Coat Directory

Search for the perfect coat by color base, genetics or other miscellaneous factors!

BASE COLOURS
The 3 base horse colours are black, bay and chestnut. Horses may express various tones of those base colors, and some colors are affected in more dramatic ways by other genetics. For some, that occurs gradually over time (gray, roan) and others express less common coloration from birth or as they mature (dilutions). The presence of many unique genetical markings that a horse can express makes for a huge variety of potential combinations that can occur on top of a base coat.

Black

Obsidian - Black

Bay (Brown)

Marshall - Dark Bay
Charlotte - Blood Bay
Spirit - Buckskin
Rain - Bay Tobiano

Chestnut (Red)

Zippy - Chestnut
Blazie - Chestnut Roan
Star - Palomino

Other / Unknown

Ghost - Gray
Hickory - Dapple Gray
No Buckle - Rose Gray Splash

DILUTIONS
Dilution genes add a layer of genes that quite literally dilute the base coat, and occasionally they eyes or skin too.

Champagne

Cream

SINGLE DILUTES:
Spirit - Buckskin
Star - Palomino

Dun

Silver

WHITE MARKINGS

Dominant White

Frame Overo

Leopard Complex

Roan

Blazie - Chestnut Roan

Sabino

Splashed White

No Buckle - Rose Gray Splash

Tobiano

Rain - Bay Tobiano

Rabicano

NOTE:

Pinto may be used to describe horses expressing the above markings (excluding Roan/Rabicano/Leopard complex)

Certain combinations of Pinto markings often have own terms:
- Tobiano + Overo = Tovero
- Any pinto markings + Appaloosa = Pintaloosa

Horses with white markings may often be referred to as Paint, however Paint horses are a breed that heavily feature Pinto markings, the term is not specific to the markings or genetics themselves.

In the UK, horses are commonly referred to as Piebald (Black & White) or Skewbald (Brown & White) when describing Pinto markings.

NOTES

- A way to link tags to here, or link to the tags for the coats channel?

- Drop down for popular specific colours, like dapple gray, fleabitten, birdcatcher

Dapple gray - Hickory