Horse Color Preference

I am going to look at a gelding today and he is a sorrel. Every time I have owned a sorrel or chestnut something bad has happened (broken fingers, horse permanently injured in a freak accident, etc.). As a result I rarely look at prospective horses of this color. He sounds like just what I am looking for so I am going with an open mind.

Any one else have issues with a certain color of horse? I guess I am just superstitious.

Buckskins are the cockiest horses I have ever known

Greys…all I see is one giant melanoma. I know they are gorgeous horses with that color and they’ll stand out at a show (which may not be a good thing :lol) but I just wouldn’t want one now that I’ve seen how bad it can get. I’ve seen the absolute worst cases and it’s horrible :no:.

Funny thing is my best two horses i owned as a kid were phenomenal (late 70’s/early 80’s). One was my pony jumper who could and would jump anything put in front of her no matter how big and scary the jump was. My eq horse was a flawless jumper who excelled in the hunters and eq classes.

Nowadays I’d like a nice deep solid bay TB (with maybe a little whitest on the face :yes:).

But hey a nice horse is a nice horse regardless of color. :slight_smile:

Chestnut mares with lots of chrome. Drool.

We always like to have a grey horse around.

You can go up the caprock and spot a grey in the brush below, so you know where to go look for the horses.
You can have cattle balking and if you put a grey in front of them, they will meekly follow without question, not so with other colors.

A friend has tried to keep a grey around, but every time he had bad luck, something happened to it and hardly ever to any other color horse.

In cow country, it used to be that the buckskins, grullas and roans tended to be from lines that were less refined, more coarse and some producing outright broncs.
That has changed the past decades, where even those colors come in very nice horses.

Today and for us and most here, grey or any other color doesn’t matter, really, if it is a nice horse.

Just be careful where your heart lands! Can’t say that enough…

I was looking for a sort of bay TB type. I wound up with a flashy B/W Pinto who (I found out later) needed fetlock surgery. I don’t regret getting her, but I could have saved the money that went to the vet…

  1. Deep buckskin

  2. Bay with chrome

  3. This:

[QUOTE=enjoytheride;7907669]
Chestnut mares with lots of chrome. Drool.[/QUOTE]

Got one of those!

I had some bad experiences with a Cremello as a kid and have never been able to get that out of my mind when I look at any double dilute (or horses with a lot of white on the face and a blue eye).

But on the flip side, I almost didn’t buy my current horse because he’s a flashy chestnut and I was sure I just liked him for his color/he couldn’t possibly be as nice as I thought he was. Color prejudices can go too far in either direction.

[QUOTE=ryansgirl;7907665]
Greys…all I see is one giant melanoma. I know they are gorgeous horses with that color and they’ll stand out at a show (which may not be a good thing :lol) but I just wouldn’t want one now that I’ve seen how bad it can get. I’ve seen the absolute worst cases and it’s horrible :no:.

Funny thing is my best two horses i owned as a kid were phenomenal (late 70’s/early 80’s). One was my pony jumper who could and would jump anything put in front of her no matter how big and scary the jump was. My eq horse was a flawless jumper who excelled in the hunters and eq classes.

Nowadays I’d like a nice deep solid bay TB (with maybe a little whitest on the face :yes:).

But hey a nice horse is a nice horse regardless of color. :)[/QUOTE]

finally, you and i agree on something! in fact… one, two, three things! :lol:

Gorgeous white mares with blue eyes :smiley: :winkgrin:

I’ve had two chestnut horses who were broncy, and one chestnut who was the absolute best horse ever (although ultimately was neuro and had to be put down). I’ve had three bays - one who was fairly hot, one who could be hot but was otherwise quite gentlemanly, and now one filly who is sweet and smart and a bit cheeky and quite the hussy.

I’ve never had a grey horse, although those deep dark dapples are my favorite.

I’ve never been a fan of horses of color. And what do I have now but a big-headed dun mustang - who is my favorite. :cool:

[QUOTE=Pocket Pony;7907743]

I’ve never been a fan of horses of color. And what do I have now but a big-headed dun mustang - who is my favorite. :cool:[/QUOTE]

Gorgeous!!

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the difference between dun and buckskin? I know somebody told me this before, but I forget.

All of my chestnut TBs have caused major medical bills for either themselves or me. I’ve had dozens of bays and grays with minimal issues compared to the three chestnuts I’ve owned…

My first chestnut TB gelding had his share of minor vet bills… then he broke my back.

My second chestnut TB almost put me into bankruptcy with injury upon illness. I ended up giving him away to nice family who loved him lots, but he died unexpectedly from some sort of mystery illness, which knowing him was not really unexpected.

I bought a chestnut TB broodmare last November. A month later, she fractured her leg in the field. She’s recovered and I’m planning on breeding her this spring. As ridiculous as this sounds, I refuse to consider any chestnut stallions. I am not going to guarantee myself another chestnut TB! I need to at least have some hope of having a nice bay baby!

If you do not already know about grey horses, look up old threads. You do not want grey no matter how popular they are!:lol:

Somebody else could go into the science behind it, and I think there is even disagreement among breed registries as to what is what, but my understanding is that a dun has the primitive markings. Zebra stripes on legs, “guard hairs” (lighter colored hairs in mane and tail), webbing on face, dorsal stripe down back, shoulder band of dark color.

Mac has all of those things. A buckskin has the dark mane and tail but exhibits none of the other primitive markings.

That’s my understanding, at least.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitive_markings

[QUOTE=Pocket Pony;7907804]
Somebody else could go into the science behind it, and I think there is even disagreement among breed registries as to what is what, but my understanding is that a dun has the primitive markings. Zebra stripes on legs, “guard hairs” (lighter colored hairs in mane and tail), webbing on face, dorsal stripe down back, shoulder band of dark color.

Mac has all of those things. A buckskin has the dark mane and tail but exhibits none of the other primitive markings.

That’s my understanding, at least.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitive_markings[/QUOTE]

OK, then, it’s DUN that should be at the top of my list. LOVE that color!

Greys are so hard to clean, and they seem to love to get dirty. That’s my only hang up on color.

[QUOTE=Miss Anne Thrope;7907806]
OK, then, it’s DUN that should be at the top of my list. LOVE that color![/QUOTE]

And the great thing about his coat is that for some reason it is easier to keep clean than any others and doesn’t show any dirt or poo spots! Maybe it is because it is a little coarser, I don’t know…

I seem to end up with bays, other than my brief love affair with my white pony (who I lost due to extremely aggressive melanomas.) I don’t tend to find chestnuts attractive, there’s exceptions of course, but for the most part they just don’t do anything for me. I really don’t like blue eyes. They sort of creep me out so any horse with them would be out as I just wouldn’t like looking at them every day :smiley:

[QUOTE=ryansgirl;7907665]
Greys…all I see is one giant melanoma. I know they are gorgeous horses with that color and they’ll stand out at a show (which may not be a good thing :lol) but I just wouldn’t want one now that I’ve seen how bad it can get. I’ve seen the absolute worst cases and it’s horrible :no:.

But hey a nice horse is a nice horse regardless of color. :)[/QUOTE]

I love greys (well other than the keeping them clean part) and would love a flea bitten grey, but refuse to ever purchase one specifically because of the increased risk of melanomas. My luck is the one time I purchase a grey, it would end in heart break.

I do love my red heads, though a nice dark seal brown or true black is a close second.

In the end a good horse isn’t a bad color, and color is the very last thing on my list (other than NO greys). Just like I prefer mares (and ended up with a cute chestnut filly), but was considering some geldings before I got in contact with my girls trainer.

Now chrome I can take it or leave it. For me, it really depends on how the white expressed.

Typically, red allows the white to express more than a black or bay based horse, but that’s not always the case.

ETA:

A heavily expressed dun or roan/heavily expressed rabicano would be spectacular.