Horse Info

• Black: All black without brown highlights.
• Brown: Dark brown or nearly black with brown highlights.
• Bay: Brown or reddish-brown body with black "points"
• Chestnut: (also called Sorrel) Reddish-brown with the same color or lighter tail, mane, and legs. May be dark chestnut, red chestnut, or light chestnut. Mane and tail may be blond.
• Grey: Grey or white with dark skin, eyes and muzzle. Greys are born dark colored and grow lighter as they age, until they are nearly white. May be dark grey (iron grey), dappled grey, "flea-bitten" (speckled) grey, or white grey. True white ponies/horses are born white with pink skin.
• Roan: Black, bay, brown, or chestnut with white hair mixed through the coat. May be "blue roan" (black or brown roan), "red roan" (bay or chestnut roan), or "strawberry roan" (light chestnut roan).
• Dun: Tan or mouse colored, with dark legs, mane and tail and a dark stripe down the back.
• A golden dun with dark legs, mane, tail, and without a stripe is called a "buckskin".
• Palomino: Golden coat with white mane and tail.
• Pinto: Large, colored patches of any color and white. A "piebald" is black and white. A "skewbald" is any other color and white.
• Appaloosa: Has small round spots or speckles. May be dark with light spots, white with dark spots, roan with patches of spots, or dark with a white "blanket" and spots over the hindquarters.

• (generally all are white)
• STAR - a small dot (maybe just a couple of inches) on the forehead of the horse, between or just above the eye level.
• STRIPE - a thin line from the forehead down to the nose
• SNIP - white on the lower part of the horse's nose, near the upper lip. Doesn't really go around the face past the nostrils, just on the front.
• BLAZE - a wide line from the forehead down to the nose, covering most of the front of the face
• WHITE FACE - even broader than the blaze, may even include white around the eyes and the entire muzzle
• WHITE MUZZLE - need I say more?
• LIP MARKS - markings on the lips

• (generally all are white)
• ERMINE - a very small white band around the hoof, touching the hoof and not very high at all (doesn't go to the ankle)
• SOCK - white from the hoof over the ankle
• STOCKING - white all the way up to the knee
• ZEBRA - dark/black strips around the knee/leg area. Only occurs on certain breeds and color types, and is considered a "primative" marking. Often they are very faint and or small on horses.
• Half-Pastern: white that comes half way up the pastern; almost a sock, but not quite.
• Half-Cannon: white that come half way up the cannon bone; make sure you do not confuse this with the stocking or the sock. This marking goes a little further up on the leg than the sock but does not extend as far as the stocking

• DORSAL OR EEL STRIPE - extends from the tail, along the bank, usually all the way to the withers (shoulders). Again, like the zebra markings, these are only found on certain breeds and colors, and are rare. Considered "primative" markings...you also see them on donkeys and other "long ears".
• Brand: A design burned into the skin to indentify an animal
• Freeze brand: A brand make by freezing instead of heat. The hair grows in white. Usually letters or numbers are used.
• Scar: A permanent mark left by an injury that has healed

Age & Lifespan

A horse generally isn't fully mature until they are 5 to 7 yrs old, depending on the breed and the individual horse. This is most shows discourages horses under the age of 6 from showing too hard...they just aren't fully developed yet. Thoroughbred race horses are a whole different story...they begin racing at 2, and many retire from overwork and injury by the age of 4 or 5. The feet and legs mature first, and the back/spine is the last part of the horse to fully mature.

Horses can begin training at about 3 yrs, although some breeds like the Lippizan may not even begin training until they are about 8 yrs old. At the age of 3, work should still be very light.

Full work can begin at 6 yrs of age.

A horse can generally reach is peak (best physical ability and training) at 8 to 12 yrs old.

A horse can successfully work and show until about 17 yrs of age, athough some horses can be very successful even older.

Many horses begin to fall ill to disease and die around 20 to 25, but some horses can live amazingly long and healthy lives. I've heard of many horses in their 30's, and some even in their 50's!

A horse under a year is a foal. Foals are weaned (taken off milk) at about six months old.

A female under the age of 4 is a filly.

A male under the age of 4 is a colt.

In addition to being a colt or filly, any 1 yr old horse is a "yearling".

A female 4 and up is a mare.

A male 4 and up is a stallion.

Any castrated ("fixed") male horse is a gelding. Female horses usually aren't "spade" as it is a very dangerous operation for an animal that big.