Horse Colors

Brown

Body color brown or black with light areas at muzzle, eyes, flank and inside upper legs; mane and tail black

Blue Roan

mixture of white with black hairs over a large portion of the body, does not get grayer as it ages, but usually darker on head and lower legs

Chestnut

Body color dark red or brownish-red; mane and tail usually dark red or brownish-red, but may be flaxen

Black

Body color true black without light areas; mane and tail black. May look brown or bay if coat has fadded.

Perlino

Light (or pink) skin over the body, white or cream-colored hair and blue eyes. Mane, tail and lower legs slightly darker than body color. Very similar to cremello

White

Body color white; skin is pink; eyes are usually dark

Cremello

Light (or pink) skin over the body, white or cream-colored hair and blue eyes. Very similar to perlino

Grullo

Body color smoky or mouse-colored (not a mixture of black and white hairs, but each hair mouse-colored); mane and tail black; usually has black dorsal stripe and black on lower legs

Dun

Body color yellowish or gold; mane and tail are black or brown; has dorsal stripe and usually zebra stripes on legs, and transverse stripe over withers

Buckskin

Body color yellowish or gold; mane and tail are black; black on lower legs; typically a dun without a dorsal stripe

Red Dun

A form of dun with body color yellowish or flesh colored, mane and tail are red or reddish, flaxen, white or mixed; has red or reddish dorsal stripe and usually red or reddish zebra stripes on legs and transverse stripe over withers.

Sorrel

Body color reddish or copper-red; mane and tail usually same color as body; but may be flaxen.

Palomino

Body color a golden yellow; mane and tail white; typically palominos do not have dorsal stripes

Dapple Gray

Small spots or mottles of gray

Bay

Body color ranging from very light red, to reddish brown; black mane and tail; usually black on lower legs

Red Roan

More or less uniform mixture of white with red hairs on a large portion of the body, but usually darker on head and lower legs; can have red or flaxen mane and/or tail

Gray

Mixture of white with any other colored hairs; often born solid-colored or almost solid-colored and get lighter with age as more white hairs appear.

Flea Bitten Gray

Mixture of white with any other colored hairs, with small freckles or ticks, often born solid-colored or almost solid-colored and get lighter with age as more white hairs appear.

Paint or Pinto

Large areas of white and one or more other colors on the body

Appaloosa

Horses with egg-shaped spots

Tobiano

Paint pattern where white extends over the topline somewhere between the ears and tail

Overo

Paint pattern with solid color across the topline from ears to tail