(a) Bay: body color ranging from tan, through red, to redish brown; mane and tail black - usually black on lower legs.
(b) Black: body color true black without light areas; mane and tail black.
(c) Brown: body color brown or black with light areas at muzzle, eyes, flank and inside upper legs; mane and tail black.
(d) Sorrel: body color reddish or copper-red; mane and tail usually same color as body, but may be flaxen.
(e)Chestnut: body color dark red or brownish-red; mane and tail usually dark red or brownish-red, but may be flaxen.
(f) Dun: body color yellowish or gold; mane and tail are black or brown; has dorsal stripe and usually zebra stripes on legs, and transverce stripe over withers.
(g) Red Dun: a form of dun with body color yellowish or flesh colored; mane and tail are red or reddish, flaxen, white or mixed; has red or reddish dorsal stripe and usually red or reddish zebra stripes on legs and transverce stripe over withers.
(h Grullo: body color smoky or mouse-colored (not a mixture of black and white hairs, but each hair mouse-colored); mane and tail black; usually has black dorsal stripe and black on lower legs.
(i) Buckskin: body color yellowish or gold; mane and tail black; black on lower legs; typically buckskins do not have dorsal stripes.
(j) Palomino: body color a golden yellow; mane and tail white; typically palominos do not have dorsal stripes.
(k) Gray: mixture of white with any other colored hairs; often born solid-colored or almost solid-colored and get lighter with age as more white hairs appear.
(l) Red Roan: more or less uniform mixture of white with red hairs on large portion of the body, but usually darker on head and lower legs; can have red, black or flaxen mane and/or tail.
(m) Blue Roan: more or less uniform mixture of white with black hairs on large portion of the body, but usually darker on head and lower legs; can have a few red hairs in mixture.
These examples feature the 13 colors recognized by the AQHA. Notice that there may be an extreme variation within a color category.
The duns vary considerably because the dun characteristics (dorsal stripes, transverce stripes, tiger stripes on legs and yellow dilution of body hairs)may be superimposed over the basic color (red, black or brown) The horse's color will basically remain the same throughout it's life, although there may be some seasonal variations.
Often there is confusion between dun and buckskin horses. Both are yellow in body color and both may have black manes, tails and legs. A buckskin does not have a dorsal stripe, transverce stripes or tiger stripes.
The gray color factor can be superimposed over any basic body color. Therefore, not all gray horses will have a blue cast; some will have a tendency to be red, while others will have a tendency to look yellow. The common caracteristics of gray horses are white hairs scattered over the head and body (often more prominent on the head in young horses). Each gray horse will vary in color throughout it's lifetime, growing lighter as it ages. A horse may be dark brown or dark red at birth and have only a few white hairs on it's head. As it ages, it will become a medium gray and finally a light gray which may appear to be white in an aged horse.
A "throw back" is a horse which has a characteristic that neither of it's parents had. Genetics have shown, however, that a throw back occurs only between those characteristics which are recessive. Therefore, a gray horse cannot be a throw back. Gray is a dominant characteristic, consenquently a gray horse must have at least one gray parent. Another dominant characteristic is the black mane and tail along with black legs. Consequently, a horse with these characteristics (bay, brown, buckskin, black, etc.) will have at least one parent with a black mane, tail and lower legs. Only in very rare, specific instances would this not be true. A given stallion and mare may produce foal of several different colors (including some not indicated by either parent) but there are certain colors which two parents should not produce. Therefore, AQHA has a computerized program which evaluates the colors of the sire and dam to determine if the foal genetically can be the color listed on the registration application. Colors which are exceptions to the rules of genetics are then investigated to determine accurate color, and in most cases, it is determined that the wrong color was indicated for the foal, or the parents were registered with incorrect color. Either error must be corrected.
I wait until my foal have shed their baby hair, to send in registration papers. AQHA gives us 7 months to send in papers befor the fee goes up.
