Distinctions Between Horse Colors

It can be hard to determine what color a horse is, especially if it looks similar to several options! To help with that, here’s a breakdown of several common variations between coat colors.

1. Buckskin and Dun

Both of these horses have golden-brown coats (or variations of that) and black points – legs, mane, tail, and often the nose and ears – but they aren’t the same thing. Dun horses have a dorsal stripe – a dark, usually black stripe on their back running from the withers to the tail – and buckskins do not. That’s pretty much the only difference, and they’re both beautiful horses!

2. Black and Black Bay

Some horses look black, but actually aren’t! A true black horse is completely black all over his body, with no other colors except possibly white markings. However, a black bay horse will have brown patches, usually on the nose or belly. It might just look like faded spots on a black horse, but this horse is not black. In some cases, black bay horses are just very, very dark brown.

3. Gray and White

Even if a horse looks pure white, if the skin is black, he’s still a gray. True white horses do exist, though they are very rare and often don’t live very long, and they are characterized by having pink skin. Most horses do have black skin, but some pale-colored horses like perlinos and cremellos – and white horses – have pink skin. If a horse has dark skin and is white or gray, he is a gray.

4. Chestnut and Sorrel

For the most part, these two terms mean the same thing – a red horse (though the horse could be more of an orangey or copper color, and variations of all three of these). However, chestnut could refer to variations of the color such as liver chestnut (dark brown but without any dark points) or flaxen chestnut (a chestnut horse with a pale or blond mane and tail), while sorrel will always refer to a completely red, orange, or copper-colored horse with a mane and tail of the same color (or a similar color).

5. Palominos, Cremellos, and Perlinos

This one covers a lot! Palominos can be anything from a dark gold to a pale tan to a chocolaty brown – but they have to have a white, gold or blond mane. Cremellos and perlinos are pretty similar to each other – most of the difference is in genetics. Both have a cream body and white or cream mane and tail, usually (but not always) with blue eyes, but perlinos can have a more reddish color than cremellos due to their bay base coat. Cremellos have a chestnut base color, but usually do not have the reddish tinge that perlinos can show. Also, both cremellos and perlinos have pink skin.

6. Paints and Pintos

Remember this: all paints are pintos, but not all pintos are paints. Paint refers to a breed, while pinto is simply a color. A pinto grade horse is just a pinto, but a pinto registered as a paint or who has parents who are paint horses is a paint. There’s no difference between the two color-wise, but the distinction is in what breed the horse is.

I hope this clears some things up, and feel free to ask any questions you have!