Horse Coat Color Chart

Every horse colour starts as chestnut, bay or black. Dilution genes such as cream, dun, champagne and silver lighten that base, gray and roan add white hairs, and spotting genes paint white patterns over it. This chart shows each colour, the genes behind it and how to read the markings.

Download the chart

Figure 1. The Horse Coat Color Chart poster shows the three base colours, cream, dun, champagne, silver, gray and roan, five white patterns, face and leg markings, foal colour odds and the genes behind each coat. Select it to open full size, then zoom in.

Contents

1Two genes make the three base colours
2Every coat on the chart, by gene
3Foal colour odds from the parents
4A gray horse whitens with age
5Points and primitive marks
6White patterns and their genes
7Face and leg markings
8The genes in one table
Sources and notes

1.Two genes make the three base colours

Two genes decide the base coat. Extension (E or e) decides whether a horse can make black pigment at all: a horse with two copies of e (ee) makes only red pigment and is chestnut, whatever else it carries. Agouti (A or a) only matters when black pigment can form. One or two copies of A push black to the points, the mane, tail, lower legs and ear rims, which makes a bay; two copies of a (aa) let black cover the whole body. Every other colour on the chart is one of these three bases with something added.

Chestnut or sorrel

ee, any agouti
All red pigment: body, mane, tail and legs in shades of red, no black points.
Bay

E_ A_
Red-brown body; black mane, tail, lower legs and ear rims (the points).
Black

E_ aa
Black all over, including the muzzle and flanks; may sun-fade to brown.

Extension	A/A	A/a	a/a
E/E	Bay	Bay	Black
E/e	Bay	Bay	Black
e/e	Chestnut	Chestnut	Chestnut

Read across from the Extension genotype to the Agouti genotype. A chestnut can carry any agouti, hidden, and pass it on; that is why two chestnut parents can never have a bay or black foal, while a chestnut bred to a black can produce bays. UC Davis and other laboratories test both genes from a hair sample.

2.Every coat on the chart, by gene

Pick a gene to see the coats it makes. The genotype in red lists only the genes that matter for that colour: an underscore means the second copy can be either version, so E_ stands for E/E or E/e.

Gene

17 coats

Chestnut
ee, any agoutiGene: Extension and Agouti

All red pigment: body, mane, tail and legs in shades of red, no black points.
Bay
E_ A_Gene: Extension and Agouti

Red-brown body; black mane, tail, lower legs and ear rims (the points).
Black
E_ aaGene: Extension and Agouti

Black all over, including the muzzle and flanks; may sun-fade to brown.
Palomino
ee CrNGene: Cream

Gold body, white or flaxen mane and tail.
Buckskin
E_ A_ CrNGene: Cream

Gold body with black points.
Smoky black
E_ aa CrNGene: Cream

Looks black or rusty black; one cream hides on black.
Cremello
ee CrCrGene: Cream two copies

Cream all over, pink skin, blue eyes.
Perlino
E_ A_ CrCrGene: Cream two copies

Cream body, rusty cream points, blue eyes.
Smoky cream
E_ aa CrCrGene: Cream two copies

Cream with a slightly darker mane, blue eyes.
Champagne
Ch_Gene: Champagne

Metallic gold coat, amber eyes, freckled pink skin.
Dun
E_ A_ D_Gene: Dun

Bay diluted to tan; dorsal stripe and leg barring.
Red dun
ee D_Gene: Dun

Peach body; red dorsal stripe, mane and tail.
Grulla
E_ aa D_Gene: Dun

Mouse-grey body, dark head and primitive marks.
Silver
E_ Z_Gene: Silver

Black turns chocolate, mane and tail flaxen; no effect on red.
Gray
G_Gene: Gray

Born coloured, whitens year by year; dapples on the way.
Roan
Rn_Gene: Roan

White hairs through the body; head and legs stay solid.
Flaxen
ee ff (likely)Gene: Flaxen

Chestnut with a pale mane and tail; only shows on red.

3.Foal colour odds from the parents

Choose a colour for the sire and the dam to fill in a likely genotype, then change any gene to match a DNA test. Each parent passes one copy of every gene, picked at random, so the odds below are the share of foals you would expect over many matings. Presets assume one copy where a horse could carry one or two, so a bay is set to E/e A/a.

Sire

Colour

ExtensionAgoutiCreamDunGrayRoan

Dam

Colour

ExtensionAgoutiCreamDunGrayRoan

Palomino sire × palomino dam: 3 possible colours
Coat	Colour	Chance	%
	Palomino		50%
	Chestnut		25%
	Cremello		25%

Covers Extension, Agouti, Cream, Dun, Gray and Roan. White patterns, champagne and silver follow the same rule: a horse with one copy of a dominant gene passes it to about half its foals. Breeding two frame overo carriers gives a one in four chance of a lethal white foal.

4.A gray horse whitens with age

Gray is not a colour a foal is born with. A gray foal arrives bay, black, chestnut or any other colour, and the gray gene then replaces its coloured hairs with white ones year by year, often starting around the eyes. Most grays pass through steel gray and dapple gray and are nearly white by 6 to 10 years old, while the skin stays dark. A horse needs only one gray parent to be gray.

Age

Foal

Born bay; gray hairs first around the eyes.

Two copies of gray (G/G) usually gray faster and more evenly and always pass gray on. Melanomas are common in older grays, about 70–80% of grays over 15 have them, so check under the tail and around the eyes and lips once a year.

5.Points and primitive marks

The points are the black mane, tail, lower legs and ear rims of a bay-based horse; they tell a bay from a chestnut at a glance, and a buckskin from a palomino. Primitive marks come with the dun gene: a dark dorsal stripe along the spine, sometimes a shoulder bar, and zebra-like barring on the legs. The head of a dun stays darker than the body.

A bay dun horse in side view with a black mane, tail and lower legs, a dark stripe along the back, a faint shoulder bar and dark bars on the upper legs — **Figure 2.** A bay dun shows both: black points from agouti and primitive marks from dun.

What to look for
Mark	Where	From
Mane and tail	Black hair along the crest and in the tail	Agouti (points)
Lower legs	Black from about the knees and hocks down	Agouti (points)
Ear rims	Black edges and tips of the ears	Agouti (points)
Dorsal stripe	Dark line from withers to tail	Dun (primitive)
Shoulder bar	Faint dark band across the withers	Dun (primitive)
Leg barring	Dark horizontal bars above the knees and hocks	Dun (primitive)

6.White patterns and their genes

Spotting genes remove pigment from patches of skin and hair, so the white sits on pink skin. They work on any base colour and a horse can carry several at once; the American Paint Horse Association calls a horse with tobiano and an overo gene a tovero. Some patterns carry health risks worth testing for before breeding.

Tobiano
TO (KIT)Dominant

White crosses the back between withers and tail; smooth, rounded edges; legs white; head usually dark. No known health effect.
Frame overo
O (EDNRB)Dominant, lethal as O/O

Horizontal, jagged white on the sides and neck, framed by colour; rarely crosses the back; bald face. O/O foals are lethal white: test before breeding two carriers.
Sabino
SB1 (KIT) and othersIncomplete dominant

High white legs, wide blaze, belly spots with roaned, ragged edges. SB1/SB1 can be almost all white.
Splashed white
SW1 to SW10 (MITF, PAX3)Mostly dominant

Looks dipped in white from below: legs, belly, bald face; often blue eyes. Some splash horses are deaf.
Appaloosa (leopard complex)
LP, PATN1Incomplete dominant

Spots on white; mottled skin, striped hooves and white sclera around the eye. LP/LP horses are night blind (CSNB).

7.Face and leg markings

Markings are the small white areas on the face and legs that identify a horse on registration papers and vet records. They are named by shape on the face and by how high the white reaches on the leg. Most are inherited loosely and vary even between full siblings.

Five chestnut horse heads seen from the front with a star, a stripe, a blaze, a snip and a bald face — **Figure 3.** From left: star, stripe, blaze, snip and bald face.

Face markings
Marking	What it is
Star	White spot on the forehead
Stripe	Narrow line down the face
Blaze	Wide band, not past the eyes
Snip	White between the nostrils
Bald face	White out to or past the eyes

Four chestnut lower forelegs with white reaching just above the hoof, below the fetlock, to mid-cannon and up to the knee — **Figure 4.** From left: coronet, pastern, sock and stocking.

Leg markings
Marking	How high the white reaches
Coronet	Just above the hoof
Pastern	Up to below the fetlock
Sock	Fetlock to mid-cannon
Stocking	Up to the knee or hock

A worn steel horseshoe with eight nail holes, a wooden-handled hoof pick and an oval wooden body brush with dark bristles — **Figure 5.** A worn keg shoe, a hoof pick and a body brush. White hooves often grow under white leg markings; dark hooves under coloured legs.

8.The genes in one table

What one copy and two copies of each gene do. Dominant genes show with one copy; a recessive gene shows only when a horse has two.

Gene	Symbol	Acts on	One copy	Two copies	Inheritance
Extension	E / e	Black pigment	E: black can form	ee: red only, chestnut	Recessive red
Agouti	A / a	Black pigment	A: black kept to points	aa: black all over	A dominant
Cream	Cr	Red, then all	Red to gold	All to cream, blue eyes	Incomplete dominant
Dun	D	Red and black	Lighter body, dun marks	Same, always passed on	Dominant
Champagne	Ch	Red and black	Metallic coat, amber eyes	Same, always passed on	Dominant
Silver	Z	Black only	Chocolate, flaxen mane	Same; MCOA eye risk	Dominant
Gray	G	All, with age	White by 6–10 years	Faster, always passed on	Dominant
Roan	Rn	Body hair	White hairs mixed in	Same	Dominant
Flaxen	f	Red mane, tail	No effect	ff: pale mane on red	Recessive, likely
Tobiano	TO	White pattern	Tobiano	Same, always passed on	Dominant
Frame overo	O	White pattern	Frame pattern	Lethal white foal	Dominant
Leopard	LP	White pattern	Spotted patterns	Few spots, night blind	Incomplete dominant

Sources and notes

Gene effects follow the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory coat colour and white pattern test descriptions and the University of Florida equine genetics laboratory; colour names follow the American Quarter Horse Association, which recognises 17 colours, and the American Paint Horse Association. Marking definitions follow 4-H horse programme material. Coat shades vary with season, sun bleaching, diet and age, and modifiers not shown here, such as sooty and pangaré, shift them further. Flaxen is probably recessive but its genes are not yet known. A DNA colour test is the only sure way to know a horse's genotype.

UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory: Horse coat colour tests (Extension, Agouti, Cream, Dun, Silver, Gray, Roan) and white pattern tests (Leopard complex, Frame overo, Sabino 1, Splashed white, Tobiano)
University of Florida IFAS, Equine Genetics Laboratory: Coat color genetics
University of Tennessee Extension W891: Equine Genetics: Basic Coat Color Inheritance
University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension, 4-H Horse Program: horse colors, patterns and markings
American Quarter Horse Association: Quarter Horse Markings and Color Genetics
American Paint Horse Association: coat patterns and color genetics
Curik I. et al. (2013). Complex inheritance of melanoma and pigmentation of coat and skin in grey horses. PLoS Genetics 9(2)

Horse Coat Color Chart

1.Two genes make the three base colours

Chestnut or sorrel

Bay

Black

2.Every coat on the chart, by gene

Chestnut

Bay

Black

Palomino

Buckskin

Smoky black

Cremello

Perlino

Smoky cream

Champagne

Dun

Red dun

Grulla

Silver

Gray

Roan

Flaxen

3.Foal colour odds from the parents

Sire

Dam

4.A gray horse whitens with age

5.Points and primitive marks

6.White patterns and their genes

Tobiano

Frame overo

Sabino

Splashed white

Appaloosa (leopard complex)

7.Face and leg markings

8.The genes in one table

Sources and notes