Coat colours of horses
Foxes are a dime a dozen, as they say in the equestrian world. The light brown horses with the same coloured coat are indeed often seen on the pastures and in the stables of Germany. However, not all sorrels are the same. A distinction can be made between the horse coat colours light chestnut, dark chestnut, copper chestnut, red chestnut, cabbage chestnut and sweat chestnut.
When talking about a brown horse, not the whole horse is brown, but only the coat colour, whereas mane and tail are black. If the horse is brown, the legs are black up to above the carpal and hock joints, and the black colouring also predominates in the face. Brown horses are also relatively common. A dark bay has a darker brown coat colour with a cape of the same colour.
The terms black and grey are not only known among horse lovers. Laymen often use these terms incorrectly, they speak of a "black black horse" or a "white grey horse", whereby horse people often have to smile a little because of this duplication. A black horse has a black coat as well as a black longhair. However, in addition to the year-round black horses, there are also horses that have a reddish or brownish coat in winter, the so-called summer black horses. Winter black horses are only black in winter and change to a reddish, brownish or greyish coat in summer. Black horses are not only popular in the equestrian world but also in the world of advertising, because they express dynamism and power to such an extent that, for example, car advertisements like to have a black horse gallop alongside the off-road vehicle to be purchased. In addition, the series stars Fury and Black Beauty were black horses.
The grey horse is also a popular advertising model, usually in connection with a fairytale magic world. Grey horses can have all kinds of colours as foals before they become whiter and whiter over time, i.e. they become mouldy. This is caused by the Grey gene, a mutation of the STX17 gene. This Grey mutation also causes an increased susceptibility to melanoma, a tumour-like growth that is usually benign in grey horses. The melanomas that can only affect mould are also called mould melanomas. Some horse lovers avoid grey horses because of these lumps, but also because dirt on them is more noticeable and their coat quickly turns yellowish, especially if they have been lying in manure.
Furthermore, the grey horse may have special patterns, such as outlined circles on a rather light coat. Such a patterned horse is called an apple grey. If the white coat has innumerable small black spots, it is called a fly grey. The trout mould is similar to the fly mould, but the small spots are brown or reddish. Often normal moulds turn into fly moulds or trout moulds when they get older. It is not clear why this phenomenon exists. In Spanish horses, such as the Andalusian or the Lipizzaner, horses of this colour predominate, and the French Camargue horses have exclusively the white coat colour.
Pinto horses were a speciality a decade ago, now almost every boarding stable herd contains one or more pinto horses. If the pinto horse combines black and white patches, it is called a black pinto. However, piebalds are possible in all basic colours, such as chestnut piebalds and brown piebalds. Pied is a disorder in which certain areas of the horse's skin are not stimulated to form colour and then form white hairs. It cannot be controlled, but occurs randomly.
The dun horse is caused by a dominant gene called Dun factor. This lightens the coat of the horse. A black horse becomes a black dun, or a grey dun, a bay becomes a brown dun and a chestnut becomes a red dun. If a black and bay horse is involved, the mouse dun is produced. dun horses have an eel line, the head is usually darker, as are the legs.
