The Colour of Horse Hair

 

Most often the horse colour is determined according to the colour of its head, neck, body and the shades of mane, tail and legs. There are no pure colours, except black and white, which are the most elegant.

Most colours are transitional. Bay horses dominate. They are dark brown. If it has more black it is called a dark-bay horse. If it has more brown - it is a light-bay (palomino) horse. If a brown colour is intensive, almost golden, especially mane and tail, such horses are called rufous. Sometimes a horse is faded - it is a muddy horse.

Our grandparents used to sing: “Saddle six horses, all grey”. Grey horses are white ones with various dashes of dark hair. Colts are dark, but when they shed the hair, light one appears

Grown-up grey horses become very nice when they have a silvery shade. When the circles of dark hair appear on them, they are called dapple-grey. When these circles are small, the horse is called spotted.

If a horse is fair at birth it is a grey horse or light grey. If a body is grey at birth, such horse is flea-bitten.

If a horse is dark, his body is ash-coloured, there is a black stripe along the back - as field mice have it is called mousy (dun).

Our grandparents did not like piebald very much, maybe that is why such horses were few. They are mostly with some white areas on their black or brown body. The Latvians liked this kind of a horse and if they met this horse all their wishes came true. In America such horses resemble mustangs. A special dapple breed, called pinto, was created.

Sometimes horses are light bay, their head and body are light beige, and other parts of the body are almost white. Such strange horses are called “isabelians”. According to the legend the Spanish queen Isabel said she would not change her clothes till Moors did not leave Spain. She stood firm for two years.

When a horse is very brown, he is called chestnut.