Horses come in all types of colors and distinctive markings. Horse owners routinely refer to their horse by color, rather than breed or sex. The following is a guide to help those new to the horse world identify a horse by its coat color.
Leopard or Appaloosa
Blanket is distinguished with white over the hip and may extend from the tail to the base of the neck. If spots are present inside the blanket, they will be the same color as the base coat.
Varnish roan is distinguished by a mix of body and white hairs that extends over the entire body, this is not a true roan.
Snowflake is distinguished by white spots on a dark body. Typically these white spots will increase in number and size as the horse ages.
Leopard is distinguished by a white body with dark spots of varying sizes.
Few spot leopard is distinguished by a nearly white horse from birth that retains color just above the hooves, the knees, ‘armpits’, mane and tail, wind pipe, and face.
Frost is similar to varnish but the white hairs are limited to the back, loins, and neck.
Bay
The bay is characterized by a light brown color which transitions to a very dark brown. The bay may have black points (main, tail, muzzle, lower legs, or tips of the ears), and red or blue hair in some instances. A dark bay has mixed blue hair, while mixed red hair is referred as a blood bay.
Black
There are two types of black, fading black and jet black. Ordinary black horses will fade to a rusty brownish color if the horse is exposed to sunlight on a regular basis, this would be considered brown as soon as any black coat gets any brown. Jet black is a blue-black shade that is fadeproof. Black foals are usually born a mousy grey color. As their foal coat begins to shed out, their black color will show through, but jet black foals are born jet black. Usually for a horse to be considered black it must be completely black with no brown at all, only white markings.
Brindle
One of the rarest colors found in a horse. Characterisics are any color with “zebra-like” stripes.
Brown
A bay without any black points.
Buckskin
A bay horse with a gene that ‘dilutes’ the coat color to a yellow, cream, or gold while keeping the black points (mane, tail, muzzle, ears, legs).
Chestnut
A reddish body color with little or no black. There are many different variations of chestnut.
Liver chestnut
Dark red coat with black hairs in the mane and tail.
Blond chestnut
Lighter orange coat with pale mane and tail.
Taffy chestnut
Light brown-cream coat with flaxen mane and tail.
Cremello
A chestnut horse with two dilute genes that washes out almost all color. Often called pseudo albinos, they have blue eyes. There are no true albino horses.
Dapple Gray
A gray colored horse with lighter gray spots, or dapples, scattered throughout.
Dun
Yellowish brown with a dorsal stripe along the back and occasionally zebra stripings on the legs.
Fleabitten Gray
Refers to usually red hairs flecked in the coat of a gray horse.
Gray
A horse with black skin and clear hairs. Gray horses can be born any color, and eventually most will turn gray or white with age. If you would define the horse as white it is still grey unless it is albino. Some gray horses that are very light must wear sunscreen.
Grulla
A black horse with a dun gene. It is often a grayish/silver colored horse with dark dun factors
Pinto
A multi-colored horse with large patches of brown, white, and/or black and white. Piebald is black and white, while Skewbald is white and brown. Specific patterns such as tobiano, overo, and tovero refer to the orientation of white on the body.
Paint
In 1962, the American Paint Horse Association began to recognize pinto horses with known Quarter Horse and/or Thoroughbred bloodlines as a separate breed. Today, Paint horses are the world’s fifth most popular breed.
Palomino
Chestnut horse that has one cream dilute gene that turns the horse to a golden, yellow, or tan shade with a flaxen (white) mane and tail. Often cited as being a color “within three shades of a newly minted coin”, palominos actually come in all shades from extremely light, to deep chocolate. Normally referred to as “blonde” horses.
Perlino
Exactly like a cremello but a bay horse with two dilute genes.
Roan
A color pattern that causes white hairs to be sprinkled over the horse’s body color. Red roans are chesnut and white hairs, blue roans are black/bay with white hairs. Roan can happen on any body color; for example, there are palomino roans and dun roans. Roans are distinguishable from greys because roans typically do not change color in their lifetimes, unlike gray that gradually gets lighter as a horse ages. Roans also have solid colored heads that do not lighten.
Rose gray
A gray horse with a pinkish tinge to its coat. This color occurs while the horse is “graying out.”
Splash
A genetically controlled horse coat variation.
Tobiano
A tobiano may be predominantly dark or white, with the tail often two colors. One or both flanks are usually covered with a dark color, and all four legs are usually white, at least below the hocks and knees. The spots are usually regular and distinct patterns as ovals or round that extend down over the neck and chest, giving the appearance of a shield. The head markings are usually solid, or with a blaze, strip, star or snip.
White
Any non-albino white horse is called a gray, even though they appear white. All white, may be the result of overlapping pinto, appaloosa, or sabino markings. Rarely there are true white horses born and are documented to have a dominant white gene. These horses have normal eye color, and they stay white for life.
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