A little horse trivia: the truth about 'white' horses and more

So did you know that most horses that look white are not called white, grey is the correct term. I will explain this.

Here is my beautiful mare, she looks white but she is not. She is called a grey, and here is why.

Grey horses that look white have a black / dark skin that you can actually see in places that have less hair such as the nose and eyes. This is why they are not clasified as white, their skin shines through in places (definitely when wet) making them have darker areas.

My mare for example has greying around her face and knees. She also has some grey speckling around her body too.

Also grey horses are never born white, they are born a dark colour and over time, taking few years they slowly become white.

Here is my beautiful mare only a few minutes old.

Who would have thought looking at her here (well unless you already new) that she is a white horse? in looks only, grey by name.

In fact actual white horses (they do exist) are one of the rarest colors. a white horse has white hair and fully or largely unpigmented (pink) skin.

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A young foal that was born white. You can see the pink skin, where a grey horse would have black.

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A mare, still as white as the day she was born.

These horses are born white, with blue or brown eyes, and remain white for life.

So you see the vast majority of so-called "white" horses are actually grays with a fully white hair coat..

There are many horse colours. Here are a very few colours:

Chestnut: this is the colour of my other horse you can see standing behind my grey.

Bay: Body color ranges from a light reddish-brown to very dark brown with "black points". (Points refer to the mane, tail, and lower legs.)

Black: Black is relatively uncommon, though it is not "rare". There are two types of black, fading black and non-fading black. Most black horses will fade to a brownish color if the horse is exposed to sunlight regularly. Non-fading black is a blue-black shade that does not fade in the sun.

Palomino: chestnut horse that has one cream dilution gene that turns the horse to a golden, yellow, or tan shade with a flaxen or white mane and tail.

These are just a very few, there are so many more colours, you can view more information here.There are even a number of patterns that horses carry, such as the paint.

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This is a horse that has similar patterns to what a cow does. Here is some information on paints.

Isn't it fascinating, all the different colours and patterns one species can have?
Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for visiting.