palominos and flaxen chestnuts
 

i know im going to sound dumb but how do you tell the diffrence betwine the two my friends horse is a flaxen chest nut and he lives next door to a pally and i cant tell the diffrence so could some one inlighten me

A Palomino has a golden coat, and a Chestnut has a red coat. Not all Chestnuts have a flaxen mane and tail.
Thats about as detailed as I can get with coat colors, lol.
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Palomino
http://ultimatehorsesite.com/images_.../palomino6.jpg

Chestnut with Flaxen mane and tail
http://www.theequinest.com/images/flaxen-horse.jpg

Sometimes they are hard to distinguish, but palominos have a very goldeny shimmer to them in the sun. If that helps. Hahah.

i always get them mixed up....lol I'd have called both of those palominos. Genetics is not my strong point

Genetically, a palomino is a sorrel/chestnut is one cream dilute. A chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail is just a regular chestnut/sorrel with the flaxen gene, which is just a modifier.

If that makes more sense.

To tell the difference you need a sunny day. A palomino will have a golden shine on their coat. A chestnut will have a bronze or copper shine.

You can also tell by looking at their breeding if you know it. Sometimes it can be mixed up though, with people mistaking one colour for another.

Flaxen chestnuts often have a fake dorsal stripe called countershading, like my mini Lulu.

My gelding Scotch had a sorrel roan father and a palomino mother. I believe he is a Sorrel Roan with a flaxen mane and tail. Quite the colorful guy, especially with all of his chrome! :)

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/DSC08785.jpg

It's kinda hard to see his roan markings here. His mane and tail get a lot lighter than this in the summer (this is an older picture).

Yup he is a chestnut. You can kind of see the shine that I am talking about, with the orangey-copper tones to his glinting coat.

Don't know about the roan though, would have to see side on shots