# What color is Arthur?



## speedy da fish (May 7, 2009)

sorrel to me is the same shade of 'red' all over, his mane is slightly lighter especially in the 1st pic
does he vary in colour seasonally?


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## RedRoan (Mar 2, 2009)

Looks like a flaxen chestnut or sorrel to me


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## Jillyann (Mar 31, 2009)

sorrel.


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## speedy da fish (May 7, 2009)

i dont know is he is flaxen his mane isnt blone enough, i will go for sorrel (but ive never thought that that is a real colour)


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## Taihoa (Nov 11, 2009)

In NZ he would just be a flaxen chestnut. We aren't big on labelling colours and going into their genetics. They are bay, grey, chestnut or black LOL. Even pintos only fit into 1 of 3 categories


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## 1dog3cats17rodents (Dec 7, 2007)

Sorrel and chesnut are genetically the same, so chesnut is just fine. But Sorrel works too, because of the lighter mane


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## Marrissa (Feb 4, 2007)

Sorrel/chestnut are the same thing. He's a chestnut with flaxen. In the first pic I'd call him a sooty chestnut or otherwise named a liver chestnut. But in the following pics he doesn't look that dark..


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## danastark (Jul 17, 2008)

I'd say liver chestnut, especially from the first picture. Typically they are a browner chestnut with some lighter areas, sometimes dapples and a flaxen mane and tail. He's a very pretty boy. Lucky you to have all those equines!


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## 1dog3cats17rodents (Dec 7, 2007)

danastark said:


> I'd say liver chestnut, especially from the first picture. Typically they are a browner chestnut with some lighter areas, sometimes dapples and a flaxen mane and tail. He's a very pretty boy. Lucky you to have all those equines!


liver chesnuts are usuallly much darker, all but the first picture are very light, more orange then dark brown/orange


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

It's confusing....idk how to classify him. I've never seen a horse with his mane & coat color combo. Sometimes he looks purple-tinted (like in the videos below), and in winter he usually looks really orange-ish.

Here's some recent videos:

AAA my pets :: Arthur rolling after a ride video by equiniphile - Photobucket
AAA my pets :: Arthur rolling after a ride video by equiniphile - Photobucket
AAA my pets :: MOV01484.flv video by equiniphile - Photobucket

Here's some more pix from like 5 years ago:


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Wait a minute.....I found this pic online of a sorrel chestnut. Compare it to the one pic of Arthur:

Online pic of chesnut:









Arthur:










They look really similar, especially in the mane. I found this online also:
****************************************************
Also found in most breeds, chestnut horses have no black hairs, their coat is red with red points.
There are three different chestnut shades:

Liver / black chestnut
Chestnut / sorrel
Blonde / Sandy Chestnut
****************************************************
So which chesnut is he? A liver chestnut, a sorrel chesnut, or a sandy chestnut? I think a sorrel chesnut. or just a sorrel for short. Agreed?


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

*I found this online:*







*Basic Chestnut*

There are two basic coat colors in the equine animal, either black base or chestnut base.
All horse colors are built on a black or a chestnut base and different colors are achieved by dilution genes and color modifiers to provide the wide variety of colors and patterns in existence today.
*A Few Chestnut Facts*


Chestnut horses have no black hairs, they have a red coat and red points
Chestnut and sorrel are interchangable terms and the same genetically
Colors range from dark reddish brown, to deep red to light red
Mane and tail can achieve a sunstreaked look making it lighter than the body hairs
Mane and tail can be almost black all the way to blonde and flaxen
*Different Chestnut Shades*

Liver or Black Chestnut 








Image from French Stallions

Darkest red color
Can be very dark, however hair will retain a red color
Common in the morgan breed
Can be confused with silver dapple
Chestnut / Red Chestnut / Sorrel








Image from Travelers Farm

Lighter red hairs
Mane and tail can be very light in color
Most common shade of chestnut
Light Blonde / Sandy Chestnut








Image from Imoan Arabians

Very pale red
Mane and tail can be very light in color
*Chestnut Dilutions*

A chestnut base can produce the following colors when diluted
Red Dun

Chestnut base with a dun dilution gene.
Image from Engage Farms
Palomino

Chestnut base with a cream dilution gene.
Image from Stallions at Stud
Creamello

Chestnut base with a double dose of the cream dilution gene.
Image from Color Thyme Stud
Red Champagne

Chestnut base with a champagne dilution gene.
Image from Evening Shade Farm
*Chestnut Modifications*

A chestnut base can produce the following colors when modified.
Mealy / Pangare

Chestnut base with a mealy / pangare gene.
Image from White Horse Productions
Sooty / Smutty

Chestnut base with a sooty / smutty gene.
Image from jwakanmorgans
Flaxen

Chestnut base with a flaxen gene.
Image from Sunset Farms
*White Patterns*

Chestnut horses can display the following white patterns.
Appaloosa

Chestnut base with an appaloosa white pattern gene
Image from evelynbelgium
Skewbald Pinto / Paint

Chestnut base with a pinto / paint white pattern gene
Image from Wagon Wheel Farm
Strawberry Roan

Chestnut base with a roan white pattern.


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## taylor12 (Dec 12, 2009)

Sorrel i would say,but he might be a liver chesnut.


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

id say liver chestnut


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## luvmyqh (Dec 10, 2009)

i showed my friends QH this summer and the pics are to good but is the same color as your and shes sor.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

I think Artie's a sorrel now that I've read up on it. People say sorrel and chestnut are interchangeable terms, but a sorrel is apparently a kind of chestnut. How can that be?


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

Chestnut


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## qtrhrsecrazy (Aug 2, 2009)

equiniphile said:


> I think Artie's a sorrel now that I've read up on it. People say sorrel and chestnut are interchangeable terms, but a sorrel is apparently a kind of chestnut. How can that be?


Sorrel and Chestnut are the same. Most people will say Sorrel when they're more copper colored. I think it's just a dialect thing started years ago, is all.

It's like saying ocean and sea - we know they're the same thing


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## Allison Finch (Oct 21, 2009)

Yes, sorrel and chestnut are the same. English riders use chestnut and RARELY use the term sorrel. Western people tend to use the sorrel term.


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## SmoothTrails (Oct 1, 2009)

What they are trying to say is that geneticaly there is no difference. A sorrel or chestnut will produce the same. The whole different shades is just so that people can be more precise about what the color shows as.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Okay. I ride him western most of the time so I guess he's sorrel . Thanks!


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

So I see everyonee agrees we have a chestnut? Chestnut or flaxen or sorrel, makes no difference. Same diff guys.

She asked a question, you answer with your best and most educated guess. The topic what you call brown colored horses should be left for another thread(which has been started dozens of times).

Cheers everyone.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

Definitely chestnut...as has been pointed out, sorrel is essentially the same; it just depends on your own personal preference.


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