Horse Marking

For the purposes of identification and registration it is necessaryto be able to describe horses by their colour and their facial andleg markings. There is a widely understood and accepted systemfor describing such characteristics.

Bay - This colour can range from very light tan through all theshades of brown to a dark mahogany, but the 'points' (muzzle,mane, tail and extremities of the legs) must be black.

Brown - Distinctly brown in colour, including the points.Black Distinctly black all over.

Chestnut - Can vary from a light golden colour to dark liverchestnut. The points are a similar chestnut.

Grey - Can mean any shade from pure white to dark iron grey. Thedapple grey has a very attractive dark and light mottledappearance. A 'flea-bitten' grey is white with small darker greyflecks giving a rather flea-bitten appearance. Grey horses tend toget whiter as they age and flea-bitten greys are usually older.

Roan - There are two classes: the 'red' or 'strawberry', and `blue';the appearance of the coat is produced by the intermingling ofred, white and yellow, or black, white and yellow hairsrespectively. The red roan is sometimes called 'sorrel' andoccasionally a chestnut roan may be met.

Piebald - White and black in large random patches.

Skewbald - White and any other colour or colours, usually in large,random patches.

Dun - A fawn, biscuit colour, usually with black points.

Colour is sometimes an indication of a horse's temperament. Thequestion is however surrounded by legend and old wives' tales.Bright chestnuts, for instance, have a reputation for being fieryand dark bays are said to be sensible and reliable, but manyexceptions could be found to refute these theories. A strongcolour is often the sign of a strong horse whether it is a good richhay or brown or a deep liver chestnut. Weak colours, a washychestnut or a pale hay with mealy-coloured legs, may well he asign of a weak horse.

Other markings are sometimes found on the horse's body. Theblack stripe that runs along the back of some horses from themane to the tail, often found on the dun horse or pony, is knownas the 'dorsal stripe', the 'list' or the 'ray'. The horizontal stripessometimes found on the legs are known as 'zebra marks'.

The horse's eyes are usually black but where the eye is blue orgreyish-white it is known as a wall eye.

Horses are sometimes identified by 'freeze-marking', is a typeof branding where the horse's coat is permanently marked with awhite registered number. This is a particularly useful form ofidentification as it will, in most cases, deter a thief.