# Flaxen Chestnut?



## FrostedLilly (Nov 4, 2012)

Hello HF, 

I'm just wondering what you guys think. Whenever I think of chestnut with flaxen, I always think of a chestnut coloured horse with an extremely light blonde-like mane. The other day I was reading another thread on a mare that people thought was chestnut with flaxen that didn't have the super light mane and it got me to thinking. This is my mare "Sam" that I grew up with. She always did have a light-ish mane and tail in comparison to her body, but I never thought of her as flaxen. She died in 2004, so this is really just for fun. I know these pictures aren't the best, but unfortunately the best that I have. With her mane being on the right, most photos were taken of her and I with me standing, of course, on her left and these are all scans rather than digital. 

Also, does anyone know anything about the genetics behind flaxen? Is it an extension to the red factor, or just a varying shade that's the same genetically like a liver chestnut? Thanks for your thoughts! 

P.S. I will give you $1 000 000 internet dollars if you can guess who the foal is in some of the pictures. 


She's about 7 months pregnant in this picture and not happy about it.


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## kenda (Oct 10, 2008)

Flaxen is a seperate gene from red, it will just only show up on red horses (and its dilutions). Also, I believe the horse needs to have two copies present in order for it to show up. Your mare does look flaxen to me, which would mean that she has passed one copy on to her foal, although since he/she is bay it will of course not show up and it would also have had to get a copy from the sire. My mare is flaxen as well, but if you looked at her tail you could not tell, it's actually gotten redder since I got her while her mane, under the very top layer is almost white blonde.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Kenda that's not 100% known for sure. It's thought to be recessive, but the flaxen gene has not been isolated so there is no for sure on that one.


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## kenda (Oct 10, 2008)

Hmm, ok, good to know. It's been awhile since I did any research on colour genes, this was just what I thought I remembered about it. Should've clarified that. Thanks for the info!


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## oh vair oh (Mar 27, 2012)

She looks flaxen, but I don't know anything about genetics. :/

I have a question of my own about flaxen. My baby was born without a flaxen mane, but once we started trimming it and after she shed out, her mane "became" flaxen. Can flaxen show up later as well?

When she was 6 months, her mane was very red.











Now she is 13 months and her mane is very light!










Is this common?


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## 40232 (Jan 10, 2013)

I don't think it's flaxen. When I think of flaxen, I think of a light light color. Our QH's top of his mane is a lighter "flaxen" like color, but I honestly believe it's from the sun. He is also a sorrel, and had a much darker mane when he was younger.


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## Clava (Nov 9, 2010)

KylieHuitema said:


> I don't think it's flaxen. When I think of flaxen, I think of a light light color. Our QH's top of his mane is a lighter "flaxen" like color, but I honestly believe it's from the sun. He is also a sorrel, and had a much darker mane when he was younger.


Like this 


Yes, I think of flaxen as a much lighter colour than the body.


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## FrostedLilly (Nov 4, 2012)

Gorgeous Filly Oh Vair Oh. My guess is she is now getting her mature hair colour, although, like you, I don't know a ton about color genetics.

I pulled a quick pedigree from datasource on Sam and she's got quite a variety of colour in her background, although there is a lot of chestnut. There's a picture of her great grandsire, Abu-Alla, who most certainly displays flaxen, so I guess it's possible it was passed down. I don't know what her sire or dam looked like, other than one was chestnut and one was bay.









Abu-Alla


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Flaxen doesn't have to be bright white to be flaxen...


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## nvr2many (Jan 18, 2011)

I always thought of flaxen being more of a silver going through the mane... This is one of my FIL's horses.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

From what I understand (though I may be wrong) flaxen just dilutes the mane/tail color to be lighter than the body color. How much lighter may vary from barely a shade to totally white looking.

So, in my mind, this is a flaxen









And so is this










At least, that's how _I'll_ continue to view "flaxen" until they identify the gene and prove me wrong.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

That's my opinion as well smrobs.


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## FrostedLilly (Nov 4, 2012)

Interesting. I tried to find some better pictures, and this is all I could come up with, not very helpful, I know. I'm leaning towards flaxen as well as she consistently always had what I called the "blonde streak" in her tail which is in all of the pictures. She also always had lighter cream coloured hair intermingled in her mane. However, even if there was a genetic test, there will never be any proving it because she passed away 9 years ago!

The foal in the picture is my current mare Lilly, who is in foal for a 2014 baby where there is a possibility for Chestnut. I wonder how the genetics would work for flaxen in that case. I guess I'll have to wait and see. 

You can sort of see the lighter mane peaking over from the other side.


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## RiverBelle (Dec 11, 2012)

I had always imagined that my mare a red with a flaxen mane though her tail was always closer to her body color. My mare also passed away a few years back, so it doesn't really matter. She was beautiful either way in my opinion.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

LOL< flaxen is this color










I read the book when I was 10, that is what I think of as flaxen, and I am never going to let science and all that book learning change my mind, I read that book, and I believed it 


SO THERE:wink:


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## Druydess (Jan 25, 2008)

OP-- you're mare was a flaxen.


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## Druydess (Jan 25, 2008)

Druydess said:


> OP-- you're mare was a flaxen.


I was way too tired when I wrote this.. YOUR mare is a flaxen..:wink:


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## FrostedLilly (Nov 4, 2012)

Haha! Glad I'm not the only grammarian on here.  Thanks for the input. I'm thinking she was a flaxen as well and I wanted to know just out of curiosity because she's not as obvious as the yearling you have.


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## FeatheredFeet (Jan 27, 2010)

I always think of flaxen, as an obviously red/chestnut horse, with a very light, yellowish coloured mane and tail. This as opposed to the light manes and tails on silver horses. Their light coloured manes have a colder, more white or silvery look to them, if that makes sense.

Lizzie


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## Druydess (Jan 25, 2008)

Glynnis said:


> Haha! Glad I'm not the only grammarian on here.  Thanks for the input. I'm thinking she was a flaxen as well and I wanted to know just out of curiosity because she's not as obvious as the yearling you have.





FeatheredFeet said:


> I always think of flaxen, as an obviously red/chestnut horse, with a very light, yellowish coloured mane and tail. This as opposed to the light manes and tails on silver horses. Their light coloured manes have a colder, more white or silvery look to them, if that makes sense.
> 
> Lizzie


Flaxen can be just a shade lighter than the coat to be considered flaxen.

Yes, makes sense Lizzie..

Here's a very good site re: flaxen..

chestnut horses


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Eh Druydess that site is a fairly old, non-maintained site that has not stayed current. Some of the information remains up-to-date, but most of it is not. As well as that, some of the "information" is just wild speculation with no basis in fact at all.

In terms of flaxen, it can't be a dominant gene, because non-flaxen parents can have a flaxen foal, and it can't be recessive, because two flaxen horses can produce a non flaxen horse.


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## Druydess (Jan 25, 2008)

Chiilaa said:


> Eh Druydess that site is a fairly old, non-maintained site that has not stayed current. Some of the information remains up-to-date, but most of it is not. As well as that, some of the "information" is just wild speculation with no basis in fact at all.
> 
> In terms of flaxen, it can't be a dominant gene, because non-flaxen parents can have a flaxen foal, and it can't be recessive, because two flaxen horses can produce a non flaxen horse.


I realize that..it states is can't be dominant. I listed it as one of many theories, as the site itself acknowledges.
Until we have conclusive evidence- it's all speculation. It is useful in explaining the color itself as it is expressed in horses,


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