# Chestnut? Or.....?



## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

She is chestnut.

a chestnut is a chestnut is a chestnut. 

She has a flaxen gene making her mane and tail lighter. And she does appear to have a "liver" body. So if you really want to get technical...call her a flaxen liver chestnut.

she is very pretty! Love her face!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## GotDaWhip (May 12, 2013)

Oh, and this is what she shed out to last year... (when she just turned 2...)


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## toto (Mar 3, 2013)

liver chestnut ! My favorite color ever! :mrgreen:


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## GotDaWhip (May 12, 2013)

Thanks! I was just SOOOOO confused about all the "technical" names. We are having trouble with the whole registering process with the AQHA because she keeps "changing colors". :? One representative told us to call her a liver chestnut... one told us to call her a flaxen chestnut. Honestly, i don't really care  She's a chestnut.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

so that is a liver chestnut, thanks, never knew what to call that.


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## GotDaWhip (May 12, 2013)

OK. One more question for you color experts... Do all liver chestnuts have the flaxen(ish) mane/tail? Because my friends horse is one... and he doesnt have a lighter mane/tail :-| (or at least she tells me he is one..) That is one of the reasons i was kind of confused about the color


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

No, not all liver chestnuts have flaxen. Its whatever combination of genes that were inherited from the sire/dam that will determine the outward appearance of the horse.
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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

Was she wet in the first pics??


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Like I know? I have seen horses that color however without the flaxen mane & tail...


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## GotDaWhip (May 12, 2013)

Haha no she wasn't wet in the first pics  This was right after I used the curry comb on her for the first time this year  I was surprised she shed out that dark which is why i took pictures. Actually, that was a couple weeks ago, and i got her out today, and she has slight dapples on her:? She is just a mixed up colored horse :lol:


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## toto (Mar 3, 2013)

^liver chestnut










^ flaxen liver chestnut


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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

I dont think she is liver, her legs are lighter normal chestnut, and her winter coat is regular chestnut. She sheds out to a beautiful dark color though!


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## GotDaWhip (May 12, 2013)

Thanks! I'm just going to wait and see what her winter coat looks like this winter and if she sheds out like that again. :-o Maybe it's a one-summer-thing. 

Honeysuga- if it makes a difference, the light chestnut has completely shed off now and is the same color as the body:wink:


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Honey, all chestnut horses get lighter as you get closer to their hooves...some noticeably lighter and others are just barely, but they all do.

Agree with the consensus on flaxen liver chestnut. I also wonder if maybe she has a very mild case of pangare going on as well (that would cause the lighter soft areas; behind the elbows, in the flanks, and on the lower buttock....and lower legs too).


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## toto (Mar 3, 2013)

^chestnut










^flaxen chestnut










^sorrel


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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

WEll then I sure as heck dont know! haha! Im interested to see her next year. What do you feed her?

Smrobs- go figure I was wrong. I suck at colors.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL, no worries at all .


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Honeysuga said:


> I dont think she is liver, her legs are lighter normal chestnut, and her winter coat is regular chestnut. She sheds out to a beautiful dark color though!


Look at the pictures Toto posted. Most chestnuts are lighter at the lower part of their leg. And there is no test for different shades of chestnut, it is what it is. Its either e/e, or not. This horse is e/e, no doubt. For AQHA, just put chestnut. Chestnuts are prone to different changes in coat color with the season.

my lease horse last year was a copper color in winter. In spring she darkened some, and by fall, she was super dark like your mare. 

palominos often go through coat changes too. From dull yellow, to a bright bright gold or a really dark tan color. It just depends on the season.

diet matters too. if she's getting better quality feed then she was in past years, her coat will reflect that.

as well as amount of sunlight shes exposed to. More sun ='s sun bleached coat.
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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

I even downloaded a huge article on color genetics and studied the crap out of it and still suck at it! I guess Ill stick to riding... haha

GDW- She is a cutie no matter what color.


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## Peppy Barrel Racing (Aug 16, 2011)

Flaxen liver chestnut very pretty. Genetically they are all (ee) the haven't isolated what causes the different shades but chestnut and sorrel are the same genetically. Some people like to use chestnut and sorrel to describe the different shades but they are still the same color.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## toto (Mar 3, 2013)

Honeysuga said:


> I even downloaded a huge article on color genetics and studied the crap out of it and still suck at it! I guess Ill stick to riding... haha
> 
> GDW- She is a cutie no matter what color.



Nah just hang out here- youll learn a lot and most every one in this sub thread are way nicer!! :lol: :hide:


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## GotDaWhip (May 12, 2013)

I feed her Purina Strategy. Honestly, I dont really know where she got the color, because the dam was sorrel, and sire was just a dark brown (or so I am told... but he didn't have any flaxen thing going on or anything :-| that I know of)
Haha Thanks Honeysuga, I think shes pretty no matter what  When we got her as a 2 month old, she was an odd yellowish mustard color:shock: YEAH we were hoping she would shed out of that :lol:


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

I always find it funny that AQHA allows registration for both sorrel and chestnut. They're genetically indistinguishable with current testing, subjective, and can change year to year.

I agree that OP's horse is a flaxen chestnut, currently a flaxen liver chestnut


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## sunny5 (Mar 21, 2012)

If dad was 'dark brown' he could have been a liver chestnut easily.
Most livers look chocolately brown.


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## GotDaWhip (May 12, 2013)

Cool. Well, thanks for your help guys!


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Sorrel, chestnut, liver, and flaxen sorrel/chestnut are all genetically the same at this point in time. They are all "red" (ee). 

sunny5 - "dark brown" is an ambiguous term that can mean anything from actual brown, to bay to sunfaded black to liver chestnut. 

A sorrel can produced a dark red, this goes right back into what I said at the top of my post.


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