Black
A truly black horse or pony is black all over with black points and a black muzzle.
Bay
Image copyrightBays have brown coats, that can vary in colour, with black points, ie. legs, mane, tail, tips of ears and muzzle.
Chesnut
A chesnut horse or pony is a ginger colour with a mane and tail the same sort of ginger / reddish colour although these can be a slightly lighter or darker shade than the coat.
Liver Chesnut
Chestnut horses and ponies don't just come in the ginger colour there is also a liver chestnut which is more brownish in appearance.
Brown
A brown horse or pony has a mixture of black and brown pigmented hairs in it's coat with a dark mane and tail.
Grey
Grey horses or ponies have a mixture of black and white hairs in their coats.
Fleabitten greys have dark specks of hair on a light background.
A dapple grey has light patches of hair in circles on a darker background.
A grey horse is often born a darker grey and lightens to almost white with age.
A steel or iron grey horse or pony has more black hairs than white and the black hairs are spread evenly through the coat.
Dun
Dun 's have light coloured coats with black points, mane, tale, legs, tips of ears, sometimes a dorsal stripe down their backs. The body colour varies from a blueish / grey known as blue dun to shades of gold known as yellow dun.
Roan
Roan' s have an even spread of white hairs within the coat and are described according to the colour of the base coat as red roan (bay) as pictured above. Blue roan (dark brown or black) as seen below and strawberry roan (Chesnut base coat).
Piebald
A piebald horse or pony has large irregular patches of black and white.
Skewbald
A skewbald horse or pony has large irregular patches of white with any other colour except black.
Palomino
A palomino has a golden coloured coat with a flaxen mane and tail. The coat colour can vary in shade from a light ginger gold to a pale cream gold.
Spotted
Spotted horses have mottled skin, there are a number of different spotted patterns - snowflake, leopard, frosted hip, marble, white blanket, spotted blanket, near leopard and few-spot leopard. In the USA the spotted appaloosa is an officially recognised breed.
Leg Markings
Leg markings include:
Stocking: White marking that extends at least to, or above, the knee or hock.
Sock: White marking that extends higher than the fetlock but not as high as the knee or hock, this is also sometimes called a half stocking or boot.
Pastern: White marking starting at the coronet band and ending lower than a sock.
Coronet: White marking, approximately 2.5cms (1"), deep that encircles the coronet band.
Heel: White marking on one or both bulbs of the horse’s heel.
Face Markings
A horse may have one or several of the following markings on his face.
Star: A white mark between, or above the eyes.
Snip:A white or flesh coloured marking on the muzzle between the nostrils.
Stripe: A narrow facial marking, stripe, that runs down the
center of the horse’s face.
Blaze: A wide, white marking that runs down the middle of the horse’s face.
Bald face: Wide facial marking that extends to or past the inside corner of one or both eyes.
Markings can be further described as:
Faint: A small marking consisting of only a few white hairs.
Interrupted: A stripe or blaze that is broken, not solid for the entire length of the face.
Connected: Used to describe markings that are attached to one another.
Irregular or crooked: Refers to stripes and blaze that are of irregular shape rather than being more or less straight.
Facial markings. Top row, left to right: Blaze, Stripe, Stripe (or thin blaze) and
snip, Irregular blaze, Interrupted stripe, bald face. Bottom row, left to right:
Faint star, Star, Star and stripe, irregular star, snip, lip marking.
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