[Fortune]

Dark chestnut. I have a gelding who is a very similar colour; a nice rich red body with a very dark mane & tail. Even has similar smutt marks on the rump.

The term liver chestnut is generally applied to chestnuts who are darker all over. Although really, there is no known genetic difference between the different shades of chestnut. They all carry the ee genotype. He's definitely not a bay as he doesn't have the black points, and even the lightest shade 'wild bay' has minimal black points up to the pasterns. Bays carry the Agouti gene which can only be expressed on a black phenotype (Ee or EE) and is masked when present in the chestnut (ee) phenotype.

My chestnut boy for comparison

 

[EveningShadows]

It baffles me how people are saying bay...definitely NOT.

I have to agree with him being a dark chestnut. He's not liver, clearly not a bay...his mane and tail are DARK, but not black. And forgive me for possibly sounding stupid - but is brown a recognized color?!

 

[smrobs]

^^ Yes, I think it is but I understand that "brown" is more of a blackish looking horse with lighter shading around the muzzle, flanks, and underside like this horse. Often called a seal brown horse.


Or this one, he is a better example of what I consider "brown".

 

[Remali]

Dark chestnut. He has no black points anywhere so definitely not a bay. Chestnuts can have darker manes and tails, just a darker shade of chestnut hairs in the tail and mane.

I wouldn't call him liver chestnut tho.....I'd say a dark chestnut.

 

[CloudsMystique]

I'm shocked that people are saying bay...


Anyway, that is one unusual color. I definitely wouldn't call him a "regular" chestnut because his mane and tail would have to be the same reddish color his body is. I've seen liver chestnuts with coats that are lighter than their manes and tails, but I've never seen one with a coat that red. Liver chestnuts are just kind of missing the red that the other shades of chestnuts have so much of.

I honestly have no idea what I would call him.

I found a couple pictures of horses that look similar. They're listed under "liver chestnut."

 

[deuceschinagirl]

I did a little bit of homework and I think your horse's color would be refered to as a wild bay. Click on this link: http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/colors/bay.html
It states: "black on the legs is restricted and is only visible around the coronet and on the fetlocks." Your horse's Mane and tail are definitly black and if you look closly at his knees and hocks you can see a little bit of black on them. Do me a favor and take alook at those areas and see if there are any black hairs mixed in with or underneath the brown hairs. That might be a clue. Whatever his color though, he is definitly a hansme boy!

 

[kassierae]

No, he is NOT a wild bay. He is a dark chestnut. Go to www.equine-color.info and ask them if you want answers. He still would need semi black points to be a wild bay, and wild bay technically isn't a color. The people on that forum are the experts. I am utterly BAFFLED that some of you think he is bay. No black points = no Agouti gene = not bay.

 

[roro]

I appreciate all the different answers here, yet I am around this horse every day and I am quite certain that he has no black points. His mane and tail are a very dark chestnutish color, and I believe that is visible in the pictures. They are definitely not black. Thank you for all the different replies everyone!

 

[Remali]

Nice looking horse...... from what I have read in my equine color genetics books, he seems to be a dark chestnut to me.

 

[Ridehorses99]

Definitely a chestnut. However, different breeds call the same color different things. I have an AQHA gelding almost the same color as your horse. When I bought him, he was stalled every day and his mane and tail looked almost black (they were actually dark, dark brown) and his body and legs are medium chestnut color. He has been mistaken for bay, brown, etc. In the first picture, you can see his dark tail but obviously no black points on his legs. In the second picture, he is darker overall from his winter coat but you can see his mane is a dark brown. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Champ's winter color.


My friend owns a horse that would fit the definition of a "wild bay". Notice the leg markings.

 

[kevinshorses]

I have stock horses so I would say sorrel but since he is not a stock horse he would be a regular chestnut. If you have ever seen a liver you would know he is not the color of one. I have a chestnut tree outside my house and the nuts are pretty close to your horses color.

 

[mom2pride]

He is definitely NOT bay...there is not a spot of black marking on that horse!

I would say he is kind of a Mahogany chestnut, or dark red chestnut...He's not really dark 'brown' enough to be liver...

 

[lillie]

when i said bright bay, you couldnt see his legs in photo, and mane definately looked black ; having seen some of the later pictures of him though, i am not sure i still think he is bright bay. which of his photos does the owner think comes closest to his real life shade of colouring? he may just be his own unique colour- you could make up an entire new color catergory and name it for him!

 

[chika1235]

his mane and tail are black, so he can't be a chestnut, coz they have the same colour mane and tail! But he also doesn't have any other black points, i.e ears and legs, so I'd say he was a brown? hes cute!

my horse is a chestnut but his mane doesnt match him.his tail is the same color but he has a blonde mane.id sttill consider him chestnut.

 

[Plains Drifter]

If you see a Bay-like horse whose points are not quite black, or a Bay-like horse with black mane and tail but red legs, that is a Liver Chestnut.

This liver chestnut Morgan would be a bay except his lower legs are not black.

Courtesy of: http://www.mustangs4us.com/Horse%20Colors/agouti.htm

 

[deuceschinagirl]

Ok, so I made a mistake I generally know a bay or chestnut horse when I see one, but in the second photo (I don't know if its the lighting or not) it just looked your horse had bay tones with out the points. sorry.

 

[Snowkicker]

I just read this and am amused at how a chestnut horse can be mistaken for so many different colors Especially Bay. Is bright Bay really a color? I own a wild bay horse which is a more primitive color with roaning definitely not the color of this horse. The mane and tail of this horse are not black but dark red. Some brighter sunlit pictures might have saved some of the confusion.

 

[roro]

I just read this and am amused at how a chestnut horse can be mistaken for so many different colors Especially Bay. Is bright Bay really a color? I own a wild bay horse which is a more primitive color with roaning definitely not the color of this horse. The mane and tail of this horse are not black but dark red. Some brighter sunlit pictures might have saved some of the confusion.

Bright bay is a shade of bay, not it's own color. Other terms such as a light chestnut etc. are shades as well. Also, different regions have different names for these shades, one person's bright bay is another person's wild bay and another person's blood bay. For example:

Search for bright bay:
http://www.irishcobsdirect.com/USERIMAGES/oscar3.jpg

Search for blood bay:
http://www.strathconas.ca/images/smt/herd_aug07/Saint.jpg

Search for wild bay:
http://canaryzoo.com/Horse Colours/colour bay.jpg

IMO these are all the same shade, although bloods are usually a little darker than the other two.

 

[KiwiGal77]

Bays don't necessarily HAVE to have black legs, but they DO have have a jet black mane and tail - and there is abolutely no way this horses mane and tail is black, it is a very dark brown, making this horse dark chestnut (I wouldn't say liver chestnut as his body is still lighter)

Some bay's miss out on the black points wround knees/hocks, or they are just so faded you wouldn't clearly be able to see unless you were looking closely. Some have black legs, some have brown legs the same as their body, and some have white socks. As long as they are a shade of brown with black mane and tail they are bay.

 

[kassierae]

A bay horse is described as having a brown-ish colored coat with black points. You don't get the agouti gene without the points.