# what color?



## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Welcome to the BadAss Brown Club. ;-)

He is Brown.

they essentially look bay/dark bay, but in the winter its very easy to tell which horses are brown. The caramel colored nose, flanks, girth area and around the eyes says it all.
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## bitinsane (Jun 5, 2013)

second on the brown =) can I have him?


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## jcmr8 (Apr 2, 2013)

ah okay is it normal for browns to have the dorsal or the red in the mane and tail or is it just a kind of unique thing he has.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

For reference, here is my BadAss Brown.




^^^ September 2013 Pictures...


Early summer 2013 May/June-ish


Early June 2013. This is a prime example of a brown. Notice the light points under the belly, flanks, around eyes, girth area and muzzle?


Just cause she's beautiful...
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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

jcmr8 said:


> ah okay is it normal for browns to have the dorsal or the red in the mane and tail or is it just a kind of unique thing he has.


The dorsal is just countershading. Basically he sun faded, except alone the top line where its darker and giving the appearance of a dorsal. Don't ask me how it works, it just does. Probably some century old camoflague technique. Lots of foals are born with "dorsals" which are actually countershading to help hide from predators. Could be the same dynamics...?

and yes the "reddish-orange" in manes/tails is normal due to sun-fading.
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## jcmr8 (Apr 2, 2013)

CLaPorte432 said:


> The dorsal is just countershading. Basically he sun faded, except alone the top line where its darker and giving the appearance of a dorsal. Don't ask me how it works, it just does. Probably some century old camoflague technique. Lots of foals are born with "dorsals" which are actually countershading to help hide from predators. Could be the same dynamics...?
> 
> and yes the "reddish-orange" in manes/tails is normal due to sun-fading.
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he just confuses me because the countershading is there all year round lol 

thank you very much. your horse is gorgeous by the way


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Some horses have that. LoL. Genetics are amazing. ;-)

and thank you. She's an incredible girl. I just wish she'd stay dark and not fade. It drives me nuts. 
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## HorseLovinLady (Jul 18, 2011)

Brown all the way, handsome boy!! Your horse is cute too CLa.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

FWIW, he might also be carrying sooty, which would cause the dorsal stripe. I've got a yearling brown filly who is most certainly a brown and she's got a slight dorsal.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

Id say Seal Bay (is that the same as brown?) My Arab is the same color


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

KigerQueen said:


> Id say Seal Bay (is that the same as brown?) My Arab is the same color


Yes, "seal bay" is a "fancy" name for brown.
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## jcmr8 (Apr 2, 2013)

smrobs said:


> FWIW, he might also be carrying sooty, which would cause the dorsal stripe. I've got a yearling brown filly who is most certainly a brown and she's got a slight dorsal.


I remember reading about the sooty gene before in a magazine but I can't remember what it said or find that magazine. ): is there a way to tell if there is the sooty gene without any testing or anything? I'm really interested in this
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## Peppy Barrel Racing (Aug 16, 2011)

There is no test for sooty at the moment. We just go by visuals at this time.
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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

^^Exactly that. On lighter colored horses, sooty can mimic the dun factoring, giving the horse a dorsal stripe and sometimes even shoulder barring. However, on darker colored horses like your guy, sooty can be difficult to determine because their base coat is so dark.

For example, this is the dam of my filly. I believe she was a regular bay instead of a brown, but she carried a heavy dose of sooty.









And you can kind of see her dorsal stripe. Sorry the pix are so crappy, she was completely feral and wouldn't stand well for me to get good ones.


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## jcmr8 (Apr 2, 2013)

heres one of his dorsal, not to good of a picture but its there. this is before he was completely shed out from winter.

what information is there on sooty? it has me curious now. could it possibly be passed from his Dam (if he does have sooty), I've never seen her before, I wish i had, all i know about her is her coloring and her registered name.


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## Peppy Barrel Racing (Aug 16, 2011)

Here's some info on sooty. 
Sooty | Color Genetics

There's a big thing that people forget when people see dorsals and assume dun and that is dun is a dilution gene. Dun has a very definitive peachy color to it and it dilutes all bases. Even dun mixed with cream dilution it still had a distinct color. So it's not just the dorsal you have to look at. And dun dorsals usually continue down the tail and the have a very defined drawn on with a sharpie look. 
My dunskins dorsal  Also notice the creamy apricot coloring,









Even sunfaded it still has a distinct look.


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## jcmr8 (Apr 2, 2013)

thanks tons! so sooty causes darker points? kind of like the darker spot on his hip and withers also his belly is dark too.
oh and i forgot to mention the brown around his eyes and on his muzzle is only there in the winter/spring


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## Peppy Barrel Racing (Aug 16, 2011)

It could be sooty or it could be because he is brown agouti based. Brown agouti doesn't restrict the black as well as regular agouti in many horses.
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