristics. Dark pigment around ears. One or both eyes are glass or blue eyes. Dark pigment around the mouth. Usually have chest spots, flank spots and spots around the base of the tail

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