Chestnut horses are horses that range in color from a brassy copper-colored coat, do a deep reddish brown-colored coat. The types of chestnuts include sorrel, liver chestnut, flaxen chestnut, and light chestnut. Chestnut is a hair coat color of horses consisting of a reddish.
The unique chocolate palomino horse usually results from pairing a liver chestnut horse with a palomino colored horse. The extremely rare result has dark skin coloring, brown eyes, and a chestnut base coat. Chestnut horses, or "red" horses vary in shade from almost honey gold, to orangey red, to copper, chocolate and almost black.
The color is due to various forms and densities of the red pigment phaeomelanin. The darkest shades of chestnut are called liver chestnut. In some breeds, especially Western breeds such as the American Quarter Horse, the term sorrel is used for light chestnut horses.
What makes a horse a liver chestnut? Liver chestnut Liver chestnuts are the darkest chestnuts. They are dark red to almost black. Flaxen chestnut is used to describe a chestnut horse with manes and tails that are straw-colored or lighter than the body color.
What is the difference between chestnut and liver chestnut? Liver chestnuts are a lot darker than regular chestnuts. Neither has a black. Horses with a reddish-brown coat are referred to as Chestnut.
This color is also known as sorrel, and it can range from a rather light shade of brown-yellow to a deep liver color, though all Chestnuts will have some red in their coats. Interestingly, chestnut horses always carry two copies of the red coat pigment gene, which is recessive. I used to ride a liver chestnut much darker than your horse.
I am currently riding an Arab mare of similar coloring to yours with darker tail but lighter mane. Chestnut or red or whatever you call it, your horse is a beautiful color! I would never call this a 'plain' chestnut. This color is caused by a specific gene that blocks the production of black pigment, resulting in shades that range from light golden red to deep liver chestnut.
A look at liver chestnut horses around the world and on a variety of different breeds. Probably the least common of the chestnut shades, livers can look almost black in color, but still have no actual. Equine coat color is determined by genetics.
In very simple terms, two base coat pigments result in a chestnut coat (a reddish brown color) and black. These two colours commonly interact to produce another base color, a dark brown known as bay. The variation we see in horse colors is caused by additional genes, which modify and enhance the coat.