“There is no bad color in horses but the best ones are chestnut.”
Thinking more about this. There are def. colors I like more than others, but even the ones I don’t prefer are nice.
When any coat is healthy & it catches the light…the sparkle should make a horse lover happy.
I love seeing a field of horses in all different shades. We took some pix of my mare & her pasture buddies & they are so cool b/c you see three faces in sharply contrasting colors: dark, grey, light chestnut. Neato! embrace diversity 
I have heard all the stories of how unruly a red mare is and don’t believe it. I don’t care for chestnut and currently I own 3. My black mare bred to a dark bay produced a chestnut with 4 stockings! I love grey in all shades except flea bitten. Nothing is classier than a stunning grey in a Hunter Classic. A bay with 4 socks is very nice. My favorite is black and I will never tire from it. I would never decline to purchase a horse because of color.
International judges don’t seem to have the color bias.
Valegro, Alf, Parzival etc…etc…
Color wouldn’t influence my purchasing decisions whatsoever. Even aside from performance and personality, when I see a picture of a horse, color is the last thing to influence how the picture of the horse makes me feel – after body condition, conformation, look in the eye, etc.
That said, there are colors that appeal to my eye more and colors that appeal to my eye less for horses, cardigans, lipsticks, cars, what have you. The horse colors that appeal the most to my eye are grays, anything really dark, anything with spots, palominos, buckskins and liver chestnuts. More coppery-colored or mid-tone bays are sort of neutral. Coppery chestnuts, as coat colors independent of the horses they are attached to, aren’t as aesthetically pleasing to me.
That said, I spent an absurd amount of time today drooling over a video of Woodlander Farouche. So I truly could care less what color a horse is, even though some coat colors appeal to my eye more than others.
I hereby classify all you (above noted) non-biased chestnut lovers true horsemen/women.
All others are prejudiced and ill-informed or inexperienced and therfore cannot be awarded the title of horseman/woman. OMHO
If you love the Quarterhorse, you have to be able to see through the chestnut thing - aren’t they almost all chestnut?
If you love the Quarterhorse, you have to be able to see through the chestnut thing - aren’t they almost all chestnut?
Nah, my pappy told me they’re all sorrel. :winkgrin:
The AQHA conformation breeders breed them red on purpose! It shows off the muscles and picks up light the best.
I suppose since it is a dominant color, some English disciplines would rather have a more rare color for their horse?
I love the red color, but in spite of buying red chestnuts for myself, I have somehow bred a liver chestnut from a red chestnut crossed with bay. So I guess I am lucky, lol.
Got me there, exvet! Like they breed buckskins when they want a dun?
Give me your chestnuts
I don’t think there is anything wrong with people having colour preferences - so long as they don’t overlook other more important characteristics (but if they can find exactly what they want - colour, training, conformation, gaits, etc. - all the power to them). I personally don’t understand the dislike for chestnuts - they are one of my favourite colours. My preferences being:
- grey
- black
- chestnut
Personally I am not that keen on bay or brown unless they have lots of chrome. I have no love for pintos, duns, or any of the dilute colours, but I wouldn’t turn down a spectacular horse even if it was purple.
I have no issue with breeders paying attention to what sells - if the buyers want bay & blacks with chrome - then I see no fault for breeding for great horses who just happen to be these colour.
It’s actually a recessive color, not dominant. That’s why a chestnut to chestnut breeding will ALWAYS guarantee a chestnut foal. Assuming you don’t specifically know what color genes your horse is carying, you can breed bay to bay or black to black (or any combination) and potentially end up with a chestnut foal.
I own a Half-Arabian mare, chestnut turned gray, that may just end up a “hony”. Could I give her away? 
I used to love grays too. Then I owned one. Now I love OTHER people’s gray horses.
Got me there, exvet! Like they breed buckskins when they want a dun?
Um yup but I’ve got two registered duns that the color experts would whip out chapter and verse in ‘splainin’ how they’re buckskin…LOL…not sure what colors were intended but obviously each had at least one dilute parent. Considerin’ each were free to me you can stamp ‘em dun, stamp ‘em buckskin or stamp’ em argyle…one’s producin’ nice babies and the other has produced a dover medal and a few nice trophies… A good horse is a good horse no matter what the Coggin’s or the registration papers say their color is suppose to be :winkgrin: Oh and the chestnut gal that I just sold could score 70s standin’ on her head.
To answer the OP’s question - I have no clue why people are anti-chestnut. I think all colors are pretty. I have grey, black, bay, brown, buckskin and 3 chestnut mares. And ALL of my chestnut mares are level-headed sweetie-pies who love people and adore attention.
Can’t say I have much fondness for my retired really stupid-crazy bay. She might be pretty to look at, and she’s extremely well-bred, but that’s about where it ends. She is the farthest thing from ammy friendly, although she did produce a lovely filly who is quite ammy friendly and happily competing at FEI. But her? Everything you do with her requires skillful handling. Hubby is not even allowed to put a halter on her head.
[QUOTE=Edgar;6887252]
I will take a dark liver chestnut anytime, looove that color:yes:[/QUOTE]
A true liver chestnut is beautiful. The Donnerhall/Quando-Quando stallion is a very nice color. His socks appear to be light chestnut instead of white? I have never seen this before. Is the color of the socks rare or I just haven’t seen it before? What is the proper name for this? Thank you…
[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;6887834]
Got me there, exvet! Like they breed buckskins when they want a dun?[/QUOTE]
Well, not really - buckskin and dun are genetically different, while the chestnuts vs sorrels are still ee
[QUOTE=bluemoonfarms;6888114]
A true liver chestnut is beautiful. The Donnerhall/Quando-Quando stallion is a very nice color. His socks appear to be light chestnut instead of white? I have never seen this before. Is the color of the socks rare or I just haven’t seen it before? What is the proper name for this? Thank you…[/QUOTE]
I’m not sure which stallion you’re talking about, but based on what you describe - it’s common for chestnuts to be lighter in the lower leg. I’ve seen many liver chestnuts who had positively salmon colored lower legs. It seems the darker the shade, the more potential for a higher contrast.
If you find some good pictures of Donnerhall, you’ll see he also does that
I wonder if it is regional/breed related/ different over time?
I grew up in the dark ages when most of our sporthorses were TBs. Most seemed to be a dark bay. Many people coveted a bright chestnut!
My only color prejudice is that I like richer colors - nothing washed out. So bright bay, bright chestnut, liver chestnut (current horse), etc. I might think twice about greys for maintenance and health issues. Tho I would probably buy chrome and then wonder what I was thinking! 
Here’s another ammy perspective. My last three horses have been chestnut.
#1: Oldenburg filly bought as a long yearling from her breeder. She was in driving distance, was by a sire I was enamored with at the time, and I liked her looks, movement and personality. I did not consider color. She retired to breeding a few years ago.
#2 is her 2012 foal that I got back in exchange for the mare. Any color would have been fine, but he’s a chestnut with three stockings and a blaze. No complaints here.
#3 is an OTTB who was given to a friend of mine, but she had too many already. I was considering getting a project to ride while my youngster is growing up, and this guy’s cute, sane, good mover, ammie temperament. Again, color not an issue. Coincidentally, he is the exact shade of chestnut as my yearling, with two stockings instead of three, and a wider blaze with some cute chestnut spots. If I’d had a choice, I might have gone for another look just for some variety, but at least they will be fun to look at in a field together some day.
