What color would you classify my horse as?

Question

She is mostly black with a few white hairs throughout her whole coat. In certain seasons she has a brownish color on her muzzle and flank. Would you classify her as a black, black bay, blue roan, or grey?

She's 2 1/2 years old. I'm not sure what to call her because she doesn't have an equal amount of black and white hairs. It's probably 10 black to 1 white. Her mane and tail are both black, with a some silver hairs in them. Her tail has quite a few silver hairs. Her muzzle and flank are a very dark brown, almost black, but it mostly shows when she's shedding or growing her winter coat.

Okay, so some more details. She's a half-arabian. I don't know he other half. She has black eyelashes. And her brown I'm thinking is just sunwashed, because Usually in the summer, she has a dark brown uniformly all over her body. The brown just shows up more in her muzzle. It's nothing like seal brown horses, but the brown is just a light dis-coloration, I think.

Answer 1

I wanted to correct a post above that said that a horse is not black if it has any other color involved. I have a pure black mare that is homozygous black and has only thrown black foals, that will sun bleach out to look almost bay. And at one point when my friend bought her (before I got her) when she rescued her from a very neglectful and abusive owner, she was bright red due to malnutrition. She didn't even believe the papers when she saw that she was registered as black, and it took her 5 years to have a true, deep black, but she's definitely black.

You can tell the difference between sun bleaching and a black/bay by looking where the brown/red is located. If it is on the sides of the muzzle and the flanks then the horse is bay. If it is kind of uniformly all over then the horse is sun bleached, especially if you can see the streaks in the mane and tail.

My black mare has the occasional white hair here and there. She's not roan, roaning is a similar ratio between colored hair and white hair when the hair is shedded out. During the winter it's harder to see the white when the hair gets longer.

There's a possibility that she might be a grey because greys are born darker (typically black or bay) and lighten over age. The quick way to find out if she is would be to look at her eyelashes. If they are white, then she's a grey. If they're dark, then she's black.

Answer 2

Depending on what breed she is she could turn grey. As a previous answer said take a look at her eyelashes, this gives a good indication.
i had an anglo colt that was born black with a white blaze
, by the time he was 2 he had white hairs coming through his coat with fading to brown around the muzzle and flanks. By 3 & half his coat had nearly equal black/brown to white hair with silver streaks in his mane and tail.
By 5 he had turned steel grey with dapples with lots of white in the mane and tail
At seven he had turned fleabitten grey (white with small bay spots almost like freckles) with black points eg; knees, hocks and top of mane and tail.
Another good guide is to check the colour below the knees and hocks as these tend to lighten quicker if the horse is going to turn grey.
A lot depends on the breed. Also do u know the colour of the sire and Dam?
Hope this helps

Answer 3

You didn't say how old she is- grey horses are born black and become white with time. I suspect she is not grey because of her brown muzzle. Roans have lots of white hairs, and she would have a salt and pepper appearance, and true blacks don't have brown. She would probably be classified as "dark bay or brown" (it's one classification) if she only has a few white hairs. Good Luck!!

Answer 4

if she has any color that isn't black she's not black. The brown color means she's a brown horse.

If the horse has brown on the muzzle and flank that is a text book description of a brown horse. look towards the elbow in the summer you will more than likely see a dark brow shade similar to the one in the flank and muzzle.

http://www.race-horses.com/agents/fbafr/bloodstock/goofalik.htm
That is a picture of a brown Thoroughbred, he doesn't look brown but he is. http://www.hunterstallion.com/vetrepro.htm that is a brown mare

http://k.webring.com/hub?ring=blueroanhorsebre that is a blue roan

Answer 5

A roan horse's white hairs will increase as it ages. This is called the "roan factor. I had a strawberry roan POA who appeared to be a bay roan, but one spring he suddenly changed drastically and had more white hairs than bay.
Sounds like you have a blue roan, but without a picture, hard to tell. She isn't an Appaloosa, is she? If so, she could be a dark bay/brown like my mare, who is almost solid but registered ApHC. She has snowflakes of white sprinkled all over her body, and a silver tail.

Answer 6

Without a picture of her, it is hard to say. Some blacks fade, and some don't. The white hair could be what is called " white ticking". This mimics the roan color. You did not say if she has a roan parent or not. This is a link to a roan horse website that has a lot of pictures and explains in depth the roan color, along with gray and the white ticking pattern. Good Luck!

Answer 7

Sounds like a black bay or black. I don't think she's a blue roan and she's definitely not a grey coz they have black skin but white hair.

Answer 8

What color is the mane & tail? That's the difference between for example a black and a bay.

Answer 9

You didn't give the breed, but being a TB owner myself, I know that a horse can be black as night and the American Jockey Club will STILL classify as "dark bay or brown".

Answer 10

Well....a roan is defined as a solid uniform color with white hair mixed in. I would probably go with a blue roan from your description. The changing brownish color is probably just a result of the sun.