elementary colour question.

blitznbobs

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i may know about training a horse but as far as colours go im v old school (ie i know b*gg*r all) so if a dark bay horse has 4 white socks is it a bay horse or is it technically something else?

just curious..
 

Meowy Catkin

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You imagine what the horse would look like without white markings. The horse will have a gene that causes the white markings, but if the white is just on the legs and face, it's not a 'coloured/pinto' so you just call it bay/black/chestnut/whatever.
 

DabDab

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No, just a bay. As Faracat says, there is a gene responsible for the white markings, but in terms of classification it is just a bay with four white socks (it is the best colour of horse though - not that I'm biased).
 

Meowy Catkin

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Oh yes, I love a good game of spot the seal brown!

There are lots of good colour games. I do love looking at the ads and finding horses that are incorrectly identified.

I saw a lovely black sabino arab a while back that had hardly any flecks and was also quite old, but he/she was advertised as a grey.
 

Auslander

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Faracat -I'd love to know a bit more about Alfs colouring. To me he's bright bay, but I'm sure you have a far more interesting diagnosis. He has creamy coloured hair up the back of his knees, and on the sides of his black lower leg, very pale creamy hair round his sheath and between his hindlegs, and lighter coloured hair in the last few inches of his mane at the wither end.
 

Meowy Catkin

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You've got a very smart bay sabino there. :) If you look at his white markings, you can see that they have jagged edges and that indicates sabino.

So he is black based, plus agouti (A - turns a black horse into a bay horse) and sabino.

Do you have any photos showing the creamy areas more clearly?
 

Auslander

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You've got a very smart bay sabino there. :) If you look at his white markings, you can see that they have jagged edges and that indicates sabino.

So he is black based, plus agouti (A - turns a black horse into a bay horse) and sabino.

Do you have any photos showing the creamy areas more clearly?

These are probably the clearest of his leg hair (I usually clip his legs out - so no-one knows he's a bit common!)

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And this is a slightly clearer pic of his woolly winter willy!

527961_10151489977655730_777126595_n.jpg
 
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calmgirl

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Mine is identical to Alf with cream on the back of her two front black legs in the winter.

Sorry can't do pics but where does that come from?
 

LeannePip

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ohh i have an interesting one for you all - will try and post some pictures later, she appears bay with four socks and a big blaze, has a huge ammount of white on her tummy and several small blobs on her sides and when her coat changes or shes clipped she has white/roany flecks on her flanks/quaters and grey bits in her mane - when i bought her her tail was prdonamently blonde but has grown out black over the years. shes 5 and a welsh part bred with alot of unknown breeding but mainly cobs and the like whit some welsh off her dads side.

(Have just tried a few links to see if i can accutally get the pics up)



http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/zz35/leanne_mccabe/ScreenShot2012-05-08at100706.png

 

Meowy Catkin

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ohh i have an interesting one for you all - will try and post some pictures later, she appears bay with four socks and a big blaze, has a huge ammount of white on her tummy and several small blobs on her sides and when her coat changes or shes clipped she has white/roany flecks on her flanks/quaters and grey bits in her mane - when i bought her her tail was prdonamently blonde but has grown out black over the years. shes 5 and a welsh part bred with alot of unknown breeding but mainly cobs and the like whit some welsh off her dads side.

(Have just tried a few links to see if i can accutally get the pics up)

th_ScreenShot2012-08-07at193146.png

Like A's horse, this is also a bay sabino. Possibly has splash too.

Splashed White and Sabino are the biggest causes of white markings (you can have both together) and they both can cause 'coloured/pinto' horses. Sabino can cause a teeny tiny star, roaning, 'grey' tails (gulastra plume), white patches and even a totally white horse. Splash can also just cause leg/head markings and 'coloured/pinto' horses.

I have a quick question, I have a nice bright bay (no white markings on legs, small white star), but she is starting to get flecks of white through her coat. I believe this is a gene but I can't remember the name of it! Can anyone else remember?

I assume your horse isn't grey... so it's also a bay sabino from your description. A photo would be nice. :)

PS - to fix photobucket see the link in my siggy.
 
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