# Show me your Brown horses!



## Rockett (Jan 11, 2011)

I'm interested in seeingthe difference between true Brown and Bay or Black horses...I keep imagining Chestnut, but I know that isn't right.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

Yaaaay! A brown horse thread!

I am sure I have the brownest brown horse of all the browns that ever lived. When people ask me what colour she is I say "brown" and I often get responses such as "Oh you mean dark bay?" or "is she a liver chestnut?"

Nope just brown, you know, like poop. Completely unadulterated by any white markings or other such 'flash' ha ha.

Here she is:

One where you can see her muzzle:









One where you can see her coat colour and highlights in her tail:









And one where she shows how well she can camoflage in pure dirt:


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## sixlets (May 1, 2009)

Dulcinea is a dark bay, though when I saw her a couple of weeks ago she looked almost black, but her muzzle is still brown. I think it's so funny that in the USA we have all these specific names for colors, like cherry bay, light bay, dark bay, seal brown, etc, and on Dulci's German papers is simply says "braun"


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## sixlets (May 1, 2009)

Here's another example of bay vs. black. Wyndemere looked black and white during the winter, then brown and white during the summer. You could she wasn't just fading black because she always maintained a mealy muzzle. (The first is winter the second summer)


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## sunedee (Aug 12, 2008)

Moon is seal brown. He and his sire were used in the research for the seal brown gene. Previous owner told me this, I have no details. 

Unfaded - June 2010










Faded - September 2010 He'd worn a fly sheet most of the summer but faded quick when I took it off.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

He was sold to me as a seal bay but his papers just say brown.


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## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

Seems I have a passion for plain coloured TB's after thinking back, here are a few more of the ones I have worked with over the years:

Cold Dawn (odd one out with his lil sock in the back there) but a good example of a bay:









Noble Squire, as plain a chestnut as you could find but textbook example of chestnut colouring:









TC, now he is classified as a bay although his muzzle is rather light in colour. Clearly has black points other that (others feel free to give you opinion on his bay-ness or brown-nes):









No such thing as a true black TB so can't help ya with that one, you'll have to ask the Arabian people :wink:


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

This little guy is bay through and through....only fading he is doing now is fading to grey....but thats his age, not his color lol...


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

I've had a couple different kinds over the years.
First was Nestor, my old Mini who was a silver bay. 







Then this is Biscuit, a bay Appaloosa (i know, he had no spots!:-o)







Then Ebony (one of my best horses) who was a brown







This is Lena, Ebony's first foal with me who was a blood bay like her sire.







And finally this is Chico, my solid black Arab mare My ultimate fav color.


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## DubyaS6 (Aug 30, 2010)

Sarah-

My mare looks a lot like TC, but her muzzle is VERY brown right now...almost mule-ish. You can see (in my avatar) when she sheds out that her muzzle is in fact black though.


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## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

DubyaS6 said:


> Sarah-
> 
> My mare looks a lot like TC, but her muzzle is VERY brown right now...almost mule-ish. You can see (in my avatar) when she sheds out that her muzzle is in fact black though.


Yeah we always called him a bay and I never thought twice about it till I posted that picture in this thread! The photo was taken in the winter time believe it or not, his coat was irradescent in the summer and his muzzle was much darker then.

Lil Ruffian - your mare is gorgeous!


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Sarah a bit of a thread hijack, but what was TC's racing name?


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## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

He never raced, he was born to a mother on a surrogate farm, so he was bottle fed and his mother was surrogate to some expensive orphan TB who probably went off and raced. He was a great horse, he was kept as a stud but never bred, only TB I have dealt with that had no prior track experience!

Both him and the Chestnut were Aussie TB's, the other two are American.

So TC was all we called him, I have no idea if he had a different name on his papers, it sure never was used!


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Oh what a cool story lol. He looks like a TB at my riding school, so was curious


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## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

Ha, I was wondering if you were going to investigate their track records or something, he sure is a beautiful horse, makes plain bay look amazing.


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## Cali (Feb 4, 2011)

I feel like a total loser, I've been in the horse world for 10 years (though quite disconnected for the past three) but I have to ask.. What's the difference between a bay and a brown? I understand bays have black points, does that have to mean muzzle too? So if the horse has a mealy muzzle is it brown? I'm wondering if I've been calling my gelding the wrong color for 6 years!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Bay, wild bay and brown are all caused by Agouti. Bay (A), Wild bay (A+), and Brown (At) can and do have black points. 

With bay, black is restricted to the points. With wild bay, black is even further restricted (think of it as the black doesn't come very far up the legs). With brown you have black restricted to the points as well as lightening around the muzzle, flanks, inner forearms and thighs. Of course some colors will be so very close that the only way to know for sure is to test.


Also registries are the wrong place to look for color definition. They usually get it wrong. (just throwing that out there! lol)


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

lilruffian -- Lena is a good example of a wild bay. The black on her legs doesn't go up very far.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Such gorgeous horses! I think Beau was a brown, or bay, I'll see if I can scan in some pictures of him. He was a big 'ol MFT


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

This is a black horse that i used to own, skip, worst horse i ever owned lol surprisingly he is now owned and ridden by a 12 year old girl(although he still bucks)








that was in the summer when i first got him









and a few months later, a little faded

and my bay Tiffany who passed away about 7 years ago, never realized that she doesn't have much black on her legs till now









And my Bay mare Bella


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## Sarahandlola (Dec 16, 2010)

Here is Bay Lola! What kind of bay would she be?

In the sun



















She has a light muzzle too



















I have not seen her summer coat yet!


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## peppyrox (Apr 23, 2010)

This is my boy, Jack. He is a bay thoroughbred  In the last photo, he is wet, that's why he looks so dark and shiny!

View attachment 57289


View attachment 57290


View attachment 57291


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

Rachel, that last pic of your Bella is stunning!


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

This is my brown mare Romance. She's the prettiest little princess, not a speck of white on her


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

HowClever.....your mare is beautiful!! Love her color!!!


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

Thank you very much! She is such a character too


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## Whitney13 (Mar 6, 2011)

These are my horses. I am not sure if they are brown, black, or bay. They are turned out full time in all seasons.

This is January, Big Buddy is on the left and Dixie is on the right.

Snow by Whitney_13, on Flickr

This is Dixie in front and Big Buddy in back.

Trails by Whitney_13, on Flickr

This shows an up close picture of Big Buddy's color in the middle of the summer, his neck and part of his head are in a shadow.








Big Buddy by Whitney_13, on Flickr

This is Sunday, both Dixie and Big Buddies dam. She passed away last June. This is what color they all my horses are the majority of the year. 

Sunday by Whitney_13, on Flickr


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## Eliz (Jun 16, 2010)

My little brown boy


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## TeamPenner17 (Feb 21, 2011)

My Brown Steed! :lol:


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

Team Penner - he is beautiful!!!


This is my handsom man, Mr Nelson, my 21 year old TB


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

TeamPenner17 said:


> My Brown Steed! :lol:


Just out of curiosity, what was edited off the mares' mouth?


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

NdAppy said:


> Just out of curiosity, what was edited off the mares' mouth?


I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out lol, looks like it might have been the reins, if you look really close you can see the hand has been edited as well as a few places on the neck and the breast collar, and then the most obvious is the stirrup


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

lilruffian said:


> Rachel, that last pic of your Bella is stunning!


Thank you, the bottom pic is the only one of Bella, the one above her is Tiffany, they looked so much a like sometimes we mistakenly call Bella Tiffany, but Tiffany was a 13.3hh arab/Quarter, Bella is 16hh OTTB, Tiffany had to be put down about 7 years ago :-(


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## apachiedragon (Apr 19, 2008)

Our pony Moon is brown. Sort of. We call him black, even though he really isn't, he has some brown undercurrent. Or he may be a dark bay. I'll let you decide. The first 2 are his winter color, the third is his summer color.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Apachie - Moon is definitely brown. No doubt in my mind about that one.


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## Sarahandlola (Dec 16, 2010)

TeamPenner17 said:


> My Brown Steed! :lol:



He/She looks chestnut to me...


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## phoenix (Jun 7, 2010)

This is my dark bay horse, for the longest time i thought he was black, on the vet check i have from when i bought him it says "brown"


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## TeamPenner17 (Feb 21, 2011)

chestnut is not a shade of brown :?::?::?:


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## sixlets (May 1, 2009)

TeamPenner17 said:


> chestnut is not a shade of brown :?::?::?:


It comes from a completely different gene than browns and bays; it's not-very-originally called the red gene. But your horse is a stunner! haha


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## Arksly (Mar 13, 2010)

How do you tell if the horse is bay or brown? Is the only way to know for sure is getting them tested?


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Arksly said:


> How do you tell if the horse is bay or brown? Is the only way to know for sure is getting them tested?



This -


NdAppy said:


> ...
> With brown you have black restricted to the points as well as lightening around the muzzle, flanks, inner forearms and thighs. Of course some colors will be so very close that the only way to know for sure is to test.
> ...


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