Colour Prejudice

I did actually type an NB: at the bottom of my post which read 'Baydale need not reply' but then thought that was Prejudicing your Right to Reply!

We all know you like your ponies like you like your winning conkers. Big, shiny, the right shade of brown and 'well 'ard' :)
 
Havign had 2 wonderful coloureds I would definitely have another again - although would have to be tricoloured. I just don't find skewbalds and piebald's as striking, sorry!! A really nice tricoloured horse, with plenty of brown and patches of white symmetrically on either side would be perfect. Oh, wait, I just described my old pony!!!

I have a chestnut gelding now - 2 white socks on the back and a stripe on his face. I always swore I would never have a chestnut. Or a warmblood. And that's exactly what I got (although at least not a mare!!). But I think my prejudice against chestnuts is down to the first pony I had who chucked me off on a daily basis. I have to say my current boy is a realy eyecatcher (if I do say so myself!!).

Ideally I'd stay away from grey - 2 white socks is quite enough scrubbing for me!! - but having said that, if I found the right horse for the job then no colour would put me off.
 
I do love a nice coloured, but only because they stand out and that bit of pony gives them character ;) However, have been to view all sorts of colours, and they don;t really bother me. I'm not keen on black horses, as most of the ones I have met have had a mean streak, except one who i worked with who I adored, so it really is just luck of the draw I guess ;)
 
Have no real preference over colour as long as the horse does the job and scrubs up well, a bit of "look at me" is more important to me than the colour. Obviously anything grey or with plenty of white takes a lot of scrubbing to get it gleaming but if the horse was brilliant at it's job i wouldnt mind the effort! Would be less likely to buy a black horse than a chestnut horse especially if it had no white on it - old wives tale, needing a fleck of white to let the devil out and all that! :D I'm a sucker for a good bay, have always had bays apart from Hatts! If i had the choice between a good gelding or and good mare however, i'd go for the gelding probably every time, experience tells me they are less hassle! But I currently own a great chestnut mare so I think I'd happily have anything in reason - have also owned a spotty which was quite fun too! and even though I hate cremellos, if i was offered a ride on a great one i wouldnt say no! So that was a very round about way of saying....i couldnt give a damn about colour as long as they love their job and are smart and well put together with a bit of sparkle and a good temperament! :D (dont want much!)
 
Personally, I prefer dark colours with minimal white markings, mainly because they are easier to keep clean! I do like greys, but I have not had much luck with them in the past, so I would avoid them. I don't really like coloureds, partly because they are 'the in thing' and I have heard that some sellers ask more money for coloured horses, and I refuse to pay mone money for a horse just because of it's colour. That said, if a horse was everything I wanted, temprement and ability wise and I could afford it, it would not matter what colour it was. The only thing I would not consider atall would be cremellos or anything with lots of pink skin, whatever I have has to live out and this would be a problem for this type of horse in the summer.

What I do find odd are these folks who are trying to breed coloured race horses. Surely, the least important thing about a race horse is it's colour. :confused:
 
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I think your perception of colours being bad depends on what horses have been good and bad for you!! I keep looking at the Doncaster Sales catalogues (I am sad, I actually order them by colour when I look!) and trying to find a nice grey TB... :( A friend of mine had an intermediate coloured event cob that was really smart on the flat and of the 2 judges at his first 3-day, one had him second after dressage and one had him 27th... I think the word used was 'racist'!!!
 
I really wouldn't have another grey - mine is so dirty, and I seem to spend all my time scrubbing; her hind legs and belly tend to get a bit neglected in the winter as she is so sensitive and will lash out when you try and brush her!
BUT she is universally admired and does well in the show ring, which I think is partly due to the fact that she stands out.
I had a chestnut mare that lived up to the description, but I adored her, she was so beautiful and looked immaculate without much effort.
When I used to hunt my friend's black cob, it was quite time consuming to keep him shiny and not scurfy or dusty looking, but he did enjoy a rub over with a hot cloth :)
I'd love a dun/buckskin or another chestnut.
 
I am not certain about different colours being judged differently. Markings & 'attractiveness' make more of a difference.

I am another who tends to avoid greys when I am horse hunting. Purely on the cleanliness front. I do like my horses to look clean & tidy even out hacking & all that washing would do my head in. I have owned various coloured horses who can be just as bad but I tend to look for black tails & coloured hocks! I have owned 1 grey horse but only from aged 3-6 years & sold him on once he started to go whiter:D

I am quite fond of nice dark liver chestnuts but have never owned one myself. Buying horses is testing enough without getting too fussy with the colours. I am not so keen on light/wish washy chestnuts but my Pony Club horse who I competed for years & got me going was exactly that although his lovely flaxen mane & tail was a saving grace!
 
icestationzebra said:
I did actually type an NB: at the bottom of my post which read 'Baydale need not reply' but then thought that was Prejudicing your Right to Reply!

We all know you like your ponies like you like your winning conkers. Big, shiny, the right shade of brown and 'well 'ard' :)
Click to expand...

I would have reported you to Admin if you'd dared do that. :D

I still think Jemima has Team Baydale written all over her, so if you'd like to deliver her I shall hand over the £14.50 I have in my purse and as much of Ma Baydale's coffee cake as you can stomach, by way of a fair exchange. ;)
 
The biggest problem with coloured horse is not that they are dirty, but that they stand out. Especially if the happen to be 17hh and built like a tank. You get spotted everywhere, especially if you happen to be somewhere you shouldn't!! :o ;)
 
I love the colour of my horse - really weird bay, he is dark bay on his neck and bright bay on his bum, with dapples over his back...! THere is nothing more striking than a healthy shiney bay horse with white socks - beautiful! :D

I love greys, but they have to be striking imo, my old pony was a dapple grey and luckily he was sold before he became pure white :p

I LOVE dun horses - think they are very striking.

Chestnuts meh not a huge fan of, but if it did the job then no worries! It would also clash with my bright red thermatex, red xc colours, red nummnah etc. :p

I also hate cremellos - think they are very ugly!

But tbh, as long as the head is nice (as this is what you see over the stable door!) i dont mind what colour really!
 
Iv had amazing grey horses so I'm always drawn to a beautiful grey. They just stand out like mythical creatures to me!! It's weird sometimes having a horse that's another colour (chestnut) and seeing orange ears in front of me instead of White ones!! However it's very nice not having to worry about dirt!!! The chestnut fella looks gorgeous in a sunset. He is my firefly pony!!

I wouldn't choose a horse because of it's colour but no matter what colour it would have to be quality and have presence :)
 
I am the most biased person ever against colour!

I will not have a black horse. I am not a coloured horse fan as I think they have limitations and I loathe the practice of breeding **** for colour which is happening far too much now. I have never seen one I want to take home.

I will not have anything with too much white on the legs as I hate the flashy look. Especially if its on the front legs. Hinds I can cope with!

I hate cleaning horses so greys are out which leaves me with Chestnut, Brown or Bay which I am pretty happy with! Luckily they are the majority rather than the minority.
 
lec - i'm with you i hate cleaning grey, or coloured!!! so there not for me to own, BUT very happy to ride and compete any colour, but please i'm going to not doing the cleaning!!! been there and got t-shirt shop!!!
Do have secret, i would love iron dapple grey youngster BEYH type, BUT i'll hate the cleaning!!! so i willn't!
 
Im with LEC in the fact the a large number of coloured horses are bred for there colour rather than any suitability to do the job! so i steer clear of them as well as the fact that i do not find them attractive! Bay, chesnut, black, dun and grey are the "naturally" occuring horse colours so i would stick with them!
 
LEC frankie is crying himself to sleep tonight :-( lol.

Personally I like coloured horses(pretty obvious) however I wouldnt just buy them for their colour, all of my coloured horses I would have bought had they been plain. I think they stand out more all though i know they arent everyones cup of ten! They are also a pain to keep clean!!

I personally wouldnt have another grey or black horse but thats due to bad personal experiences.

I would however love a Dun and secretly hope the next foal I breed doesnt take on their mothers colour so I have less washing to do!
 
For some unknow reason I've always had mainly 'dark' colours. They are either black or dark bay/brown. I have come to the conclusion that its a colour that suits me! I have had 1 piebald - badly marked and she was ugly, a cow cross goat look-a-like?!! I also adore my old dun mare - never get a bad dun.
I think bays 'are boring' (they arn't really! - just a common colour)
Chestnuts don't suit me, but I love the really red ones.
Wouldn't chose a grey and would never get a cremello or albino or a few spot or anything with lots of pink skin!
I now would always chose a mare though - I love them and get on with them better than the boys!
 
A friend of mine had an intermediate coloured event cob that was really smart on the flat and of the 2 judges at his first 3-day, one had him second after dressage and one had him 27th... I think the word used was 'racist'!!![/QUOTE]

Racist! Love it :) I wonder if it was a coloured thing or a cob thing, but the fact he was at an Intermediate 3 day probably just meant said judge was jealous!!
 
I have had a chestnut mare, bay mare, black gelding and a dark brown gelding. Chestnut mare was stroppy but then so was the bay mare, still both great though. I would not be put off by any colour. Having said that, grey would put me off, not because i don't like them, i do a lot, but the cleaning asoect would put me off :D
 
I don't think colour would influence my buying decisions one way or the other.
My friend does have a very sensitive chestnut mare, quite difficult riddden on the ground, a child could handle her and I think this comes more from her being a TB and a mare than her colour.
 
I've always had horses with unusual colours that stand out, not intentionally really, I would never pick a horse for its colour. Its temperament, personality and paces are the main things I choose a horse on.

My Akhal Teke in his summer coat is a metallic golden dun, always used to get people's attention at shows. He is not a typical dressage colour (or breed!) yet he did well at dressage with great comments from the judges. We have an unusual lemon and white mini Shetland. My dressage horse is an eye catching grey amongst a field of dark bays and blacks and always gets noticed! He has got 70% in prelim and novice BD and 8s for paces, so I've never felt judges are biased towards darker horses. And as I don't clean him myself I'm not too worried! I think dapple greys and dark iron greys look stunning in the ring, especially in dressage where they have overbred dark/black horses.
 
I'm never fussed, had the lot colour wise including a silver dun. He was gorgeous, with a dark silver grey mane and tail and steely grey legs and a silvery grey coat.

As for cremellos, we had a cremello pony one summer. He always looked dirty, was as ugly as sin with wishy washy blue eyes and a long thin mane and tail that even when pulled looked awful. He had to have a foal-sized headcollar, but he had ears bigger than the 16.2hh eventer on the yard. However, he won everything with my little sister and was absolutely one of the nicest ponies she ever rode. He was also very very vain and obvs thought he was the best looking pony around...
 
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