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COLOURS & MARKINGS

COLOURS

ALBINO: A pure white coat, genetically a result of a mutation. (As with mice and other species, equine albinos have blue or pink eyes.)
APPALOOSA: Characterized by a large light-colored patch (or blanket) on the hindquarters on which are darker markings. A leopard appaloosa is light gray with dots of one or two darker colors all over the body-something of an equine Dalmatian.
BAY: A brown coat with black mane and tail.
BLACK: A solid black coat with or without white markings.
BROWN: A coat that is darker than chestnut. (If there is any doubts in distinguishing color, as between, for example, chestnut and brown or brown and black, the color of hairs on the horse's muzzle controls.)
BUCKSKIN: A tan to light-brown coat with a black stripe along the spine.
CHESTNUT: A reddish-brown coat with mane and tail of the same color. A flaxen chestnut has a lighter mane and tail.
DUN: A tan to light-brown coat; buckskin without the dorsal stripe.
GRAY: A mixture of black and white hairs. A dapple gray has mottled markings of a darker shade.
PALOMINO: A coat of yellow with a white mane and tail over a black skin. The most prized palominos, such as Roy Rogers' Trigger, approximate the color of a, newly minted gold coin.
PINTO: (or paint) A coat with patches of white and another color. Piebald describes a black-and-white combination; skewbald is brown and white. Another distinction is overo (a darker coat with white patches), as opposed to tobiano (white with colored patches) .
ROAN: A coat composed of white and colored (any but black) hairs. Strawberry roan is a combination of chestnut and white; blue roan is dark gray and white; and bay roan is dark brown and white.
SORREL: A Western term for chestnut.
WHITE: Properly, the word is "albino." It is also something of a shorthand word for light gray, as in describing a piebald as a horse with a black-and white-patched coat.

MARKINGS

This denotes certain white patterns, most often on blacks, browns, bays, and chestnuts.
BALD: A facial patch covering one or both eyes.
BLAZE: A marking starting on the forehead and extending down the muzzle.
GIRTH MARK: A spot behind the foreleg.
SADDLE MARK: A spot behind the withers. snip An isolated spot near the nostril.
SOCK: A marking from hoof to fetlock.