Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings, and a specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them. Often, one will refer to a horse in the field by its coat color rather than by breed or by sex. The genetics of the coat colors has largely been resolved, although discussion continues about some of the details. horse, see Horse (disambiguation). ... There are currently two theories of equine coat color genetics: Dr. Ann Bowlings and Dr. Phillip Sponenbergs. ...

Coat colors

• Leopard or Appaloosa - There are a group of coat patterns caused by the leopard gene. There are several distinct leopard patterns:
  • blanket: white over the hip that may extend from the tail to the base of the neck. The spots inside the blanket (if present) are the same color as the horse's base coat.
  • varnish roan: a mix of body and white hairs that extends over the entire body--no relation to true roan
  • snowflake: white spots on a dark body. Typically the white spots increase in number and size as the horse ages.
  • leopard: dark spots of varying sizes over a white body.
  • few spot leopard: a nearly white horse from birth that retains colour just above the hooves, the knees, 'armpits', mane and tail, wind pipe, and face
  • frost: similar to varnish but the white hairs are limited to the back, loins, and neck.

Many horses develop a more extensive coloration than they were born with over the course of several years. It is not unusual for markings to change over time and with the seasons. It should be noted that not every horse with the leopard gene will exhibit spotting. However, even solid individuals will exhibit 'characteristics' such as vertically striped hooves, mottles skin around the eyes, lips, and genetalia, and visible scelera of the eye. Several breeds of horse can boast leopard (a term used collectively for all patterns) individuals including the Knabstrup, Noriker, and most famously the Appaloosa. Binomial name Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) Leopards (Panthera pardus) are one of the four big cats of the genus Panthera. ... The Appaloosa is a horse breed, one of the color breeds, in which the breed has one of several distinct patterns of spots. ... Spotted horses have been known and highly prized. ... The Appaloosa is a horse breed, one of the color breeds, in which the breed has one of several distinct patterns of spots. ...

• Bay- From light brown to very dark brown with black points and intermingling red or blue hairs in some cases. (Points refer to the main, tail, muzzle, lower legs, and tips of the ears). Four types - Dark bay (mixed blue hair), blood bay (mixed red hair), light bay and just bay.
• Black- There are two types of black, fading black and jet black. Ordinary black horses will fade to a rusty brownish color if the horse is exposed to sunlight on a regular basis, this though would be considered brown as soon as any black coat gets any brown. Jet black is a blue-black shade that is fadeproof. Black foals are usually born a mousy grey color. As their foal coat begins to shed out, their black color will show through, but jet black foals are born jet black. Usually for a horse to be considered black it must be completely black with no brown at all, only white markings.
• Brindle - One of the rarest colors of horse. Characterisics are any color with "zebra-like" stripes.
• Brown - A bay without any black points.
• Buckskin- A bay horse with a gene that 'dilutes' the coat colour to a yellow, cream, or gold while keeping the black points (mane, tail, muzzle, ears, legs).
• Chestnut- A reddish body color with little or no black. There are many different variations of chestnut.

Liver chestnut: dark red coat with black hairs in the mane and tail. Blond chestnut: lighter orange coat with pale mane and tail. Taffy chestnut: light brown-cream coat with flaxen mane and tail. (also as sorrel) Bay is a color of the hair coats of horses, characterized by a body color of dark red (known as blood bay) to deep brown, with black points (mane, tail, lower legs, and sometimes the muzzle and tip of the ears). ... Buckskin is a color of horses; it also refers to other things that are the color of a buckskin horse, such as the color of some breeds of dogs. ... Chestnuts. ...

• Cremello - A chestnut horse with two dilute genes that washes out almost all colour. Often called pseudo albinos, they have blue eyes. There are no true albino horses.
• Dapple gray: a gray colored horse with lighter gray spots, or dapples, scattered throughout.
• Dun - Yellowish brown with a dorsal stripe along the back and occasionally zebra stripings on the legs.
• Fleabitten gray - refers to usually red hairs flecked in the coat of a gray horse.
• Gray - A horse with black skin and clear hairs. Gray horses can be born any color, and eventually most will turn gray or white with age. If you would define the horse as white it is still grey unless it is albino. Some gray horses that are very light must wear sunscreen.
• Grulla- A black horse with a dun gene. It is often a grayish/silver colored horse with dark dun factors
• Pinto - a multi-colored horse with large patches of brown, white, and/or black and white. Piebald is black and white, while Skewbald is white and brown. Specific patterns such as tobiano, overo, and tovero refer to the orientation of white on the body.
• Paint - In 1962, the American Paint Horse Association began to recognize pinto horses with known Quarter Horse and/or Thoroughbred bloodlines as a separate breed. Today, Paint horses are the world's fifth most popular breed.
• Palomino-chestnut horse that has one cream dilute gene that turns the horse to a golden, yellow, or tan shade with a flaxen (white) mane and tail. Often cited as being a color "within three shades of a newly minted coin", palominos actually come in all shades from extremely light, to deep chocolate. Normally referred to as "blonde" horses.
• Perlino - Exactly like a cremello but a bay horse with two dilute genes.
• Roan - a color pattern that causes white hairs to be sprinkled over the horse's body color. Red roans are chesnut and white hairs, blue roans are black/bay with white hairs. Roan can happen on any body color; for example, there are palomino roans and dun roans. Roans are distinguishable from greys because roans typically do not change colour in their lifetimes, unlike gray that gradually gets lighter as a horse ages. Roans also have solid colored heads that do not lighten.
• Rose gray: a gray horse with a pinkish tinge to its coat. This color occurs while the horse is "graying out."
• Splash - a genetically controlled horse coat variation.
• Tobiano - a genetic trait among horses which produces a characteristic white pattern in the coat.
• White - Any non-albino white horse is called a gray, even though they appear white. All white, may be the result of overlapping pinto, appaloosa, or sabino markings. Rarely there are true white horses born and are documented to have a dominant white gene (see Gray (horse) for a discussion of these). These horses have normal eye colour, and they stay white for life.

Cremello is a color of horse consisting of a cream-colored body with a cream mane and tail. ... A dapple gray that has recently begun to gray out. ... Dun is a yellow-brown color, sometimes seen in the hair coats of horses, characterized by a body color ranging from sandy yellow to reddish-brown. ... Fleabitten gray. ... Gray is a coat color of horses, consisting of black skin, a white to dark gray coat, and a mane the same color or darker than the body coat. ... Grullo is a color of horses, characterized by smoky or mouse colored hairs on the body, often with shoulder and dorsal stripes and black barring on the lower legs. ... Pinto can refer to: Automobile: The Ford Pinto. ... A piebald horse A piebald horse is a horse with large white and black patches. ... The Skewbald horse has a coat made up of brown and grey patches, on top of either pink or black skin. ... The American Paint Horse is an American breed of horse which is a specific type of stock-horse. ... Palomino is a coat color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white or flaxen mane and tail. ... // The Colors it Produces The creme gene is a gene expressed in horses, producing many common, and not so common, colors. ... Roan is a type of coat color in horses (and, occasionally, in other animals, such as dogs or cattle) that is a mixture of white hairs with a base coat of another color. ... Rose gray: note the pinkish tinge on the hindquarters. ... There are currently two theories of equine coat color genetics: Dr. Ann Bowlings and Dr. Phillip Sponenbergs. ... Tobiano is a genetic trait among horses which produces a characteristic white pattern in the coat. ... Gray is a coat color of horses, consisting of black skin, a white to dark gray coat, and a mane the same color or darker than the body coat. ... Gray is a coat color of horses, consisting of black skin, a white to dark gray coat, and a mane the same color or darker than the body coat. ...

Markings

On the face:

• Star (a white patch between the eyes)
• Snip (a white patch on the muzzle)
• Stripe (narrow white stripe down the middle of the face)
• Interrupted Stripe (a narrow white stripe down the middle of the face that is interrupted and not continuous)
• Blaze (broad white stripe down the middle of the face)
• White Face (sometimes called Bald Face)
• Glass Eye (blue eye, having a glassy look to it, also called China Eye)
• Mascara (the effect of a horse in contact with the Santa Cruz Tarweed or other sticky plant, which comes in contact with soil and creates a temporary mascara)

On the legs: Mascara tube and wand applicator Mascara is a cosmetic used to darken, thicken and define eyelashes. ... The Santa Cruz Tarweed is an endangered plant endemic to certain coastal terraces in Northern California. ...

• Ermine marks (black marks on the white just above the hoof)
• Sock (white marking that does not extend as high as the knee or hock but is taller than a pastern)
• Stocking (white marking that extends as high as the knee or hock)
• Pastern (white marking that extends only a few inches above the top of the hoof)

Elsewhere: In Greek mythology, Carpus fruit was a son of Chloris and Boreas. ... The hock is the tarsal joint of a digitigrade quadruped, such as a horse or dog. ...

• Whorls, coloquially known as "cow licks" - are divergent or convergent patches of hair found anywhere on the body but mostly on the head, neck and just in front of the stifles.