# Super helpful graphic for determining shades of chestnut



## PixiTrix (Sep 11, 2013)

Sorry if this is a repost, I'm still new here. I was researching chestnut v sorrel and came across what I thought was a great graphic breaking down all the shades of chestnut. Enjoy!


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## OutOfTheLoop (Apr 1, 2012)

My sorrel horse is a blood chestnut. Sounds so much more fancy
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chessie (Mar 13, 2012)

Oooh, I have a blood roan. Cool.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Eeh, not entirely accurate as I believe that first horse, the one they called a light chestnut, is actually a red roan and the second one may be as well. So, completely different genes working there.

And the one that they posted as a "flaxen liver chestnut"? I'm about 95% certain that horse is actually a silver dapple, which is a black based horse.

_These_ horses are flaxen liver chestnut.


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## Ponies (Aug 18, 2012)

The second one down on the left actually looks kinda red dunish to me.


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## Faceman (Nov 29, 2007)

smrobs said:


> Eeh, not entirely accurate as I believe that first horse, the one they called a light chestnut, is actually a red roan and the second one may be as well. So, completely different genes working there.
> 
> And the one that they posted as a "flaxen liver chestnut"? I'm about 95% certain that horse is actually a silver dapple, which is a black based horse.


They also don't include Palomino, which is just a creamed chestnut...


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## BlueSpark (Feb 22, 2012)

> They also don't include Palomino, which is just a creamed chestnut...


:lol: sounds like a holiday dessert:lol:

any ways, I find it a bit silly. A red based horse, with no other modifiers than mealy or flaxen, is a chestnut. a dark chestnut is a liver chestnut, a chestnut with flaxen is just that. you can describe the colors in between in any way you want, but they are just shades of chestnut. I don't think labelling them as exotic colors like "blood chestnut" or "golden chestnut" is going to impress anyone who really knows anything about horses. 

If we're going to pick weird names for chestnut shades, we may as well pick other ones as well. lets see, chocolate bay, snow grey, sterling grey...


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

BlueSpark said:


> If we're going to pick weird names for chestnut shades, we may as well pick other ones as well. lets see, chocolate bay, snow grey, sterling grey...


Oo! Oooo! If we get to give our horse's color a fancy name now, can my black and white pinto be an "ebony and ivory"?! :lol:

Agree with the others. Chestnut/sorrel is chestnut/sorrel, genetically and visually. You can make the distinction between chestnut and liver chestnut (since liver chestnut is chestnut + sooty) and you can add flaxen to it (or "mealy", which is more accurately pangere), but labeling the different shades of chestnut is simply semantics for people who want to make believe that their chestnut is some exotic color. 

To me, it's like the people who can't accept that their horse is brown and have to call it some "special" color name to make themselves feel better about it (like "seal bay" or "seal brown").
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

To me the top left horse looks like a dun?

Now don't flame me...
But when trying to determine a potential foals color I guess some of the variation names can be helpful because they imply specific color genetics... Like cream, etc.

*ducks out cause I know little about color!*
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## OutOfTheLoop (Apr 1, 2012)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> Oo! Oooo! If we get to give our horse's color a fancy name now, can my black and white pinto be an "ebony and ivory"?! :lol:
> 
> Agree with the others. Chestnut/sorrel is chestnut/sorrel, genetically and visually. You can make the distinction between chestnut and liver chestnut (since liver chestnut is chestnut + sooty) and you can add flaxen to it (or "mealy", which is more accurately pangere), but labeling the different shades of chestnut is simply semantics for people who want to make believe that their chestnut is some exotic color.
> 
> ...


Gosh darnnit! My sorrel is a fancy blood chestnut. Don't rain on my parade!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

FlyGap said:


> To me the top left horse looks like a dun?
> 
> Now don't flame me...
> But when trying to determine a potential foals color I guess some of the variation names can be helpful because they imply specific color genetics... Like cream, etc.
> ...


Using specific terms that imply a different genetic colour is not going to be a problem here. So if you had a chestnut with cream, it is perfectly ok to call them palomino - no one here is ever going to argue with that. The dislike is for different names for the same genetic colour - chestnut and sorrel and "golden chestnut" and "blood chestnut" are all the same genetically, so should be called the same name.


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## MajorSealstheDeal (Jan 4, 2011)

Is my colt a chestnut, or is he a brownie? I've google image searched and haven't found anything to help answer my question, and that graphic in the OP didn't help either. I had him registered as chestnut.


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

What colours are the sire and dam?


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Just based on those 2 pictures, I would venture a guess that you registered correctly and that your colt is a red base (chestnut). Though it looks like he'll be on the darker side when he gets his adult coat in. He's sure a cutie.


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## DriftingShadow (Jun 4, 2012)

Aww yall. I'm with out of the loop. I got all excited because I thought that now when people say "oh you got a chestnut" I could say "NO. I got a blood chestnut!" and make him seem more rare and awesome.

But yall snatched that away from me. Dang  haha


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL, the way I see it, folks can still use different phrases to describe exact shade (for me, sorrel = lighter orangey color and chestnut = darker blood color), but they should understand that they are all still genetically "red":wink:.


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## MajorSealstheDeal (Jan 4, 2011)

Chiilaa said:


> What colours are the sire and dam?


Both sire and dam are registered as black. His dam is the horse with the red halter, you can see how faded she gets in the summer. 

Glad to hear someone thinks I registered him the right colour.


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