# Chestnut or something else?



## damnedEvans (Jan 23, 2010)

Hello... I'm curious about this for a very long time. Can a horse be chestnut if he has so many white hairs in his coat and mane? 

The horse is about 10 - 12 years old so he's not too old. But he has a very strange mane with a lot of white hairs. The coat has a lot of white hairs too and they are placed all over his body. 

And now I see an white spot on his back and I don't think that it's something made because of an ill fitted saddle. 

Here you can see the strange spot
















white hairs all over his body


































His mane








the whole horse


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## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

My chestnut mare has them too. The spot could be an old saddle sore.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Zeke (Jun 27, 2010)

I would definitely say he's a chestnut, and a sweet looking one at that!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## damnedEvans (Jan 23, 2010)

thank you ... I was asking because it seems that not all chestnut horses have so many white hairs. But I will look closer at them to see for sure. Maybe he's just a special chestnut :lol:


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## Perfection (Nov 6, 2010)

The white hair might be from an injury like saddle sore or from a scar, it's definitely a chestnut.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

It's not a question of if he's chestnut or not, he definitely is, but the white hairs can be an indication of rabicano. My Arab mare has the exact same flecks all over, as well as several white hairs in her tailhead which is the number one characteristic of rabicano. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find a definitive answer on if chestnut's can have so many white hairs without being rabicano. I don't think enough research has been done to say for sure if white hairs are only present for rabicano or not.

He's definitely chestnut though.


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## Cheshire (Oct 17, 2009)

My chestnut mare has the white hairs all over, especially thick on her front legs...it almost looks as if she is trying to grow new socks. She has two small white spots on her rump as well, but no white in her tail...which is that strange, dark, almost mahogany shade some chestnuts get.

As for your guy...I'd say that one big spot looks like an old saddle sore. Definitely, as Macabre said, chestnut though.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

What breed of horse is that? He looks a bit like my Mustang.


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## damnedEvans (Jan 23, 2010)

Thank you for your responses. 
MacabreMikolaj: you're right about the question. I should have asked another thing. But thank you for the answer, I've understood now what you mean. 
trailhorserider: He is a mixed breed. We don't know his parents or his breeding. Here it's something usual to breed horses without knowing their breed or without having papers for them. His parents were for sure mixed breed too so we can't trace or guess his breeding. So you can say that he is some kind of mustang without the iberian blood :lol: .


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## taylorswift13 (Oct 18, 2010)

He looks like a sorrel. Just putting it out there


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## speedy da fish (May 7, 2009)

yeah he is chestnut, my bay has some white hairs too. That white mark does look like an old saddle sore to me.


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## HNS101 (Oct 26, 2010)

he's chestnut or sorrel


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## Quixotic (May 22, 2009)

sorrel & chestnut are the exact same thing genetically.


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## Haley (Aug 18, 2009)

That's for sure not rabicano - it manifests itself much differently. He has what is called "sabino ticking". Sabino is a gene that causes anything from a little star, to an almost all white horse. Basically, "sabino" is what is used to describe genes that are responsible for markings that haven't been identified yet (save for SB1), and certain ones can cause the ticking, like your horse has.

Oh, btw.. he's a regular chestnut/sorrel.. not doubt there.

My mare has ticking, just like your guy.. and she's black. I tell ya' though, I've always found it to be a heck of a lot more attractive on the red horses than it is on the black. Ha.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

My mare is sabino, with rabicano roaning, which although he doesn't "look" sabino, he definitely may have some of the roaning factors...your horse IS chestnut, as well...or sorrel. Those are the same color, just different folks called a 'red based' horse a different color in different regions of the country, that's all.


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## Snookeys (Sep 23, 2010)

Hm see, I was always led to believe SORREL was the lighter red color, and chestnut was darker. I always thought there was a difference, and recognized chestnut and sorrel as two different colors.

Sorrel:










Chestnut:










And then there are liver chestnuts, etc... I'd just call them "red horses" honestly.

Edit: read this: http://greenfield.fortunecity.com/dreams/799/hc/red.htm


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Snookeys they are genetically the same colour 

In Australia we don't use the term 'sorrel' much at all.


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

there is a name for a chestnut horse that has a lot of white hairs, but i can never remember what that color is called !


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

Snookeys said:


> Hm see, I was always led to believe SORREL was the lighter red color, and chestnut was darker. I always thought there was a difference, and recognized chestnut and sorrel as two different colors.


As it has been said, genetically they are the same, just two different shades of "red." 

Sorrel is a western horse term, mainly used by QH and Paint Horse people. You won't find it used in the "English" breed world, Arabians, TBs, Warmbloods, etc. 

Good article:
Horses - horses and ponies on the internet


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## dance21 (Oct 28, 2010)

If you ask me he is most certainly a chestnut but he may have a small roan element in him if you insist that there are plenty of white or grey hairs on him.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

My chestnut/sorrel gelding has a white spot too. Idk what they are but your guy is definitely a sorrel/chestnut


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## Pony10girl (Sep 1, 2010)

yh i would say he was a chestnut my chestnut has way more white hair and hes classed as a chest nut lol you should see him molting theres white hair every were 
one question when he gets his summer coat has he got less white hair?


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

My former QH gelding was chestnut/sorrel and he had little sprinklings of white hairs through out his body. I had searched it once and read an article that called it "roaning" not to be confused with "roan". Just random white hairs sprinkled around....on his flanks, neck, throat latch area, hips, his back. 

Spot is saddle issue at some point. Pretty boy by the way...sorrels are one of my favorites.


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

Snookeys said:


> Hm see, I was always led to believe SORREL was the lighter red color, and chestnut was darker. I always thought there was a difference, and recognized chestnut and sorrel as two different colors.
> Edit: read this: Chestnut and Sorrel


They are the same thing, only in "western" terms, a sorrel is a chestnut horse & a chesnut is what would be termed a liver chesnut in "english" terms lol.
Kind of like how "western" folks call a canter a lope. :lol:


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