Last Updated on February 21, 2022 by Allison Price
Horses are incredible creatures. Horses are magnificent, beautiful, and can be heart-warming. Just like our hair and eyes, horse coat colors depend on genetics. Horse colors are derived from red, black, and bay. But what are the most popular colors? Continue reading to learn more.
Bay
Bay is a common base color and it is also one of the most popular coat colors. Black points are found on bay horses. This means their mane and tail are black and the rims around their ears and muzzle are black.
Chestnut
The red base color is what gives chestnut color. To be classified as chestnut horse, the horse must have a mane and tail that are the same color as its coat. Chestnut horses have no black points, but may be darker or more red than a liver chestnut.
Sorrel
It is important not to confuse a sorrel horse with a chestnut-colored horse. Although they look similar, a sorrel horses is lighter than a chestnut horse and its mane and tail is lighter than the horse’s coat color. You can even have flaxen or blonde.
Black
A true black horse is a base color, but it’s harder to classify. It has no red hues in its coat. They have black manes and tails and no white areas in their coats.
Palomino
Palomino horse colors stand out from the rest. The color of the horse’s coat is cream, while its mane and tail are both white. This color is derived from the red base color of the horse, but their genetics have an expressive cream mutation that results in beautiful colors.
Buckskin
Buckskin, another flashy color, has a golden coat with black points. This color can also be produced in the same way as a palomino, except that the base color is bay instead of red.
Dun
The dun horse color is not as common as the other colors, but it is equally beautiful and unique. True dun horses are black with a dorsal stripe and others have black zebra stripes running down their legs. This genetic mutation can affect any base color, and the dun hue depends on the base color.
Gray
Gray horses are born with another base color, and gradually lose their pigment. They eventually become light grays or whites.
Roan
Roan horses have a unique coat. The coat has a white base color with white hairs all over. The three base colors of a roan horse are black, strawberry, red, bay, and blue.
Pinto
A horse with a pinto color coat does not necessarily mean it is a paint. Paint refers to a particular breed of horse. However, any color can be used to affect any breed. This color refers to a horse that has a base color and white patches throughout its coat.
Each horse color is beautiful and unique. They also come in many different patterns and variations. We would love to have each of them! Which coat color is your favorite? Comment
