Equine Coat Colors

light horse breeds

• for running, hunting, etc.

• Thoroughbreds, Appaloosa, Quarter horse

Characteristics of light horses

• Thin coat

• Thin legs

• Lean muscles

Draft horses

bred for pulling, farm work, and plowing

Draft horse characteristics

• Stalky legs

• Muscular

• Thick shoulders and neck

Pony characteristics

• Under 14.2 hands (measure hoof to withers/last hair of their mane)

• Round bellies

• Middle of stocky and lean

Warm-blood horses

• Bred for undersaddle work (athletics)

• A cross between a hot-blood and a cold-blood (draft + light horse)

• 3 basic coat colors

• black

• bay

• chestnut

• Chestnut

• Reddish-brown coat

• Main/tail typically matches body color 

• No black main/tail

bay

Dark brown with black points (mane/tail, legs, ears)

black

• Black body and mane/tail

• No light points

Grey

• Dapples

• No pink skin, grey skin instead

• As it ages, the coat changes

  • Could be brown, but then turns grey

  • Grey turns to white

• Prone to benign sarcomas and melanomas

Roan

• Red or strawberry, or blue

• Tend to be lighter in warmer weather and darker in colder weather 

• Will have a solid color head with a mixture of white on the body

dun

Primitive markings must be present

primative markings

red dun

Cream

The dilution gene acts on a chestnut coat, lessening the color of the hair, not mixing in white hairs

Pinto

• Can be any breed

• Various color patterns are named

• Leopard patterning (Appaloosa) is not permitted

• Paint- specific to pedigree, must have one parent as a recorded QH or TB

Palomino

Golden horses with silver manes and tails

Buckskin

Bay horse with one copy of the cream dilution. Body is predominantly a shade of yellow (gold to nearly brown) with black points. No dorsal strip or other primitive markings.

• Grulla

A black horse with a dominant dun dilution. 

Lethal whit syndrome

genetic disease primarily reported in paint breeds

Leapord Complex or Appaloosa Spotting

• genetic disease

• Horse homozygous for the leopard complex also have congenital stationary night blindness, or the inability to see in low-light conditions

Lavender Foal Syndrome

• genetic disease

• A neurological condition that affects Arabian foals with dilute coat colors

• Foals are born with a variety of neurologic abnormalities, including limb rigidity, ocular strabismus, and exaggerated spinal reflexes

• Foals are euthanized shortly after birth

blaze

A broad vertical white stripe down the center of the horse’s face

stripe

Thin white stripe down face

bald

White goes over the eyes

star

A white diamond or splotch between the eyes

snip

A white mark on the nose between the nostrils

Lip marking 

White on lip, usually the bottom

cornet band

white on feet

Pastern

White up to the fetlock

sock

White goes up canon

Stocking

White extends above the knee

dorsal stripe

Shoulder stripe

leg stripes / zebra leg markings