I’m generally pretty boring in my choice of color for a horse. I like brown and bay, and with either little or no white. I tend to roll my eyes at people who are immediately taken in by a pretty color or flashy markings and not really see much past that. There’s really two reasons for my snobbery: 1) trying to keep a gray horse or very chromey horse clean drives me nuts, 2) flashy color and markings can make an otherwise unattractive horse look a lot “fancier” than it really is, so for a plain horse to look stunning they truly have to be stunning. Plus let’s be honest, there’s a lot to be said for one that is mud colored. Especially when they like to do this at shows in between phases.
I am probably one of the few people in the world that really doesn’t want a chestnut with chrome or a black horse with 4 high whites and a blaze or a dappled gray. But every once in a while a “weird” colored horse comes along that tugs at my little pony-loving-kid soul and I get a little googley eyed. It’s almost never a pinto (because holy crap way too much white) but there’s something about a dilute that can really get me.
Yes blogger friends, I confess… this plain bay loving snob has a weakness for yellow horses. Not the apple bottomed stock horse variety, but sporty types. Usually warmbloods and Connemaras to be specific. I’m usually one of the first people to roll my eyes at the crazy color breeders (especially the thoroughbred ones, they seem to be a whole new level of internet wackadoo) but every once in a while I come upon a horse that makes me think they might be on to something after all.
There are two stallions in particular right now that make me all sorts of weak in the knees when I see pictures pop up on my facebook feed (because, naturally, I follow their pages). Quasi Gold is the first:
The pitter patter of my little heart is very real. I dunno what it is about those chocolatey dapples but I can’t control myself. He’s stunning and I would take one just like him in a heart beat, even if it meant scrubbing off poop and pee stains for an hour every horse show morning and buying Quiksilver by the barrel for that tail.
The other one that always makes me pause when I see him on facebook is WH Topgun, a little buckskin Connemara. At 14.3h he’s even further away from my typical choice of horse, but this guy is just too cute for words.
That little dude has some serious hops and I want him. I want him bad. Pretty sure I could make 14.3h work for me, even though it’s not mud colored.
Someday I’ll get my yeller horse. Someday. Maybe eventually there will be a really nice dilute thoroughbred stallion and I’ll be able to have the best of both worlds.
Does anyone else have weird or outside the box color obsessions?
breedrideevent.com 
I board at a 4H barn were 95% of horses are bought based on color. The struggle is real. The pain is real.
But that palomino, though. How stunning. So much love!!
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Those little yellow horses. Swoon. I’m a blood bay girl, my old gelding was this gorgeous reddish-mahogany color that glistened so beautifully. Just two little hind socks and a tiny star, and he hid dirt perfectly. I’m drooling just remembering him.
I do love the dapply-ish gray DragonMare, but UGH such a pain to keep even remotely clean.
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Well I have a dappled buckskin QH who is about 15 hands so yeah you already know my fetishes for odd colored horses! I have had bald faced paints, blue eyes, you name it. More color the better. Everyone flocks to Remus at events cause he is so stinking cute with his buckskin coloring and white star and his mane and tail are black with white highlights.
I still have fond hopes that when you finally breed Sadie on your own you get some throwback and some odd colored foal pops out! 🙂
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In all my life, I have never owned a pure chestnut or bay. Not because I am averse to either of those colors (though I admit my grey pony as a kid tried really hard to be chestnut), it just hasn’t happened. I liked the way Foster was put together, his personality and movement- the color was to me a cherry on top. But it makes my eyes roll when someone says “one day I’ll own a ____ colored horse”.
Pretty is as pretty does, in my mind!
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Palomino has always been my favorite color, hands down. One day I will own a little blonde pony, and she will make all my childhood dreams come true. The fact that I’m an adult will be irrelevant.
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Color is a big deal, especially in breed shows. I think palomino and buckskin horses are pretty, but I don’t really care about color when shopping for a horse. The first two horses I owned were bay, then I leased two bay horses, then a black horse, then owned my chestnut gelding and now I have a black horse with a tiny white star. For the most part the horses I’ve had have been pretty plain. I do like some colors though, but won’t ever shop based on that I don’t think.
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I have a sweet spot for palominos. And some paints but I’m pretty boring in my tastes.
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When I was considering buying a stock horse, I got really excited about the available colors.
But other than that, I think Courage’s color is about perfect–bay with black legs and a nice, big, chrome-y blaze that I don’t have to clean. I love looking at the flashy ones, but there’s something amazing about not caring if your horse rolls because he’s already dirt colored.
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I used to think that it would the greatest thing to have a gray. And then I realized that they usually gray out and the amount of work to keep them clean. No thanks!
Now I don’t really look at colour unless the horse is really stunning. It’s more about the way it goes or if I’m riding it how we click.
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Hahaha TB color breeders are often a barrel of nutso!! I have a sweet spot for copper-toned chestnuts. Accident prone like mine? Never fear! The blood just deepens the red color! Lay in wet green poop the night before a show? A quick scrub gets rid of the evidence, and the green color just enhances the red! I dislike chrome-covered chestnuts, except for face chrome. I love me some face chrome. I’m also super lucky that mine isn’t fond of mud, though… I also have it bad for a real black horse with face chrome (again, NO leg chrome!).
I leased/rode/cared for a buckskin in high school. I fell hard for the silvering in his mane. The underside of the mane was black, the middle was red, and the top was laced with silver hairs. So gorgeous! He was kind of a pain in the ass to keep clean, though. Grass stains showed up on him. Annoying. Not as bad as white, though. And you don’t have to worry about the white tail. Worth it, I suppose.
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Honestly, the buckskin was kind of a pain in the ass overall … he bucked, kicked, bit, reared, and would roll over while under saddle. So many concussions were had…
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I have always loved chocolate horses with a flaxen mane and tail (silver dapple, taffy) but this coloring seems to be more common in gaited or smaller breeds, neither of which suit me or my desired sport so I just admire them from a distance.
I also took lessons on an Akhal Teke that was a smoky black but really did have those metallic golden highlights to his coat- quite lovely.
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Oh! There’s a barn on the north side of Indy who has a smoky buckskin Akhal Teke stallion. He’s shown 4th level dressage, and I think might event too? http://www.irus-stables.com/pages/gidasp.html
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I love all the freak flags that are starting to fly because of this post lol
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Yum! Pretty AND talented
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I prefer Bays, too. Not huge on chrome, honestly, I wish my black mare didn’t have any chrome. My guy is a solid bay but has a star, stripe and a snip – I like it because it’s unusual with how everything is shaped, but honestly…I love a plain horse. That being said…a sooty Palomino or Buckskin always gets me. A lot of color kind of turns me off…my mother loves, loves, loves flashy horses (especially Appaloosa’s with a ton of color.) but I haven’t liked any of hers, even though they are beautiful. Give me a plain horse with an awesome build. I’m quicker to fall in love with conformation way quicker than color.
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Coming from showing Paints, you’d think I would actually, I don’t know, like Paints?
Nah.
I like minimal white overos (as in, just gimme enough color to get it regular registry papers) – chestnuts and super dark bays. Awesome All Night? The dream.
After a semester riding the Skyhorse, I don’t ever want another grey. Or anything with a lot of white. White legs are one thing – white bodies are another.
Now my true dream love? Roans. Love them. So much. All of them. Want. Need. Gimme.
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After owning a grey, I will try really, really hard not to ever own a grey again now that I have a bay. Life is just so much easier! Those chocolate-y dapples ARE drool-worthy though and kind of hide poop?
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To the extreme disappointment of my coloured horse breeder client, I LOVE grey. I think it’s mostly just because I’ve known a lot of greys that were really nice horses, quite apart from the coat colour. I also have a thing for chestnut with four stockings. But skewbald? Ugh. Most common looking thing on this earth. Especially with wall eyes. Sorry client, but they just don’t speak to me. That said, there was one dark palomino pinto pony, who used to get these adorable dapples all over his butt in summer, that just captured my heart entirely.
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When I saw Ellie my first thought was “Nooooo not a grey! Why does she have to be grey?” And she likes to lay her head on a poop pillow every night to boot.
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Henry likes to wallow around in his pee every night. Thank god the only way you can tell is because he constantly smells like piss.
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I’ve always wanted a grey. And I’ve always owned chestnuts or bays. I saw an article about that paint TB that I thought was really interesting. I’ve got a weakness for flashy ponies! (Maybe because I own a brown bay without a speck of white?)
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I love yellow horses! We have 3 yellow polo ponies and the color hides dirt pretty well 😉 I also love a rich liver chesnut! Grays are gorgeous, but their tendency to have melanomas/cleaning them takes away some of the attraction. My show jumpers are all bay with minimal white, haha, not too exciting, but easy to clean!
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I have to admit to having my preferences for color, but there are more important things I consider before purchasing. I’m partial to the paliminos and love a chestnut with flaxen mane. It’s one of the reasons I love Haflingers. I tend to stay away from the grays and dark horses though. Grays for my inability to groom a horse well, and the darker ones because of bugs. Whenever there’s a varying group of horses, it seems the bugs tend to attack the darker ones the most.
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If greys stayed that steely color with the dapples – like say a 2yo dark bay, with white mane and tail? Yeah. that color. Sigh.
I also have a soft spot for the really bright bays of whatever stripe – the red bays, the sandy bays, the seal bays. Just not the brown wrapper bays, meh on those.
I really actually dislike paints. I always think their markings make their conformation look funny. I also dislike roans, so of course I own one. 😛
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I have to say I can fall in love with just about any color. They all do it for me, I’m a ho. But what really does me in is a big bay with no white on its face (like Henry, and like mine). When I search horse ads I always find myself drawn to those types, and then I remind myself how good it is to have what you want, and want what you have. 🙂 That stallion though… I could fall in love with him very, very easily. In fact it’s possible I just did.
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Those chocolate dapples. Hubba hubba.
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I love color but will not buy just for the color. Has to be a good horse besides that! My personal want is a tb with LOTS of bird spots. Give me all the bird spots. Idk why I want that, but I do. 🙂
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secret appaloosa fetish? 😉
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I secretly lust after grays. I’m not concerned about them whiting out, I’m concerned about the melanomas. 😦
I’ve always been a sucker for bays and a decided no against chestnuts. I don’t know why.
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I’m pretty color obsessed. I spent months finding a mule because I didn’t want a chestnut or brown. I actually own 2 palominos, though I have to say it’s not my favorite color. They turn whitish in the winter and then become mudbeasts. But they are gorgeous in the summer.
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Since I know whatever horse I have will likely live outside the majority of it’s life, I’m a-okay with a nice dirty colored one. I think flashy is great, but I’ve never been overly drawn to owning or wanting one.
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A few weeks ago, a splashy pinto Gypsy Vanner stallion was at the barn for training; he got loose and jumped into a paddock. I had a fleeting moment where I thought, “You know, that was a 4′ fence…” and imagined how flashy Gina’s Gypsy Vanner baby would be. Then I thought about how hideously a TBxGV would be put together, and went back to looking at warmbloods.
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Gypsy Vanners are my worst nightmare come true. They’re fat, super hairy, and pinto. AHHH!!!!
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Love my dark bays, either solid or with a blaze….but buckskin is my big weakness!
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I always wanted a blood bay with some white markings, and now I finally have one. Sooooo, I guess now I’ve always wanted a liver chestnut? That first stallion, although much fancier, just makes me think “Thong.”
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He does look like Thong. I think I was the only person who liked Thong, so maybe my attraction to this horse makes sense. 😉
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I think you’re right, lol
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My sentiments exactly. I’m a bay girl. But a buckskin or palomino. . .
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I don’t know, I have own or leased I think about every color there is… I like chestnut the best… I found it the easiest to keep clean, even easier then bay… Maybe it is just me. That stallion is stunning!
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Yeeees. So with you. I’m partial to chocolate dappled palominos and liver chestnut horses. Though I had a stunning grey paint (neat mottled looking grey pattern) and she kept herself clean so it was fine.
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Currently I have a grey. I don’t ever need another one. How can she get so dirty????
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I’m not a big fan of chrome either – the less white the better!
Quasi Gold is absolutely stunning! I feel a need to go stalk that Facebook page now…
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I too love Duns & Pallys – Squee that Connie is fabdabidozie
They both are *swoon*
I think i remember reading somewhere that crossing a chestnut and a dun can result in a pally…although I could be remembering wrong now that I’m struggling to remember. *gulp*
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Posted too soon, I love all colours and am usually attracted to build over colour however flashy is eye catching i can’t deny that.
I wouldn’t trade either of my colours colour – wise. Kika is a confused bay/liver chestnut with 3 socks and a very crooked stripe & Nancy is a lovely dark brown with no white. Both get the most gorgeous dapples although Nancy wins hands down in that department *swoon*
I won’t buy a horse based on colour, but i will try to avoid a gray due to potential melanomas & the fact I like my horses to spend as much time as possible outdoors and although I personally like green…it is not the best look for a horse imo 😉
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Liver chestnuts and dark bays. Swoon.
Also, apparently I’m only allowed to own horses with a star and no other markings or a blaze/connected star-stripe-snip and two hind socks/stockings. They’ve been all different colors, but still fit into one of those two combos. Weird.
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After having to keep a pinto clean for shows, I’ll take a plain brown. Not a lick of white, just a plain brown. No chestnut, no bay, just brown.
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i admit that my eye can be easily turned by a flashy looking horse – even if the flash is all superficial. but really i don’t have a favorite color. anything will do if it’s a nice horse. when i do eventually go shopping tho i hope i end up w something nice AND gorgeous 🙂
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I feel like a Connemara or Connie x TB cross would suit you perfectly
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I’ve got a dapple gray mare…. I always told myself “I’ll never get a grey.” And look what I got. Lesson learned: Never say never and if it’s a great horse at an awesome price, you’re not saying no just because its gray.
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Having had a mostly white paint with like 3 black spots, I’m totally over keeping any horse any sort of clean. I don’t obsess unless we’re at a show, and even then, I’m kind of an “eh, clean enough, and it’s pretty dark in the covered arena anyway”.
(I know, I know, you’re having heart palpitations, right?)
That said, Brego’s big black self looks like a shiny piece of satin right now – he practically glows in the dark! And if you want yellow? Get a Haffie. Besides, technically they’re chestnut… 😉
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I don’t think I would get along with Haffies very well. I’m a TB person. 😉
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My first very-own horse was black without a single white hair (until she got a small scar). My second is a dun, who seems to be developing birdcatcher spots. Both QHs, even though I grew up loving TBs and WBs and I ride dressage. I’m actually quite partial to redheads, with or without chrome, but both of these just felt right. Between the risk of melanoma and the scrubbing required (my horses are usually pasture boarded) I don’t really want a gray (or a pinto), but I don’t think I would turn down the perfect horse on account of colour.
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I have a buckskin Connemara x. I bought him from a dealer yard over a plain bay mare that was also there because he was supposed to be a resale project. That was a year ago and he isn’t leaving. He’s a great mover, has serious hops, wins the dressage, AND is flashy.
So naturally I went out and bought a buckskin filly to go with him.
I’m all about the color. I don’t think I could have a plain bay or gray again. The color really draws attention and people LOVE my guy and I enjoy not being another bay thoroughbred.
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Oh, and he’s a sooty buckskin, so he is actually even more dirt colored than most bays I have had. Knock the dirt off and he looks spotless, but freshly bathed he looks like he is made of bronze and it’s really quite attractive.
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I never was a color person (always had bays and chestnuts) until my buckskin pony came along. Now I’m obsessed with his color, but it’s mostly because I just really love HIM and would no matter what color he was. For me, it’s really fun to “outfit” my bucksin because he looks great in my favorite colors: black, white and gold! 😉
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I am super, super obsessed with palominos.
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Yay Palominos! How did I miss this post before now? (I wasn’t internet stalking you or anything) I have a whole herd of palominos. Two downsides: hard to keep clean (as hard as a grey) and the lighter ones look grey when clipped. So much so that people think my one palomino is a dirty grey in the winter. You know, because I take my dirty pony to shows without bathing it? My fav palomino stallion now is Smoke Tree Snapdragon.
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