Please note that all of the text information on this page was
originally composed by me,
and was typed with great thought. I have read books and many educational
web sites to contribute to my knowledge base.
Some photos were donated by
people that have horses with color examples needed to provide educational
content. For that reason, permission is not granted for anyone else to use
photos from these pages.
I did not copy and paste from anyone else's web site, and hope
you will not copy and paste from my site.
Please feel free to link to this page, but do not copy the
content and place it on your site.
Feel free to click the "Send Your Photo" logo
at the left to send a good photo or two
to us for inclusion on our color pages. For this page, newborn photos are best,
but young pre-weaning photos can be helpful as well. We can't use them all, but
will definitely add some good ones!
Restrictions:
If
you are wondering what color your foal is, click
here. We are having a lot of people send us
pictures for this page where it is obvious that the foal owners don't know what
color their foal is. Please, only send us photos for this page if you know your
foal's color. If you don't know what color your foal is, click
here.
If you foal is a Paint or Appaloosa, we will only use it if the vast majority
of the foal's body is not included in the white patterned areas, as this page is
intended to help people determine foal colors, so the colored hairs must be very
obvious.
Please note that this is not intended to be a free opportunity for you to
advertise your breeding operation, and instead is an educational page. We will
not use photos with watermarks/writing on them. There are many free advertising
sites on the Internet at which you can advertise your farm/ranch/horses. Also,
only send photos of foals you own. This way, there won't be copyright problems.
These foal images may not address some composite colors (such
as dunskin, grullo roan, graying buckskin, etc.) or unusual genes
(silver dapple, pearl, etc.) and instead will focus on the
main colors that AQHA recognizes. These mainly
include colors associated with dun factor, roan, and the cream gene, though
we've added in the increasingly-popular champagne shades.
Examples of
Foal Coat Colors
Black Foals
aa Agouti
The 5 photos above are of foals immediately after birth...look at the variation
of birth colors! Also note the fake leg bars on a black foal's leg.
This foal was born charcoal, turned brownish within a month, and then
began shedding off black.
Yes, this foal is black! He is actually a "smoky black" mini foal.
A smoky black is a black horse that also has one cream gene. The cream
gene turns bays to buckskin, and sorrels to palominos. On a black
horse, the cream gene does not markedly change the color, though we
feel that most smoky blacks sun fade more than non-smoky blacks.
Typical characteristics:
Brown or gray/charcoal at birth, with or without dorsal countershading
May shed off liver chestnut or bay at times in summer of first
year
Often doesn't look like a true black until winter hair coat
comes in.
Sorrel Foals
Typical characteristics:
Born sorrel or sorrel with tan/cream belly
Typically born with light/pink/peach skin color that later
darkens.
Bay Foals
Typical characteristics:
Born bay, often with tan/buff legs that will shed off black
later
Typically born with dark skin color.
Brown Foals
Typical characteristics:
Coming Soon...
Typically born with dark skin color.
Grullo Foals
Dun gene + black
Typical characteristics:
Must have a parent that carries a dun gene
Charcoal face mask (not red or brown). Will quickly have
charcoal-colored hair develop around eyes and muzzle, not gold or brown.
Usually have black dorsal stripes at birth
Dorsal stripe usually extends down into the tail
"Most of the time" will have leg bars above and behind the knees
Often buff/cream/tan colored at birth.
Click here to compare a grullo foal with
a dun and a buckskin.
Dun Foals
Dun gene + bay
Suspected Brown-based Dun, below (Dun gene + brown...tests may be done in
the summer of 2009 to confirm)
Photo at left as a foal, and at right are the same foal with more mature hair
coat.
Typical characteristics:
Must have a parent that carries a dun gene
Red or brown dorsal stripe at birth "usually."
Dun foals do not "typically" have black dorsal stripes at birth.
Dorsal stripe usually extends down into the tail
Red or brown face mask between nostrils and eyes (across bridge
of nose)
Body color tan, reddish tan or buff, but not full red-bay colored at birth
Born buckskin or tan or cream, sometimes with blue-gray eyes
May or may not have a dorsal stripe at birth. Buckskin dorsal
stripes will fade over time unless the foal is a dunskin, and inherited a dun
gene from a dun-factored parent. Some retain some degree of countershading
stripes on their backs throughout their lives.
Palomino Foals
Cream gene + sorrel
Typical characteristics:
Born palomino, peachy-colored, or cream colored, sometimes
with blue-gray eyes.
May have peachy-colored skin at birth that darkens over time.
May have a darker mane and tail (orange) that turn white/light
over time
May or may not have a dorsal stripe at birth. Palomino dorsal
stripes will fade over time unless the foal is a dunalino, and inherited a dun
gene from a dun-factored parent. Some retain some degree of countershading
stripes on their backs throughout their lives.
Cremello Foals
Typical characteristics:
Born with ice blue eyes and pink skin
Nearly white all over, without darker legs, mane, or tail
"usually."
Will test ee for the Red Gene (not black), as cremellos are
sorrel/chestnut with two cream alleles.
Perlino Foals
Typical characteristics:
Born with ice blue eyes and pink skin
Slightly darker legs, mane, and tail compared to cremello
foals "usually."
Will test positive for one non-red gene or two non-red genes (Ee
or EE), and will be AA or Aa for Agouti
Smokey Cream Foals
Typical characteristics:
Born with ice blue eyes and pink skin
Slightly darker legs, mane, and tail compared to cremello
foals "usually."
Will test positive for one non-red gene or two non-red genes (Ee
or EE), and will be aa for Agouti
Gold Champagne Foals
Typical characteristics:
Born with pink/peachy colored skin, blue eyes
Hair color lightens as foal matures, and eyes change from blue
to amber/light brown
Born black or charcoal colored, sometimes brownish
May or may not show roaning on hips before 2 months, but
should be obviously roan before weaning age.
Bay Roan Foals
Roan gene + bay
Typical characteristics:
Must have a parent that carries a roan gene
Born bay, often with buff/tan legs that later turn black
May or may not show roaning on hips before 2 months, but
should roan before weaning age.
Red Roan Foals
Roan gene + sorrel/chestnut
Typical characteristics:
Must have a parent that carries a roan gene
Born sorrel or chestnut, probably with light pink/peach skin
color.
May or may not show roaning on hips before 2 months, but
should roan before weaning age.
Gray Foals
Any color + gray
Note the dark legs of the newborns, and that you can sometimes see gray around
the eyeballs very early.
Typical characteristics:
Born any color
Base colors with black legs (such as bay and black) that will turn
gray are often born WITH black or unusually-dark legs. Non-graying foals that will eventually
have black legs often have buff or gray legs at birth instead of shiny black
legs at birth.
Base color of sorrel generally born with dark skin IF the foal
has a gray gene. Normal (not-graying) sorrels are born with pink/peach skin
color usually.
Often, gray hairs can be seen near the eyeballs immediately or
within a couple months of birth (see photos above).
Pearl
Pearl Dilution
If there is only one copy of the Pearl gene, no effect is seen on black, bay or
chestnut horses. If there are two copies, the Pearl gene lightens red coats to a
pale, uniform apricot color that includes body, mane and tail and creates pale
skin.
The Pearl gene is also known to interact with the cream gene to enhance its
effects and, in horses with only one copy of the cream allele, to create
"pseudo-double dilutes" sometimes called pseudo-cremellos or pseudo-smoky cream.
A pseudo-double dilute will often have pale skin and blue or green eyes. It is
difficult if not impossible to tell a double cream dilute from a Pearl-cream
pseudo dilute without genetic testing. (source: Wikipedia)
Click
here and
here to learn more about the pearl gene.
Sometimes, foal coat colors can baffle even experts. Clues are
often there to tell us in advance if we recognize them...either the ancestors'
genetics or slight visual clues. Here are some neat, but tricky, foal coat
colors.
A buckskin foal (same horse in both photos)
Born red dun, but shed off silvery grullo (same horse in both
photos)
This foal is bay roan, but has an amazing countershading
stripe and shoulder patch that will disappear over time. There are
no duns in his pedigree, and he is not a dun.
This is a tested/confirmed "Pearl" foal, and NOT a cremello. Click
here and
here to learn more about the pearl gene.
Composite Colors
I'm not including composite colors fully on this page because there are
just too darned many color combinations. But here are a few examples of what
foals can look like when they have more than one color-modifying gene.
Dunalino (same foal both pics)
Palomino + Dun Factor
Dunalino
Palomino + Dun Factor
Click here for her
web page to see mature color.
Note that
the two foals above are both dunalino, but were born and matured to
totally different in colors. They are a prime example of why
predicting foal colors from early photos can be difficult.
The most common mistake people who contact me
make
is in
trying to get others to believe
that their foal or horse is the color
they WANT him to be.
Many, many people have asked me over the
past few years what color their foals were, and then have refused to
accept my opinion because they so badly wanted their foal to be a
different color. As you try to figure out your foal's color, leave
your personal preference out of it....go by the facts first.
Hopefully, you'll be pleased in the end! But if not (for example, if
you wanted him to be a grulla and he turns out to be a sooty buckskin),
take comfort in the fact that you know the truth and can educate others
about the differences between similar colors.
Photo Ownership Notice: All of the photos on this page are the property of Cedar Ridge QH's or were
sent to us with permission.
If someone has sent a photo to us for use on our pages that belongs to you,
and if they did not have
permission to do so,
please let us know.
If you are interested in contributing a photo, we thank you! But please do not
alter the photo or place your contact
information on it. Our educational pages are for just that...education. Not
advertisements. Thanks!
Color Testing Labs
There are many laboratories in the US and around the
world that do horse color testing, disease testing, etc. When you choose a
lab, make sure it is a reputable one! There are several university-related
labs, which I recommend, and many private labs (some of which can NOT be
recommended!). Here are a few
I'm familiar with:
Cornell University: I've heard they do a lot of coat
color testing, but can't find their link. If you have it, please send it to me
for inclusion. Thanks!
PROCEED WITH CAUTION IF YOU CHOOSE TO
USE THIS LAB, BELOW, in my opinion:
DNA Diagnostics (aka Shelterwood Labs, and also affiliated somehow with
Catgenes.Org)
http://www.dnadiagnostics.com/DNA
Diagnostics/Shelterwood Labs offers a test for multiple
characteristics at one price.I had seen a fair bit of chatter online about how they cash the checks and
don't give the results of the test. So, I tested them by paying for three
horse tests. Guess what...they sent back two of my horses' test results and
after 4 1/2 months, the third was still missing in action! Repeated phone calls and
e-mails were ignored by the lab. Finally, five months after the test, someone
gave me the results. If you choose to use this lab, my opinion is to only send
them as much money as you are willing to lose, in case you don't receive your
results.
712-370-0851 (cell...BEST number to
call)
before 9 p.m. CST.
712-523-3646 (home)
before 9 p.m. CST.
PLEASE do not call us on the phone with
color inquiries for your own horses.
See link below if you have a question about your own horse or foal's color.
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Our graphics are all created as
original work, were donated, or else are from free image sites. If you know of a graphic
on one of our sites that you feel is in violation of copyright laws, please e-mail
us or call us, and we will happily replace it.
Under Iowa Law (and almost all states' laws),
a domesticated animal professional is not liable for damages suffered by, an
injury to, or the death of a participant resulting from the inherent risks of
domesticated animal activities, pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 673. You are
assuming the inherent risks of participating in this domesticated animal
activity when you interact with, buy or ride any horse in the state of Iowa.
**Some of our pedigree information was
provided by American Quarter Horse Association from its Official Records. All
rights reserved. Join AQHA and receive 2 free pedigree searches each
month! Pedigree research also via
www.allbreedpedigree.com.
We are not professional pedigree researchers, and are not responsible for incorrect
pedigree research obtained from these sites and other sources. The information provided is "as is" with all faults and without
warranty of any kind, expressed or implied. In no event shall Cedar Ridge
Quarter Horses/Todd or Toni Perdew be liable for any incidental or consequential
damages, lost profits, or any indirect damages caused by the information
presented.
