Taylor Adams' Young Riders Blog

Hello and welcome to the Young Riders' Blog. I am taking excerpts from my book and publishing them here for all to enjoy. I hope that you will also enjoy my photo albums and the excellent photography of my sister (links are listed to your left). Ride well...and ride safely.

- Taylor Paige Adams

o Blanket- A blanket Appaloosa is a colored horse with white areas over the hips, which may extend over the sides and back. Some blanket Appaloosas have spots inside of their blanket which usually match the base coat.
o Leopard- A Leopard Appaloosa is a white horse with colored spots all over the body.
o Snowflake- A snowflake is the reverse of a Leopard Appaloosa; a Snowflake Appaloosa has a colored coat with white random spots.
o Varnished Roan- Like a Roan, a Varnished Roan has a solid colored body with white flecks throughout the coat. Unlike a roan, the white flecks extend onto the head and there are no spots on areas such as the forehead, knees, hocks, hips, and stifles.

Horse coloration can be very confusing if analyzing the terminology from the single standpoint of color. In reality, “color” often refers to a combination of colors that occur in specific areas on the horse.
Bay- Bay is a dark brown color with a black mane and tail. When a bay does not have a white marking, he will have black points. There are many different shades of bay, ranging from a bright, almost red color to a near black. A Blood Bay is a bright red color with black points, while a Mahogany Bay is a deep brown color that blends into the black points. A dark bay is sometimes called a brown, but unlike a true brown horse, will have a red cast to the coat. Seal Bays are often confused with blacks, but differ in the mealy brown color on their nose, inner hind legs, and occasionally around the eyes.
Chestnut- A chestnut is a copper color with a mane and tail that matches the body. Some chestnuts will have a flaxen (or pale cream) colored mane and tail. Chestnuts come in a variety of shades ranging from a Red Chestnut, which is an intense bright copper, to a Liver Chestnut, which is a dark chocolate brown. Unlike bays, chestnuts do not have black points.
Black- Black is a solid black color with no brown around the belly or nose. Horses with brown around the extremities are known as “Seal Brown” and are actually a shade of bay. A sun bleached black horse can appear bay during the summer, and some develop copper colored highlights in the mane and tail. Some blacks, also known as Jet Black horses, will not fade even when left out in the summer. Black foals are usually born a mousy gray but when they shed out their baby coat, their black coat appears. A horse that is homozygous dominant black will produce black foals when bred with any color mare.
Gray- A gray horse can range from an almost white to a steel gray; they always have black skin, and often have black or dark gray points. Dappled grays have dapples all over the body but the most noticeable ones usually appear on the hindquarters. A Fleabitten gray is a pale gray color with flecks of dark gray or black throughout the coat. They also have black skin and dark markings on the legs and face. Fleabitten grays tend to get lighter over the years. Grays are born bay, chestnut, or dark brown but shed out to gray. With age, their coats will fade and by midlife their coats can appear white. This is not to be confused with an albino, because a light gray horse has brown or blue eyes with black skin, instead of the pink skin and red eyes of an albino horse. A horse that appears white is either a gray, Cremello, or extreme paint gene (an example of this is the lethal white gene, but these horses do not survive).
Palomino- Palominos are a single dilution of the chestnut gene and can range from a pale off-white to a deep golden. Palominos often have a lighter mane and tail and can have dapples. A variation of Palomino is known as Sooty Palomino with blended black hairs producing a “dirty” appearance. Palominos are recognized not only as a color but also as a breed, which was established in 1941 (Palomino Horse Breeders of America). A horse than is Palomino is not automatically eligible for registration; the horse must first meet the requirements for breeding, color, and conformation as well as other requirements before he can apply.
Appaloosa- Like Palominos, Appaloosas are not only a color but also a breed. To register a horse as an Appaloosa he must have spots or mottled pink and black skin with striped hooves or visible sclera. Appaloosas may also have “lightning markings” which look similar to socks or stockings but the white markings do not touch the cornet band.