# Which mare is what colour? lol



## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

I have two chesnut mares that are quite different colours and am interested to hear how others would describe their respective colours??? Any feedback/input on the pics gratefully received. :clap: Left=Piper; Right=Sienna. Thanks.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

both sorrel/chestnut mares.
not much else to tell you.
both "red" horses.
pics are not that great, but they both look cute, from what i can see.


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

A couple more pics.


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## Stan (Aug 25, 2011)

Dark and light red. My mare is light in colour my wife's is darker.
Check it put at any interests, update weekly the first photo you see is Kate (half asleep) dark red chestnut. Look for Stella there is a southern flag in the photo. Stella is also a chestnut but light in colour. However, when the sun strikes her the colour is described as strawberry coloured. Her mane is even lighter, strawberry blond. I describe her as having a tarty look.


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

Both chestnuts. The one on the right in the last photo could use some serious groceries.


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Both chestnut. Here in Australia you won't hear many people refer to them as sorrel. They are just different shades of the same colour


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

HowClever said:


> Both chestnuts. The one on the right in the last photo could use some serious groceries.


Yeah, she's 33 years young and gets serious groceries twice a day.


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

Age is not an excuse.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

I think she is looking well for 33 yr old


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## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

Both sorrel. Genetically red/chestnut. If the old mare were mine I'd be doing bloodwork, getting her teeth floated, checking her fecal parasite counts, deworming if necessary, giving her free choice hay, senior feed, calorie boosts, etc. Old horses do not have to be thin.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

They would both be called chestnut, not sorrel. Sorrel is really only recognized in American stock breeds, although it is the same colour, just different terms.


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

Stan - I bookmarked your page to peruse at a later date. Kate and Stella are lovely girls, similar to my two. My mother was born in Whangarei (sp?) so we have more than chestnuts in common. 

How Clever - Why would I need an excuse? :shock: Sienna looks great in her woolly winter coat. 

Just to be clear about her feeding program. Sienna receives routine groceries (freechoice pasture, water, hay, salt mineral licks). Serious groceries (lucerne stud mix) x 2 day. Frivoulos groceries (chopped fruit/veg/garlic/ACV in oats) once a day and Treats (popcorn and dates) often enough that she catches herself. 

bubba13 - Thanks for your concern. She is 2.5 years into recovery from starvation and neglect. Apart from having no molars and a clicky stifle she is as healthy as a horse. LOL She has a whole new lease on life since Piper joined us.  

Everyone - so is the lighter (brassy) chestnut what is called sorrel in the US?


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

Day Mares said:


> How Clever - Why would I need an excuse? :shock: Sienna looks great in her woolly winter coat.
> 
> Just to be clear about her feeding program. Sienna receives routine groceries (freechoice pasture, water, hay, salt mineral licks). Serious groceries (lucerne stud mix) x 2 day. Frivoulos groceries (chopped fruit/veg/garlic/ACV in oats) once a day and Treats (popcorn and dates) often enough that she catches herself.


No, she doesn't look great. She looks hungry.

If she has no molars as you say she can not adequately grind up hay. As it is, it seems you give her plenty of roughage, but very little by way of protein and fat. 

I can not understand how you don't see a problem with the way that poor mare looks.


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## ItzKayley (Jun 8, 2011)

Howclever, I see why you are concerned about the mares weight but the poster is asking about their colours not their weight. We all have different opinions on what a healthy weight is, I have seen alot worse. :-D
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Sahara (Jul 23, 2010)

A healthy weight for horses is hardly a matter of opinion. Research the body conditioning score and you will learn that the ideal weight for all horses is around a 5. Keeping them at that score is the hard part, especially for mine who would gladly waddle around at an 8 or 9. As responsible horse owners we need to scrutinize our horse keeping practices and adjust them according to the horses' needs.


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## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

Both would be called sorrel in the US. 

If a vet has not deterimined a customized feeding program for the old mare, that really needs to be done. Some old horses who have been neglected will never quite recover 100%, but she's rather well beyond the "skinny" point, really to the appearance of emaciation. Something physical must be going on that's preventing her from gaining or keeping on weight.


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

People, no-one is more concerned about Sienna than I am! I am a campaigner for responsible, natural and sustainable horse keeping and consider myself to be beyond lucky to have the time, resources and land to do it on. 

Sienna is an aged arab x stockhorse who came to me more dead than alive 2 and half years ago. BCS has increased from 1.5 to 2.5 in that time. She'll be assessed again in May next year and we (vet and me) are aiming for a 3.  

Hark I hear horses outside my window. It must be Sienna's breakfast time. Must go.


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

It should not take 2 and a half years to bring a horse back from starvation. Especially when the horse still looks like an RSPCA case! 

It took me 6 months to get my boy from a 2 to a 4.5. It is unacceptable for that mare to look like that still 2 and a half years later.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Ace80908 (Apr 21, 2011)

Daymares - have you tried some senior feed and rice bran? it can get weight back on quite nicely, especially for those horses whose teeth just can't do the job anymore...


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

First of all, I think both are sorrel and very cute horses.  

I'd suggest to look into beet pulp and hay pellets to supplement the horse if you don't do it already. Lack of the teeth is a real challenge for them to munch on the hay/grass, the mash however would go much more easily.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I would call them chestnut and flaxen chestnut.


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

*Sienna's story*

Thanks for all the feeding suggestions. The lovely lady has been on a customised recovery plan since she staggered off the float in Jan 09. Beet pulp and maxi soy are our special friends. She is on a complete feed atm. 

The problem for a long time was not so much that she couldn’t graze but that she wouldn’t. We put the goat in her paddock and they became firm friends but Sienna didn’t graze, so we added a small herd of cows and on the third day she grazed. Alleluia!


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

Spoke to vet this morning. Piper is not right ;( he corrected my dates. Sienna came to me in Jan 2010 and Piper joined us in May this year. Oops
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

Correction. Sienna has been here since 2010. Piper joined us in May this year.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

And another pic of my gorgeous chestnut girls. Piper at front is 7 and Sienna at rear is 33. I love, love, love them both.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

HowClever said:


> It should not take 2 and a half years to bring a horse back from starvation. Especially when the horse still looks like an RSPCA case!
> 
> *It took me 6 months to get my boy from a 2 to a 4.5*. It is unacceptable for that mare to look like that still 2 and a half years later.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 
I agree with you here that it should not take so long to get a horses weight where it needs to be but you have to look at it in different ways.

When I first saw the pictures I was VERY worried myself until later learning more about the horse (age and back story) and these things have to be factored into the issue.

When can sit here and judge and say how she should be "fatter" but it seems to me (and I could be wrong) that she is doing the things that need to be done to get the mare where is needs to be. You and I may not agree with the ways she is doing it but she is trying and is consulting with a vet. Sadly these days alot of vets are not worth anything and so many people "try" but in the end do more harm then if the horse was just left alone, but who are we to judge on any of that.

I think the horse looks good for her age and back story.
Although you say above that it only took you 6 months to get your horses weight up, all horses are different, all horses gain and loose weight differently, what works for one does not work for another, and age also plays a big role.
Yes, I do think she needs to put on some more lbs and in time that should happen, if healthy enough to. Alot of vets will tell you that in some cases it is best to manage the weight gain, not too much too soon, and just because the horse may "look" healthy or "look" unhealthy does not mean either are true. Do not get me wrong I love a BEEFY horse but many would say mine are all over weight.


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## ItzKayley (Jun 8, 2011)

Sahara said:


> A healthy weight for horses is hardly a matter of opinion. Research the body conditioning score and you will learn that the ideal weight for all horses is around a 5. Keeping them at that score is the hard part, especially for mine who would gladly waddle around at an 8 or 9. As responsible horse owners we need to scrutinize our horse keeping practices and adjust them according to the horses' needs.


Sahara, what I meant is even though there is books, vets etc saying what a healty weight is, people will still have an opinion. I didn't mean that there was not a weight that is considered the healthy weight for a horse. 

Day Mares, have you tryed feeding her 'weight gainer'? My Mum's horse came to us under-weight with worms, bad teeth that had not been looked after and lice. We found this mix at a feed store called weight gainer and it seemed to work well with her. As I said before, she also has bad teeth. Her jaw is crooked and it was neglected and full of sores & build up of food when we got her.

Here she is the day (day after?) we got her.

























You can see the build up of food in her jaw in the last photo. The green in her mane is lice shampoo.

And after just under a year and alot of T.L.C, she looks like this.









It may take time, but don't give up on her.


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

*What vet said*

ItzKaley that horse is adorable and in many ways like Sienna don't you think? 

Vet came out yesterday and Piper is hot to trot. And she's doing a lot of it, prancing around like a matador. Apparently I shouldn't need to have a vet diagnose this but I have never seen this behaviour before and I will know next year.

I raised Sienna's weight with him again and he laughed and laughed. It was him that suggested I get myself to an online horse forum rather than ringing him everyday (sometimes multiple times a day) about this very same thing and many any other things besides. Um like calling him out to tell me Piper is in season. oops 

I trust my vet implicity, he has managed the care of both my girls since the day each one arrived on my property. I only took on another horse to help Sienna enjoy her last years and Piper has done more for Sienna's health and vitality than the months of hand feeding every four hours around the clock, rain or shine.

Every horse is different and every horse is wonderful. To me, looking at what Sienna has come from and knowing how she got there, she looks great. She looks like a happy horse to me.


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## ItzKayley (Jun 8, 2011)

Day Mares, 
haha, the vet probally thinks your nuts having him go out there to tell you your horse is in season. xD One reason I dislike mares...


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

*headdesk* 

Your vet sounds like a fool. That poor mare deserves so much better than to spend her last years hungry. Absolutely disgusting.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

Really, folks??? The horse is 33 years of age...hardly young by any means, and we do not know what it looked like before this stage at all, nor do we know how poor her teeth are, how much feed she gets each day, how well she actually digests that feed, etc... 

If all you can do is sit in this thread and judge what this person is doing for this old horse, go somewhere else. There are better ways of giving advice than doling out judgement.


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## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

Unless that horse has cancer or some other severe illness, there is no reason for it to take that long to gain back weight to an acceptable level, even for a horse of that age. If the current vet seems to see no issue and does not want to investigate the issue further, then it's time for an outside opinion.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

No offense but that is your personal opinion. And I wonder what will happen when you encounter an old horse that no matter what you do, it will not gain weight... 

Sometimes ALL you can do is make the animals as comfortable as you can, until they are ready to pass on; they age just like people, and sometimes that means inability to hold their weight, or muscle. Any decent vet will tell you that, and not sugar coat things, telling you you can keep an old pet fat and sassy until it's older than dirt. Sorry, that's real life.


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## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

But the point is that healthy horses WILL put on weight when fed correctly. If they don't, that's a signal that all is not well internally, and it's worth investigating (if you're concerned about your horse's health, comfort, and longevity, that is).


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

In that case things must change! I'll get the vet from the next village out pronto.


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## Stan (Aug 25, 2011)

I have a photo of a horse 36 years and still going strong her name is Patches. The trouble is she will gain to much weight and founder.
Would it hert to get a second opinoin and aleviate any fears, but well done trying to support that horse in its declining years, a number of us send them to be used as dog food. Not me personally.


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## Stan (Aug 25, 2011)

Nothing wrong with mares, all you have to do is read the signs and ignore.


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## CessBee (Dec 6, 2008)

Yes both are chestnut.

While she is on the thin side. From what I have read her owner does as much as she can to keep this mare happy and healthy.
Think about in people, you know the ones that are stick thin, yet eat like a horse and eat healthy meals? I do believe that there can be animals like that too.
Hell, my old boy Iceman was almost 30 when he passed, he was a grey and had multiple melanomas in him, most likely riddled with cancer as well, he was happy, on the thinner side, but his coat was shiny and soft and I kept him warm and fed. When it was time for him to go, I knew it and had him put down.

I recently read a study about how it is estimated that more than 50% of pleasure horses in the UK are overweight or obese. Showing that many do not see when a horse is too big. And you could draw the conclusion that many do not know when a horse is "too thin" as apposed to "light" just because a horse has visible ribs does not mean that the horse is starved, it's when they are ribby and of low muscle tone that things get serious (of course you shouldn't let your horse get to this state, but with a rescue you are building from that and it can take a long time). 
May I suggest a pelleted feed that could be soaked for ease of chewing and diggestion?


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## Day Mares (Jul 16, 2011)

*Second opinion booked*

Thank you to all those who have made kind, helpful and supportive comments about Sienna’s care, I really appreciate it! :thumbsup:


When Sienna came to me in January 2010 she was a mess. Emaciated (BCS 1.5); riddled with parasites, including tapeworm; anaemic; with a hacking cough among other things. She did not interact with her environment at all. 

Her most recent blood/faecal samples (taken in January 2011) were clear/negative. BCS was 2.5. My vet was satisfied with this and I was pleased until reading some of the comments above. I have another vet coming out to take a look at her on Thursday. There is no harm in getting a second opinion methinks.


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