Coat colours!
Here at Redwings we have over 1,500 horses and ponies in our care and if there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that they’re all different! Here’s an introduction to the wonderful world of horsey colours for you to keep. You could even cut them out and test your friends!
As if piebald and skewbald weren’t enough to remember, some horses can have both brown and black patches as Skewbald Piebald well as white on their bodies, and these are known as tri-coloured!
Rumpel is a lovely example of a A horse with black and white patches skewbald where brown patches are is called a piebald. Both piebalds and mixed with white. The pattern on skewbalds can have manes and tails each horse is totally unique, just like a that are either white or coloured, or a human fingerprint! mixture!
Gulliver is a fine example of a bay horse. Bay horses have a brown body and a Zippy is a beautiful chestnut. Chestnut There are few true black horses, most black mane, tail and legs! Some horses horses are the same colour all over are very dark brown. One way of have a really dark brown body and their bodies - and can be a pale brown determining whether they are black or these are known as dark bay. Bay is the or a dark ginger. They also often have a not is if they have a black muzzle. most common colour for a horse. lighter coloured mane and tail.
More variations… Finally, there are some horses that are classified as brown rather than bay as they don’t have any black points and their manes and tails are the same colour as their bodies. Cremello horses are a very pale golden colour to almost white with a pink muzzle and blue eyes – the closest to an albino (an animal with no pigment in its skin at all). There is a variation on the normal chestnut colouring, ‘liver chestnuts’ have a very brown-coloured coat (rather than ginger) and a paler mane. Dun Appaloosa Palomino
Palomino horses have a white Dun horses have cream or golden Horses can be spotted or patterned mane and tail, and often have white bodies, and like Elvis have black manes in a variety of ways. Cookie is a good markings on their legs. Their bodies and tails. Often they will also have a example! The term ‘Appaloosa’ can are golden, which can vary from very black line running down their backs, refer to both being spotty in colour and pale to a rich gold. Tinkerbell is a very known as a ‘dorsal stripe’. a particular breed of horse. pretty palomino!
Although Dylan looks almost white, grey horses can be any shade from white to a very dark ‘iron’ grey. In Roan Grey fact, you can often tell the age of a grey pony just by its colour. They are born black, and their colour will fade as they get older. Gemstone, pictured here is an example of a ‘dapple grey’.
Roan horses and ponies can be very varied. Their body will be coloured but with white hairs all over the coat so the colour appears faded. The type of roan depends on the colour of coat Horses that appear white are actually underneath the white hairs! You may known as ‘grey’ like Dylan here, hear other terms such as ‘blue roan’ and because underneath their hair the ‘strawberry roan’. pigment of their skin is grey.
Did you know that a horse’s colour can change as they grow up? Foals can be born much darker than they eventually end up as you can see with Wisteria below who was born very dark brown and is now a pale dapple grey! She will carry on getting lighter as she gets older. Now you have read about the different colours of horses you can put your new pony palette knowledge to the test! In the Summer 2016 issue of Young Redwings magazine we set you a ‘coat colour challenge’ to see how well you have grasped this sometimes puzzling topic! If you missed the last issue you can download this quiz on the ‘learn’ section of our website www.youngredwings.co.uk.