Base/Common Colors

Black

Black horses have pure black coats with no signs of brown or any other color. If you can see any other color (with the exception of white markings) on the horse's coat he is not a true black. The only exception is when the hair has been sun-burnt.



Bay

Bay horses come in a light reddish or tan shades to dark brown and mahogany/auburn shades. Bay horses will always have black points. Their legs, muzzle, mane and tail, and the tips of their ears are black.



Dark Bay

Dark bay horses have a brown coat, reddish or black highlights and black points.



Chestnut/Sorrel

Chestnut, (also known as sorrel), is reddish brown. The mane, tail, legs and ears are the same color as the horse's body. Chestnuts range from light yellowish brown to a golden-reddish or even a dark liver color.



Flaxen Chestnut

Flaxen chestnuts are a chestnut colored body with a light cream/off-white colored mane and tail. Legs and tip of ears are the same color as the horse's body.



Liver Chestnut

The liver chestnut is the darkest of the chestnut colors. They have no black points at all.




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Gray

Gray horses have black skin with white or gray hair. They are born dark, sometimes black or brown, and their hair coat turns lighter as they grow older.

Light Gray

This horse is a light gray, not white. The skin around his nose, inside his ears, and between his hind legs is black.



Dapple Gray

A dapple is like a small, white mark. Dapple gray horses usually have dapples throughout their entire body, often with darker colored points.



Fleabitten Gray

A fleabitten gray is a horse with a light gray body, but with little speckles of black and/or brown. These speckles will be evenly distributed throughout the horse's body.




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Palomino

Palomino horses have gold-colored coat with a white or light cream colored mane and tail. The Palomino's coat can range from a light off-white shade to a deep shade of gold.




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Buckskin

Buckskin horses are a light-to-dark sandy yellow or tan color with all black points. They are very similar to duns, however, buckskins do not have a dorsal stripe or other "primitive" markings that are shown in the dun color.




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Dun

Dun horses have a sandy/yellow to reddish/brown coat. Their legs are usually darker than their body and sometimes have faint stripes on them. Dun horses always have a dorsal stripe. It is a dark stripe down the middle of their back. Sometimes the dorsal stripe continues down the horse's dock and tail, and through the mane. Many dun colored horses also have face masking. Which makes the horse's nose and sometimes the rest of the face a darker color than the horse's body.



Bay Dun

Bay duns have a bay color, but they are not bay since they have the dun characteristic of a dorsal stripe down the middle of their back. Some people might think that they are buckskin. For example Spirit is not buckskin he is really a dun!



Red Dun

Red duns have reddish/chestnut highlights. They have a dorsal stripe down the middle of the back, and the legs a darker color than the body color.



Black Dun

The Body color smoky or mouse colored. They has a dorsal stripe, shoulder striping or shadowing and black leg barring on lower legs. There are variations of the color often referred to as grullo/grulla or black dun.




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Roan

Roan horses have otherwise solid colored coats, but with white hairs interspersed. The white hairs are not actual spots, but single white hairs mixed with the darker coat color.

Bay Roan

Bay Roan is a horse with a bay coat and the roan gene. The roan gene gives the horse interspersed white hairs on his body.



Blue Roan

A Blue Roan is a black horse with the roan gene. The roan gene gives the horse interspersed white hairs on his body.



Red Roan

A Red Roan is a chestnut or sorrel horse with the roan gene. The roan gene gives the horse interspersed white hairs on his body. It is sometimes called Strawberry Roan.




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Perlino

Perlinos will have darker points, as a Buckskin would, but on a Perlino the points are orangish. They have pink skin and blue eyes. Their hair coats are not white but are of a light creme color. They are "double diluted" which means they have two copies of the creme gene instead of one like a Palomino or Buckskin. Perlino is a "bay" with two creme genes.




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Cremello

Cremellos have pink skin and blue eyes. Their hair coats are not white but are of a light creme. They have have a white mane and tail. Cremellos are "double diluted" which means they have two copies of the creme gene instead of one like a Palomino or Buckskin. A Palomino is a "chestnut" with one creme gene and a Cremello is a "chestnut" with two creme genes.