Chestnut, Flaxen Chestnut or Sorrel?

I don't know much about horse colourings but when we met my boy we were just told he was chestnut. Looking at pictures of other people's horses on here I'm thinking that maybe he's flaxen chestnut. I know sorrel and chestnut are often mistaken so I wondered if maybe he was sorrel.
Anyone able to help a girl out?





Thanks in advance!

Sorrel and chestnut are the exact same thing, except 'sorrel' is usually used in the West on stock horses, and 'chestnut' in the East with sport horses. They are interchangeable.

Flaxen sorrel or flaxen chestnut is just a more detailed classification for sorrels/chestnuts. Usually a horse with a lighter mane than the body is called a "flaxen" chestnut or sorrel.

I have a flaxen chestnut, I call her this instead of just a sorrel or chestnut because of her countershading, which includes barring on the legs and a line down her back that's often mistaken for a dorsal stripe.

You could call your horse either a chestnut, sorrel, flaxen chestnut, or flaxen sorrel.

Like said, sorrel and chestnut are genetically the exact same. Sorrel is a term only accepted by the APHA and AQHA and is used in the western world, usually referring to the light almost orange colour that chestnuts can get. Any other breed is a chestnut, regardless of shade.

Actually, equiniphile, flaxen is a gene that only affects sorrels/chestnuts and that's why their manes and tales are lighter like that and it should be used when describing the horse. Kind of like referring to a silver bay, you wouldn't just call it a bay. I would say your guy is a flaxen chestnut. He has a lightened mane and tail, a lightened muzzle, and some lightening on his legs. My friend's flaxen chestnut TB has the same colouring.

Good question I think a lot of people may get confused on coloring! I would consider him the flaxen gene because his mane & tail are so light!
Posted via Mobile Device

Thanks for the help guys :)

I would call him ADORABLE. :)

Sorry - incorrect.

They are different. Sorrel is red tones, the Chestnut is brown tones.

Per AQHA:

http://americashorsedaily.com/images...oat-colors.pdf

That's what I mean: Sorrel is the red (sometimes almost orange) colour, not the dark one, which would be chestnut. However, other breeds don't recognize the colour as "Sorrel", it's always chestnut regardless of shade.

I worded it funny, didn't I?

Hehe, thank you, I would say you're right :) Not that I'm at all biased!

I'm sorry. Just because a registering body says there is a difference, doesn't mean there is one. Isn't this the same body that only recently accepted double dilutes but was fine with single dilutes?

Chestnut and Sorrel are the SAME colour genetically. Both would test as ee.