Horse colors

Sarah_Taufiq · May 27, 2021, 8:42pm

Horse colors: Horse coat colors are Sorrel, Bay, Palomino, Dun, Dapple gray, Buckskin, Roan, Paint, Appaloosa, Gray, Chestnut, and Black. Horses’ coat colors are derived from one of two possible base pigments: red or black, which means that every horse has a gene for either of these pigments.

Extension genes control the production of the red or black pigments. So in basic terms, every coat color starts with a red or black base and various coat colors are created by modification or dilutions of the base.

The two base colors

While there’s a whole spectrum of different colors you might be surprised to know that every single one of them is derived from just one of two different colors, black or red. The reason we have a whole palette of colors is, in most cases, due to different combinations of genes or different quantities of the same gene.

Black	A horse with a black base coat will have black points (the ears, mane, tail, and legs). Colors with a black base are black, bay, buckskin, grullo, perlino as well as blue and bay roan.
Red	Unlike the black base coat, horses with a red base won’t have any black points, regardless of how dark their mane and tail may appear. Colors with a red base are chestnut, cremello, and pearl.
White	Any art teacher will tell you that white isn’t actually a color and this is kind of true when it comes to horses too. Okay so white is a hue instead of a color but when it comes to horses it’s actually the lack of pigment (the natural coloring of tissue) that makes the hair white.

Sorrel coat colors

Origin of Sorrel term

Sorrel is likely a reference to the red color found in the sorrel herb. Sorrel herbs are plants with bright green leaves and dark copper-red stems and veins.

But the first uses of “sorrel” as a term describing horse coat colors trace back to the mid-14th century and is likely from Od French sorel for sor “yellowish-brown.”

Sorrel color description

Sorrel horses are entirely copper-red, including their coat, mane, and tail. It’s the standard chestnut horse to most people. However, in the western horse world, these animals are sorrel horses.

Sorrel genetics

Sorrel horses are red. Because red is recessive, they must carry two copies of the red factor (e) allele. When an animal has a gene with identical alleles, they are homozygous.

The A agouti gene only affects black pigments, so it isn’t visible in a Sorrel horse’s coat. Though the agouti gene isn’t visible, a Sorrel can carry the gene and pass it to its progeny.

Breeds with Sorrel coat colors

Popular breeds that have Sorrel coat colors include Thoroughbred, Belgian draft horses, Tennesse Walking Horse, and Quarter horses. Sorrel coloring is prevalent in most breeds.

Bay coat colors

Origin of Bay term

Bay can be a body of water or a type of window. But when used by equestrian, it describes a specific horse coat color and pattern.

The earliest use of bay to describe a horse’s coat color traces to the 14th century. It has Anglo-French origins and is from the Latin word badius, meaning “chestnut-brown.”

Bay color description

Bay horses have reddish-brown coat colors with black points and black skin. “Points” are a horse’s mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. There are many shades of the bay, such as blood bay and sand dun.

Color variations of bay horses

blood bay
bay dun
sandy bay
perlinos
bay roan
amber champagne bay
silver bay
bay pinto
leopard bay
wild bay
buckskin

Bay genetics

Bay horses are black based and have the black gene (“E”), also known as an extension; this is needed to produce black pigment. The black gene is influenced by an agouti gene (“A”).

The agouti gene controls the distribution of black pigments to the horse’s points. Bay horses are expressed genetically as either E/Aa or E/AA.

Horse breeds that have Bay coloring

Bay is a primary horse color and is found in almost every breed. They are common in Thoroughbreds, Clydesdales, Standardbreds, and Quarter horses.

Palomino coat colors

Origin of Palomino name

Palomino horses are mentioned throughout history but by various names, such as the golden horse and golden dorado. The first use of Palomino, to describe these beautiful animals’ coloring is relatively new when compared to Sorrel and Bay.

The earliest use of Palimino I saw occurs in the late 19th century. Palomino is Spanish and translates in English to “young dove.” Young dove is an apt description based on the Palomino’s cream-colored coat.

There’s also a Royal Palomina family in Spain, and some horse enthusiasts claim this family is the genesis for the horse’s nomenclature, which may be correct. The etymology of Palomino is Latin palumbinus, which translates to “wood pigeons.”

Palomino color description

Palomino is a color breed of horses that exhibit yellow or gold coat colors, with white or light cream manes and tails. Palomino’s may have evolved in the deserts of the middle east.

Scientists theorize that the horses’ light-colored coats camouflaged them from predators and also provided protection from the blazing sun.

Variations of Palomino coat colors

Light Palomino
Golden Palomino
Chocalote Palomino
Pearl Palomino
Champagne Palomino

Palomino genetics

Palominos have a chestnut base and a cream dilution gene. The genotype ee creates a chestnut base coat color, and the genotype C Ccr at the C locus dilutes the red coloring in the chestnut to yellow pigment.

There are many variations to the basic Palomino genetics; some variances create deeper gold and yellow coloring in the horse’s coat. To increase the chances of producing a Palomino foal cross a Palomino with a cremello or Perlino.

Palomino breeds

Many breeds have Palomino coloring; however, quarter horses have the vast majority of horses with Palomino coloring. It’s believed that more than 50 percent of all Palominos world-wide are quarter horses.

Dapple Gray coat colors

Origin of the Dapple Gray name

Dapple gray horses have a gray coat with dark rings across most of their body. The circles are dapples. Thus the name is a description of the color pattern.

Dapple gray color description

As stated above, a dapple gray is a horse with a gray coat displaying dark circles over lighter hair. The dapples typically cover most of the horse’s body and produce a unique and beautiful pattern.

Dapple gray genetics

Dapple gray horses have a standard gray genetic base. Which means they have a dominant gray gene that dilutes the base coat color gene. It’s not a stand-alone color gene.

Genetically created dapples are caused by the deactivation of the dominant gray gene in certain spots on the horse’s coat. This type of dappling is called “true dapples.”

A horse may exhibit “bloom dapples,” which look similar to true dapple. Bloom dapples result from good conditioning and a proper diet, not genetics. Bloom dapples come and go, but true dapples are always present.

Breeds with dapple-gray horses

Dapple gray is standard in many horse breeds with gray horses, and grays are typical in most breeds. Lipizzaner, Andalusians, and Percheron are horse strains with majority gray coloring.

Dun coat colors

Origins of Dun term

Dun is an Old English word with a Germanic origin. It was likely a reference to dusk and evolved to mean dingy brown. It may also have its roots in Gaelic. The Gaelic word donn means “dull; dark brown; dark.”

The earliest uses of “dun” to describe a horse is the late 14th century. Reference to “dun horses” are used by both Shakespeare and Chaucer.

Description of Dun color pattern

Dun horses have a dull yellow or tan coat with dark points and primitive markings. Points are the mane, tail, ear tips, and lower legs, while primitive markings are dorsal stripes, horizontal stripings on the upper legs, and sometimes a line across the withers.

All Dun horses have a clean, crisp dorsal stripe, and most have dark-tipped ears. Distinguishing a dun is tricky because of countershading, sooting, or other color modifications mimic dun color patterns.

Various shades of Dun Color

The most common dun is tan with black points (classic dun), but there are many variations and different colored dun horses.

Bay Dun
Blue Dun
Red Dun
Grulla Dun
Zebra Dun
Claybank Dun
Classic Dun
Mouse Dun

Dun Color Genetics

A dilution allele gene creates dun color coat patterns. The gene lightens the base coat of a horse but doesn’t affect the primitive markings, or points. Every dun horse has at least one parent with a dun gene.

The dun gene is dominant and is illustrated by “D.” Dominant genes always show their effect on the animals’ color patterns. The dun dilution creates colors ranging from light shades of yellow to dark gray and many variations in between.

Breeds with Dun horses

The dun pattern was prevalent in ancient wild horses, to camouflage against predators. However, in domestic horses, the color pattern is not seen as frequently.

Similar to their ancestors, wild breeds such as the Przewalski’s horses, Tarpan, and Konik are predominately duns. Not all domestic breeds carry dun marking, but the markings are found in many such as Quarter horses, Icelandic, Norwegian Fjords, and others.

Buckskin coat colors

Origin of the term Buckskin

First used in the 13th century, buckskin was used to describe the skin of a buck. By the late 18th century, the term was in use to describe a kind of soft leather made from deer hides.

Buckskin was also a nickname for the Continental troops in the American Revolution because they often wore clothing similar to the Native Americans made from deer hides. I’m not able to locate the earliest use of the term buckskin to describe a horse.

Description of Buckskin horses

A standard Buckskin horse is the color of deer, faded tan with a black mane, tail, and lower legs. However, there are variations of the coat colors from a light creamy yellow to dark golden.

Various shades of Buckskin

Buttermilk Buckskin
Dusty Buckskin
Sooty Buckskin
Standard Buckskin
Silver Buckskin
Brown Buckskin
Golden Buckskin

Buckskin Genetics

Buckskin coat colors are created by a single creme dilution gene acting on a bay color base. Bay horses have a black base with an agouti gene directing black pigments to the horses’ points.

The creme dilution gene tones down the base coat colors but doesn’t affect the agouti gene direction of the black pigments to the points. The combination of genes results in a tan horse with black points.

Breeds with Buckskin coloring

Buckskin is a common coloring in many breeds, such as the American Quarter Horse, the Andalusian, Morgan, Tennessee Walking Horse, and many pony breeds.

However, some horse registries don’t accept buckskin colored horses. For example, Arabians, Friesian, and Shire horse associations are a few that find buckskin unacceptable coat colors.

Roan coat colors

Origin of the term Roan

Roan first used to describe horse color coats traces to the mid-16th century. The term is based on French meaning “reddish-brown,” or possibly Germanic, and they used “reudh” to describe red horses.

And finally, in Spanish “Roano” is a name for a boy, or used to describe a person with reddish-brown skin. In Spanish literature, “Roano” is sometimes translated in English as the color of a red horse.

Description of the Roan pattern

Roan horses have dark coat colors interspersed with individual white hairs. Typically their faces and lower legs remain solid color. The influence of white hair mixed evenly with the base color creates a frosted appearance.

Various Roan coat colors

Blue Roan
Red Roan
Bay Roan
Palomino Roan (honey roan)
Buckskin Roan
Rabicano Roan

Roan Genetics

A Roan horse coat is created by the presence of a roan gene, (R), mutating a horse’s base coat color. It is a dominant Rn allele, and when paired with the “e” chestnut, it results in a red roan horse.

When the roan gene influences the “E” black gene, the outcome is a blue roan, and if it’s present in a bay, it produces a bay roan.

Breeds with Roan coat colors

The Roan color pattern’s in many horse breeds. They are common in the American Quarter Horse, Paso Fino, and Belgian breeds. However, Thoroughbred and Arabian associations do not permit registration of Roan colored horses.

Paint coat colors

Origins of Paint name

The noun “paint” originated in 13th century English from Old French peintier “to paint,” from the Latin word pingere of the same meaning.

Horses we know as modern Paint horses were originally called spotted horses and pintos. It wasn’t until 1962 when The Paint Association was formed that the Paint horse was defined.

Paint horse description

Paint Horses come in many color combinations of white and other colors, such as chestnut, bay, black, sorrel, palomino, gray, or roan. No two paint pattern is precisely the same; not only do colors vary, but so do the shapes and locations. The designs are infinite, much like fingerprints.

Paint patterns

Tobiano Paints
Overo Paints
Tovero Paints

Paint horse genetics

Tobiano is the only spotting pattern that is created by a single gene, symbolized by TO. It restricts the pattern of white hair with any coat color and has underlying pink skin.

Overo is an umbrella term that includes three genetically distinct paint patterns: frame overo, sabino, and splashed white. Not a lot is understood about the genetics that creates overo patterns.

But it’s widely accepted that one or more dominant genes influence their patterns. However, this is still a theory because its also possible that one gene and a modifier creates the pattern.

Horse breeds with Paint coat patterns

The American Paint Horse is a breed, but in certain situations can be registered as an American Quarter Horse as well. There are also breeds such as Clydesdales with patterns similar to paints.

Appaloosa coat colors

Origin of the name, Appaloosa

Appaloosa horses likely were named after the Palouse River in Idaho. The settlers called the horses from the Nez Perez region Palouse horses, and eventually, the name morphed to Appaloosa.

In Louisiana, we have a town called Opelousa, which translates to the “black body” from Choctaw. Although Opelousa and Appaloosa sound similar, it’s not likely to be the basis for the animal’s name.

Description of Appaloosa horses

Appaloosa horses coat colors are a combination of base color and an overlaid white spotting pattern. The most familiar design is a white spotted pattern over the horse’s haunches.

In addition to a distinct coat color pattern, Appaloosa horses share other characteristics such as striped hooves, mottled skin, and white sclera noticeable in their eyes.

Various Appaloosa Coat Patterns

Blanket	Solid white area over the hip area with a contrasting base color.
Blanket with spots	A white blanket combined with dark spots on the white. The spots are typically the base color
Spots	Large dots of white or dark colors over all or a portion of its body.
Roan/Marbleized	White and dark hair mixed, creating the appearance of white flecks in the coat.
Roan Blanket	A roan pattern over a section of the body, typically the hip area.
Roan Blanket With Spots	A roan blanket with white and dark spots in the affected area.
Solid	An acceptable base color without a contrasting the Appaloosa pattern, but with mottled skin and another breed characteristic.
Leopard pattern	Predominately white body covered with dark spots creating the appearance of a leopard.
Snowflake	A dark coat with white dots, predominately over its haunches.

Appaloosa genetics

Two genes must be present to create an appaloosa pattern. The Leopard Complex LP allele gene controls the existence or absence of appaloosa characteristics, and the other gene is a modifier of the color pattern.

The extent of the Appaloosa pattern is determined by the number of LP alleles and the presence of modifying alleles. Horses that carry one LP allele will show some Appaloosa characteristics.

Horse breeds with LP allele genes

The LP gene is considered the Appaloosa gene, but other breeds carry the LP allele, such as the Knabstrupper, Pony of Americas, Andalusian, and Paso Fino.

Chestnut coat colors

Origin of the term Chestnut

Chestnut horse color is a reference to the dark, reddish-brown color seen on chestnut trees fruit. It’s from Middle English chesten, and Old French chastaign, both with roots in Latin.

Chestnut is used in the 14th century to describe a specific tree, but the earliest use to describe a horse’s color I found was in the mid-1800s.

Description of Chestnut horses

Chestnut horses have red coats and manes and tails of the same or lighter hues. They have no black hair and range from a light red, similar to peach, to a deep dark red that is almost black.

Chestnut variations

Liver	These are the darkest chestnuts, some are so dark they could be mistaken as black.
Flaxen	is any chestnut horse with manes and tails that are straw-colored, or lighter than the body color.
Sorrel	Reddish-copper colored coat. It’s the most common chestnut shade.
Light	is a term used to describe a pale chestnut, with the mane and tail the same color.

Chestnut Genetics

Chestnut horses have an extension locus (E). This gene halts the production of black pigments and causes the production of red pigments. There are three alleles of the chestnut extension gene, E+, e, and ea.

Horse breeds with Chestnut coloring

Chestnut is one of the most common equine colors and is present in almost all horse breeds. Some horses such as the Haflingers are exclusively chestnut, and others like the Belgian are predominantly chestnut.

Gray coat colors

Origin of Gray

Gray is Old English from græg. The spelling difference between the U.S. spelling (gray) and British spelling (grey) arose in the 20th century. Reference to “gray” horses trace back many centuries.

Description of gray horses

A gray horse can be born any color and progressively turn gray. Most horses are almost entirely white by six years old. Gray horses have dark skin, which differentiates them from white horses. White horses have pink skin.

Variations of Gray Coat Colors

Steel Grey/Iron Grey: A horse with white and dark hairs evenly intermixed, creating its dark gray appearance.
Dapple Grey: A horse with a gray coat overlaid with lighter rings of gray hairs across the animals’ entire body.
Fleabitten Grey: A light gray horse with dark flecks of hair throughout its coat.
Rose Grey: A gray horse that was born bay or chestnut and is in its early stages of graying. The condition creates a rose hue.

Gray horse genetics

A dominant gray gene (G) creates a horse’s gray coat. The impact of this dominant always changes the base color coat gray. The gray gene isn’t a color gene but rather a dilution gene.

As a horse grows older, the color dilution continues to lighten the animal’s hair color but doesn’t change a horse’s skin or eye color. However, there are instances of depigmentation of the skin around the eyes, mouth, and ■■■■.

Horse breeds with Gray coat colors

Most horse breeds display gray coat colors, including Arabians, Thoroughbreds, and American Quarter horses. However, some breeds are predominantly gray, such as the Andalusian, Lipizzan, and Camargue horse.

Black coat color

Origin of Black

The original meaning of the Old English blac meant colorless and was used to refer to people without color, like an albino, used similarly to blanc. It wasn’t until the 1500s that black meant dark or the color of night.

Description of Black horses

Black is pretty is to describe; it is a hair coat color of devoid of all colors except black. Black is a unique coat color, and most horses thought to be black are dark bays, dark brown, or dark chestnuts.

Black horse genetics

A black horse has must have one copy of the dominant “E” allele and two copies of the recessive “a” allele. It has no other dominant genes nor dilution or modifying genes.

The dominant “E” instigates the production of black pigment, and the recessive “a” controls the color distribution, an even distribution of black pigmentation is a true black horse.

Black horse breeds

Black horses are rare; however, in some breeds, the animals are almost exclusively black, for example, Friesian and Mugese. It’s also not unusual for Fell ponies, Andalusians or Dales ponies, to be black.

10 Amazing Facts about Horses?

Horses Sleep while standing up
Horses Can’t Burp. Horses can’t burp, at least not the way humans do. They can’t vomit or breathe through their mouths like humans do either. A horse’s digestive system is a one-way street, unlike cattle and other ruminants who regurgitate food to re-chew it. Although they have a pretty efficient way of processing the tough fibrous foods that make up their forage, this long, one-directional system can cause problems that result in colic.
You Can Estimate a Horse’s Age by Its Teeth: While you can’t tell the exact age of a horse by its teeth, you can estimate its age. Horses need proper equine dental care for their teeth, but sometimes a horse lives longer than its teeth do, so extra care is needed when feeding senior horses.
Horses Can Live to Be More Than 30 Years Old: One of the most common questions about horses is “how long does a horse live?” The answer may surprise you. Knowledge of horse nutrition, horse care, and veterinary medicine has increased. Because of this, just as human life expectancy has increased, so has equine longevity.
The American Quarter Horse Is the World’s Most Popular Horse Breed: Appreciated by beginner riders and professional horsemen alike, the American quarter horse is the world’s most popular breed.
Arabian Horses Have One Less Vertebrae Than Other Breeds: The Arabian horse is the foundation of many other light horse breeds. They also possess some unique characteristics. Arabian horses have one fewer vertebrae, rib and tail bone than other horses.
Horses Are Herbivores: Humans are omnivores, lions are carnivores, and horses are herbivores. The way their teeth are formed, the position of their eyes, and the type of digestive system are all typical characteristics of herbivores.
Horses Are Herd Animals: Horses in the wild live in small herds, and domestic horses feel more comfortable if they have companions too. It can be quite stressful for a horse to live alone. To keep your horse happy, it will need a (preferably equine) friend.
Horses Were Domesticated by Humans More Than 3,000 Years Ago: Dogs may have become domesticated around 14,000 years ago. Cats became human companions about 8,500 years ago. Humankind’s relationship with the horse began a little more recently, about 3,500 B.C. although some evidence has come to light that horses may have been domesticated even earlier.
Horses Are Not Native to North America : Every horse on the North American continent is a decedent of European horses. Even the horses that we regard as “wild” are actually feral horses, whose ancestors escaped from captivity. Horses disappeared from the Americas more than 8,000 years ago and there is ample fossil evidence that the horse’s ancestors lived here previous to that.

Frequently Asked Questions

1- What are the different horse colors?

There are only four basic horse colors. Bay, brown, black and chestnut. Everything else is a variation on these four colors or the absence of color giving you white.

2- What is the rarest horse color?

White. One of the rarest colors, a white horse has white hair and fully or largely unpigmented (pink) skin. These horses are born white, with blue or brown eyes, and remain white for life. The vast majority of so-called “white” horses are actually grays with a fully white hair coat.

3-What is the most common color for horses?

Bay. It is the most common color in many horse breeds since it is the base color.
Black. A real black horse has brown eyes, pure black skin, and black hair coats.
Chestnut.
Brown.
Dun.
Buckskin.
Palomino.
Gray.

4- What color horse is reddish or copper red?

A sorrel horse is a copper-red horse with a red mane and tail. Genetically, it is a base color coat of solid reddish-brown caused by the recessive ”e” gene. Some equestrians use the terms sorrel and chestnut interchangeably, but sorrel is more commonly used in reference to horses used in western events.

5- What are the 5 basic colors of a horse?

The five most common horse coat colors are chestnut, bay, black, grey, and pinto. Chestnut- also called sorrel- is a basic color featuring brown, ranging from pale (flaxen chestnut) to reddish to deep dark brown (liver chestnut).

6- What is the ugliest horse breed in the world?

Akhal-Teke. The world’s oldest breed but, to me, the world’s ugliest horse.

7-How rare are cremello horses?

Fortunately, the chances of that occurring are around 25%. The most popular breeds used in the creation of cremellos include Saddlebreds, draft horses, Shetland ponies, and Quarter Horses. This is because they are all “chestnuts” with a cream gene, which is what you need to create a cremello

8- What are the 3 types of horses?

In general horses are divided into three main types, namely heavy horses, light horses, and ponies.

9- What color is a roan horse?

Roan is a white patterning coat color trait of intermixed white and colored hairs in the body while the head, lower legs, mane, and tail remain colored. Roan horses are born with the pattern, though it may not be obvious until the foal coat is shed.

10- What is the most dangerous horse breed?

The Velka Pardubicka is the most dangerous horse race in the world.

Conclusion:

Horse coat colors are Sorrel, Bay, Palomino, Dun, Dapple gray, Buckskin, Roan, Paint, Appaloosa, Gray, Chestnut, and Black. Horses’ coat colors are derived from one of two possible base pigments: red or black, which means that every horse has a gene for either of these pigments.