General Guide to Horses

[Tigress]

Unfamiliar with horses, or just uncertain of something about a breed or coloring? Then this general guide to horses might help!

:: Breeds ::

Drafts

Draft horses are well known for their tall height, and muscular build. They are the largest equines, and their height generally ranges from 16 to 19 hands height.

Common draft horse breeds & common heights & colors

• American Cream Draft - 15 to 17 hh - champagne, gold champagne
  
• Belgian Draft - 16.2 to 18 hh - sorrel, chestnut, bay, gray, roan, and dun
  
• Clydesdale - 16.2 to 18.2 hh - bay, black, chestnut, roan
  
• Dutch Draft - about 16 hh - chestnut, bay, gray, black
  
• Italian Heavy Draft - 15 to 16.2 hh - liver chestnut, bay, roan
  
• Jutland - 15 to 16.1 hh - flaxen chestnut, chestnut, black, bay, roan
  
• Percheron - 15 to 19 hh - black, gray, chestnut, bay
  
• Shire - 16.1 to 19 hh - black, bay, gray
  
• Suffolk Punch - 16.1 to 17.3 hh - many variations of chestnut
  

Light Horses

Your usual light horses have varying characteristics depending on the breed. Generally, your usual horse's height ranges from 14 to 17 hh.

Common horse breeds & common heights & colors

• Akhal-Teke - 14.2 to 16 hh - buckskin, bay, black, chestnut, palomino, cremello, perlino, gray
  
• American Quarter Horse - 14 to 17 hh - sorrel, chestnut, bay, black, buckskin, palomino, gray, dun, grullo, perlino, cremello, white
  
• Arabian - 14.1 to 15.2 hh - bay, gray, chestnut, black, roan, sabino
  
• Andalusian - 15 to 16.2 hh - bay, gray, black, dun, palomino, chestnut, buckskin, pearl, cremello
  
• American Saddlebred - 15 to 17 hh - chestnut, bay, black, gray, palomino, roan, pinto
  
• Appaloosa - 14 to 16 hh - nearly any coloring, spotted patterns are common
  
• Azteca - 14.3 to 16 hh - all solid colors and pinto
  
• Barb Horse - 14.2 to 15.2 hh - gray, bay, black, chestnut
  
• Canadian Horse - 14 to 16 hh - black, bay, chestnut
  
• Cleveland Bay - 16 to 16.2 hh - bay
  
• Fresian - 14.2 to 17 hh - black
  
• Gypsy Vanner - 14.2 to 16 hh - nearly any coloring
  
• Hanoverian - 15 to 17 hh - chestnut, bay, black, gray, buckskin, palomino, cremello
  
• Knabstrupper - 14.2 to 16.2 hh - all solid colors, and leopard patterns are very common
  
• Lusitano - 14.2 to 17 hh - gray, bay, chestnut, black, dun, palomino, pretty much any solid color
  
• Marwari - 14 to 16.2 hh - bay, grey, chestnut, palomino, piebald, skewbald, black, white
  
• Mustang - 14 to 16.2 - nearly any coloring
  
• Norwegian Fjord Horse - 13.1 to 14.3 - many variations of dun
  
• Paint horse - 14.3 to 16.3 hh - black, bay, sorrel, chestnut, palomino, buckskin, cremello, perlino, champagne, roan, and dun varations, of overo, tobiano, andtovero
  
• Tennessee Walking Horse - 14.3 to 17 hh - all solid colors, and several pinto patterns
  
• Thoroughbred - 15.2 to 17 hh - bay, steal brown, chestnut, black, gray, roan, palomino, white
  

Ponies

Ponies are your smaller equines. They are usually under 14.2 hands, and often have a thick build.

Common pony breeds & common heights & colors

• Australian Pony - 11 to 14 hh - nearly any coloring, gray is most common
  
• Chincoteague Pony - 13 to 14,2 hh - nearly any coloring
  
• Connemara - 13 to 15 hh - gray, black, bay, dun, roan, chestnut, palomino
  
• Dales Pony - 13.2 to 14.2 - black, bay, gray, roan
  
• Dartmoor - 11.1 to 12.2 - bay, black, grey, chestnut, roan
  
• Exmoor - 11.1 to 12.3 hh - variations of bay
  
• Fell - 13.2 to 14 hh - black, bay, gray
  
• Hackeny - 12 to 14.2 hh - black, bay, chestnut
  
• Highland Pony - 13 to 14.2 hh - dun, gray, steal brown, black, bay, liver chestnut
  
• New Forest - 12 to 14.2 hh - bay, chestnut, gray, palomino
  
• Newfoundland - 11 to 14.2 hh - roan, chestnut, black, bay, gray
  
• Quarter Pony - 11.2 to 14.2 hh - nearly any coloring
  
• Welsh - 11 to 14.2 hh - any solid color
  

Other Equines

• Donkey - 7.3 to 14.3 hh - brown, bay, black, gray
  
• Zebra - 12 to 14 hh - white & black stripes
  

:: Coat Colors ::

List of the more common coat colors.

• Black - The darkest coat color. For a horse to be considered black, it must be completely black except for white markings.
  
• Bay - Coloring ranges from a light reddish-brown to very dark brown with "black points". Main Variations: Light Bay, Dark bay, Blood Bay
  
• Chestnut - Coloring consists of a reddish-to-brown coat with a mane and tail the same or lighter in color than the coat. Main Variations: Liver Chestnut, Flaxen Chestnut
  
• Sorrel - Coloring is copper-reddish.
  
• Gray - Coloring with black skin but white or mixed dark and white hairs. Main Variations:Light Gray, Dark Gray, Dapple Gray, Fleabitten Gray
  
• Buckskin - Coloring that is yellowish, creme, or gold with black points.
  
• Roan - A color pattern that causes white hairs to be evenly intermixed within the horse's body color. Main Variations: Red/Strawberry Roan, Blue Roan, Bay Roan
  
• Palomino - A coloring that is golden, yellowish, or tannish.
  
• Dun - A yellowish or tannish coloring with a dorsal stripe and black points. Main Variations:Red Dun, Grullo, Yellow Dun
  
• Leopard - A light gray to white coat with variations of spots that are usually a dark color like black. Main Variations: Blanket, Varnish Roan, Snowflake, Leopard, Few Spot Leopard, Frost
  
• Pinto - A multicolored coloring with white and some other color. Main Variations/Patterns: Piebald, Skewbald, Overo, Sabino, Tobiano, Tovero
  
• Cremello - A horse with a chestnut base coat and two cream genes that wash out almost all color until the horse is a pale cream or light tan color.
  
• Perlino - Similar coloring to a cremello, but is genetically a bay base coat with two dilute genes. Eyes are blue. Mane, tail and points are not black, but are usually darker than the body coat, generally a reddish or rust color, not to be confused with a red dun.
  
• White - One of the rarest colors, a white horse has white hair and pink skin.
  
• Champagne - A metallic gold coat color with mottled skin and light colored eyes.
  

:: Eye Colors ::

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[li]Brown
[/li][li]Dark Brown
[/li][li]Light Brown
[/li][li]Blue
[/li][li]Hazel
[/li][li]Amber
[/li][li]Green
[/li][/ul]

:: Markings ::

Facial Markings

• Blaze - A wide white marking that runs for all or most of the length of the horse's face. It usually doesn't end above the nostrils.
  
• Strip/Stripe - A white long straight marking down the middle of the face.
  
• Race - A white long, wavy, or irregular stripe.
  
• Star - A white marking on the forehead.
  
• Faint- Basically a small, faint version of a star.
  
• Snip - A white marking found below the top of the nostrils.
  
• Bald Face - A white marking that is basically a very wide blaze, and often goes out to - or past- the eye in the forehead and/or the center of the face. It will generally cover the width of the nose and the entire muzzle.
  
• Lip Marking - Any white marking on the lower lip and/or chin.
  
• White Muzzle - The horse's muzzle is white.
  
• Medicine Hat - The horse's head and neck are mainly white with a dark marking around the ears and the top of the head.
  
• Interrupted - A white marking, usually a stripe or blaze that is broken and not solid for the entire length of the face.
  
• Connected - Occasionally used to describe different white markings that happen to be joined to one another.
  
• Irregular or Crooked - A white marking, usually a strip or blaze, that doesn't follow a straight path down the face.
  

Leg Markings

• Coronet - A small white band just above the hoof.
  
• Pastern - A white leg mark that starts at the hoof and stops just below the fetlock.
  
• Sock/Fetlock - A white leg mark that reaches onto the fetlock.
  
• Boot/Sock - A white mark that reaches higher than the fetlock but not as high as the knee.
  
• Stocking - A white mark that reaches to the bottom or higher of the knee/hock.
  
• High White - A white marking that reaches well above the knee/hock.
  
• Partial - A white marking that only reaches up one side of the leg.
  
• Ermine Marks - A black mark on a white marking - often seen on leg markings just above the hoof.
  

:: Common Equine Terms ::

• Hands High - The measurement of horses is in hands, and is often abbreviated to HH. One hand is 4 inches. It goes into decimals, going up to .3, so for example, you have 14 hh, then 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, and then it goes to 15 hh.
  
• Mare - a female horse
  
• Stallion - a male horse
  
• Sire - male parent of a horse
  
• Dam - female parent of a horse
  
• Foal - a baby horse
  
• Colt - a male horse up to 4 years of age
  
• Filly - a female horse up to 4 years of age
  
• Weanling - a horse under one year of age that has been weaned from it's mother
  
• Yearling - a horse just approaching or just turning one year old
  

Know of anything that would be good to add? Then just pm me (Tigress) or another admin about it, or post in the suggestions board!