Day 9 activities for slt champ camp

Horses come in a rainbow of colors, ranging from common to relatively rare. There are actual colors, like bay, or black, or chestnut, and then there's patterns, like overo, sabino, or grey (yes, grey is technically not a color, but a pattern of white hairs). The color genes pair with the pattern genes to give us the distinctive looks that horse-crazy people love.


Start your camp day with the SLT Champ Camp video overview of equine colors!


Equine Colors

  • Bay - a horse with a reddish-brown body plus black points, mane and tail. The body color can range from dark red to washed out yellow, with anything in between.

  • Bay Roan - a bay horse that has white hairs dispersed through the coat, but not on the points. This color exists from birth, when they shed the foal coat, instead of progressing over time, like a grey coat.

  • Black - a horse with a solid black body, mane and tail. The horse will be uniformly black, though this color can sun bleach, making identifying color in the summer months potentially difficult.

  • Blue Roan - a black horse that has white hairs dispersed through the coat, but not on the points. This color exists from birth, when they shed the foal coat, instead of progressing over time, like a grey coat.

  • Brown - a horse with a brown or black body, with lighter shading around the muzzle, eyes, flank and girth area. In some registries, brown is considered to be a shade of bay.

  • Buckskin - a dilute version of bay base color, the body color can range from cream to yellow or nearly orange with black points, mane and tail.

  • Champagne - this is a dilution that can work on red or black based horses. On red horses, the dilution turns the horse golden, on black horses it turns them brown. Any champagne dilute horses will have lighter skin with no black in it, and amber to brown colored eyes.

  • Chestnut - the redhead of the horse world, chestnuts can range from light yellow to dark liver, with the most common being a red chestnut. Their mane and tail can match the body or can even be lighter - flaxen - or darker - chocolate. Their legs match their body color.

  • Cremello - a double dilution of chestnut, this color is so light it nearly appears white. In reality it is closer to ivory, with a matching mane and tail, pink skin and blue eyes.

  • Dapple Grey - a pattern caused by individual white hair, dapple greys are the dark mottled coats that greys have while they're young, before they fade with age.

  • Dun - similar to buckskin, these horses are a dilute version of bay, with bodies that are more tan, but they have primitive markings in addition to dark points.

  • Fleabitten Grey - a pattern where the grey coat retails small flecks of color, usually red or black, when the horse's coat fades over time.

  • Grulla - a dun dilution of a black or brown horse, where the dilution results in a slate-grey or mousy color. They will have darker shaded heads and black points.

  • Liver - a rare darker variation of chestnut, with a liver or chocoloate colored body, mane, tail and legs.

  • Overo - a pattern of pinto, with any solid base color plus irregular white patches that are jagged and don't cross the back or go down the legs.

  • Palomino - a cream dilution of chestnut, these horses have a golden body with lighter mane and tail. The Barbie of the horse world!

  • Perlino - a double dilution of bay, these horses look like cremellos, but they retail small bits of color in their mane, tail, and lower legs.

  • Pinto - a horse whose coat is characterized by irregular and asymmetric patterns of white spotting. These spots can be on any background of base coat color.

  • Red Roan - a chestnut horse that has white hairs dispersed through the coat, but not on the points. This color exists from birth, when they shed the foal coat, instead of progressing over time, like a grey coat.

  • Rose Grey - a grey with a pinkish hue which makes them appear rosy. It's usually a phase in the progression of grey.

  • Sabino - a pattern that causes extensive white hairs and can also cause body spots. Horses appear roaned in patches or speckled, and sometimes have white hairs in the mane and tail. They can also have high white leg markings, white chins, or belly spots.

  • Spotted - most famously associated with Appaloosas or POAs, the leopard spotted pattern produces patterns of dark and white spots across entire bodies, or as localized blankets. These horses also typically have white sclera around the eyes, mottled skin on the face and striped hooves.

  • Tobiano - a pattern of pinto, with any solid base color plus oval or rounded white patches that cross the back and usually white legs from the hock and knees down.

  • Tovero - a pattern of pinto that is a cross between overo and tobiano, with characteristics of each. They have rounded markings on the body, with irregular facial markings, and can have a "medicine hat".


Activity: Equine Colors Word Search

Can you find all of the different colors and color patterns?

PLAY NOW!

Activity: Horse coloring!

Bonus! Grab your crayons or markers to color in all of the horses.

Color Now!


BONUS ACTIVITIES

Enjoy a detailed guide to horse colors from Practical Horseman: Understand Now

Learn more about the history of horse colors from Equus Magazine: Learn Now

Go inside the color champagne with AQHA: Learn Now

A horse of many colors! Learn more about the different coloring Akhal-Tekes from the Akhal-Teke Association of America: Discover Now

Look at all the different pinto coat colors from American Pinto Horse Association: Check it out Now

Learn more about roan coloring from AQHA: Learn Now

Understand how genetics impacts coat color from University of Kentucky: Understand Now

Appaloosa coloring from Appaloosa Horse Club: Learn Now

Plus spend some time curled up with a great horse book! Check out our reading list ideas here

Have you visited our Kids Corner yet? Check out additional fun activities here

  • Published:
  • Updated: 7/23/2020: 10:53:00 AM ET
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