Okay, I am a fashionista. They say horses and other mammals except primates are color blind. Really? I can spot an Appaloosa three rings away and snort alarmingly in any equitation class. It is just that we equines are more sensitive to subtle colorations. We do not need turquoise and gold lame blouses for embellishment.
I am a blood bay. I would be black, after all I have a black mane and tail, lower legs and tips of ears. But I inherited the Agouti gene that suppressed the black gene from working all over me, so that my body is a lovely red. Simple enough, if a horse can figure out Mendelian genetics, why did it take till 1865 for humans to figure it out?
I have to admit I am a little jealous of the truly black horses, especially the non-fading ones that are resistant to sun bleaching. Imaging the cost savings of not having to buy horse sized bottles of sunscreen or only riding at night.
My chestnut friends come in a rainbow of variation, if rainbows were composed of only red tones. Liver, sorrel and blond from darkest to lightest make matching in a pairs class more challenging.
Grays are especially adept at sleeping on homemade “pillows” creating different green splotches every morning. Once scrubbed off, however, you would be able to discern all the variations of grays including steel, dapple, fleabitten and rose grays.
Buckskins, duns, paints, Cremellos, Rabicanos, I could go on and on. And don’t even get me started on markings! Beyond standard issue star/stripe/snip, there can be very special variations, all with specific terminology. Some of us may appear to be a chestnut, but have black shading that won’t rub off with any amount of brushing or product. These birthmarks, or Ben d’Or Smuts can be present at birth or develop later. At the other extreme, white spots appear like bird droppings. But you can call them a much more sophisticated name, Tetrarch, to be cool. And coolness counts. So when marking your horse show entry color box, take time and choose carefully! All the best, Princess
