Colors and Markings of Horses Flashcards
- also known as Kastano
- light reddish or tan shades to dark brown and mahogany/auburn shades
- 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
BAY
Dark brown coat, reddish or black highlights black points
DARK BAY
Some breeds registries use the term for “brown” for dark bays
BROWN
- Also known as alazan and sorrel
- reddish brown; points (mane, tail, legs and ears) are the same color as the horse’s body (with the exception of their white markings)
- light yellowish brown to a golden-reddish or dark liver color
- red shades in their coats
CHESTNUT
- bright reddish and/or orange shades
- very appealing since it is usually bright and shiny, and very saturated
- have red highlights that really stand out
RED CHESTNUT
- darkest of the chestnut colors
- do not have black points
LIVER CHESTNUT
- chestnut in color but with light flaxen (cream/off-white) colored mane and tail
- legs and tip of ears are the same color as the body
- often get confused between palominos and light chestnut
FLAXEN CHESTNUT
- also known as mono
- often mistaken as “white” but their skin is dark, making them gray
- born dark, sometimes black or brown
- hair coat becomes lighter as they grow older
GRAY
- small, white ‘eraser’ mark
- have dapples throughout their entire body, often with darker colored points
DAPPLE GRAY
Light gray body, but with little freckles of black or brown
FLEA-BITTEN GRAY
- horses that have solid colored coats, but with white hair interspersed
- white hairs are not actually spots, but with single white hairs mixed with the darker coat color
ROAN
- also known as red roan; is a chestnut horse with roan gene
- interspersed white hairs on the horse’s body
STRAWBERRY ROAN
- black horse with a roan gene
- with interspersed white hair all over the body
BLUE ROAN
Pure black coats with now brown or any other color
BLACK
- the golden horse
- gold-colored coat with white or cream mane and tail
- coat color ranges from light-off white to deep shade of gold
PALOMINO
- grayish-gold or tan, characterized by a body coloring ranging from sandy yellow to reddish brown
- always have a dark stripe down along their spine, a mane and tail darker than its body coat and usually darker faces and legs
DUN
- tan or gold colored coat with black points in their mane, tail and lower legs
- dorsal stripes (dark stripes along the spine)
- zebra stripes on the back of forelegs
- shoulder blade stripes
- cobwebbing
BUCKSKIN
Coat have irregular patches of white or any color except for black
SKEWBALD
- body coat consist of large patches of black and white
- color demarcation is well-defined
PIEBALD
- any white mark on the forehead
- size, shape, intensity and position should be specified
STAR
- used to describe the narrow white markings down the face not wider than the flat anterior surface of the nasal bone
- the star and stripe are continuous and should be describe as star and stripe conjoined
- when the stripe is separate and distinct from the star, it should be described as interrupted stripe
STRIPE or STRIPS
A white marking covering almost the whole of the forehead between the eyes and extending beyond the width of the nasal bones and usually to the muzzle
BLAZE
A very wide blaze, extending to or past the eyes, some though not all bald-faced horses have blue eyes
BALDFACE/WHITE FACE
Especially wide bald face
APRON FACE
An isolated independent white marking situated between or in the region of the nostrils
SNIP
White markings just above the hoof, around the coronary band, usually no more than 1 inch above hoof
CORONET
White marking that extends above the top of the hoof, but stops below the fetlock
PASTERN
- also known as sock, half-stocking or anklet
- white markings that extends higher than the fetlock but not as high as the knee or hock, occasionally called a “boot”
FETLOCK
White markings that extends to the bottom of the knee or hock, sometimes higher
STOCKING
Black spots on the area of the pastern
ERMINE SPOTS
