Fashions for Different Coat Colours Through History Article

[Chinchilla]

https://thehorse.com/110380/study-s...idkjBtcuGJxEqAyGg71289wVgEBPInG-VomH2meSKzVVc

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Fascinating. When we were first got involved in spotties the general concept was that they were 'circus' horses and were frowned on. My sister was watching a pony showing class one day and overheard someone talking about a pony having spots. The comment from the other person was 'is it very badly spotted?' The British Appaloosa Society worked very hard to get spotted horse s more generally accepted.

 

[jkitten]

This kind of thing is why I love the internet! The random (fascinating!) things you learn...

 

[Kat]

Interesting article, it changes quite quickly these days. When I was a teenager coloured horses weren't very commonly seen and were considered "only for gypsies". We only had one in a fairly large riding school.

It was Palominos that were considered the thing to have, but cremellos were considered a mistake.

 

[Orangehorse]

Coloured ponies - gosh yes, only gypsy ponies. I had a neighbour whose old hunter had been retired but he refused to be seen riding his daughter's coloured cob.

 

[rextherobber]

Thank you for sharing - most interesting!

 

[Frumpoon]

In the early-mid 90's a dapple grey was the thing to have

 

[holeymoley]

Certainly in the years that I’ve owned my guy (16years) there were very few coloured horses at all in things such as riding club shows and district shows. You’d probably be lucky to have around 3 in the local classes and maybe 4 or 5 in district show classes. Now a days everyone and their granny has a coloured or so it seems!

 

[Meredith]

I began riding in the late ’50’s. At the riding school there were about 25 ponies and horses. There was a grey, a piebald, a cremello and a palomino. All the others were shades of black, brown, bay and chestnut. Everyone was jealous of the woman who owned the palomino. I couldn’t see the point. It was an amazing colour and very beautiful but had a very nasty stop when showjumping!

 

[ycbm]

I'll tell Ludo, he'll be thrilled

 

[Cortez]

I don't think much of the study (very loose and limited sources), but it is certainly true that the spotted horse is one of the original phenotypes, seen in cave paintings from many thousands of years ago. Leg bars and dorsal stripes are also from ancient origins. I do love a spotty, me

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Back in the 70's a friend of mine had a spotted cob. She was told that spotties were no good for meat as the spots went all the way through to the bone Goodness knows where that bit of nonsense came from.

 

[Pippity]

I like the concept of spotties but, for some reason, the mottled sclera creeps me out and I've got absolutely no idea why!

Personally, I'm with the middle ages folk - given the choice, I'll have a lovely bright chestnut.

 

[Chinchilla]

They are a marmite colour it seems.
I didn't have any opinion on them until I got Diva. But I think they're great now. Obviously.)

 

[Sleipnir]

I'm from Latvia, where historically the tarpan and/or Przewalski's horse was the breed to go - including their primitive coloured coats, among which there are said to have been spotted individuals, but mostly "consistently brown, cream-colored or mouse-colored". In the Medieval times, when the Christians/Germans started invading our territories, they brought with them their much larger, specifically bred horses, who were mostly black, bay or gray. Interestingly enough, in sources of folklore we can find that the Medieval Latvians held bay horses in utmost value - they were used to "ride to the city or drive to the church", while the gray ones were used for farming, as their colour resembled the primitive horses too much. The black ones, on the other hand, were associated with evil and the disliked German overlords, so the very specific name for a black horse in our language eventually evolved to mean just "stupid" and "evil".

 

[SEL]

I like the concept of spotties but, for some reason, the mottled sclera creeps me out and I've got absolutely no idea why!

It's a very human look! Mine can raise her eyebrows and pull all kind of "dissatisfied with her slave" looks ?