Chestnut (also called sorrel*) is so named because of its gorgeous red-brown shade, just like the fruit of the chestnut tree, actually called the chestnut. Below is Prides Coin Cash, aka "Red Hawk," my husband's 17-hand Tennessee Walking Horse gelding. He is a chestnut with a mixed mane and tail, which means that his mane and tail have strands of many different colors in them. He had just been rinsed off in this photo, so you can see the spots where he's still drying. However, I like this photo because it shows off the gorgeous copper sheen of his coat.
Chestnut comes in several different shades. Some horses have more of a red tint to their coat, some more brown, while others are more orange. Some horses are liver chestnut, which is a dark brown color, the color of fresh liver. There is also chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail, a common color in Tennessee Walking Horses and Haflingers. The mane and tail will be lighter in color, which can be anywhere from a dark blonde to a true white mane and tail. It is believed that flaxen mane and tail is hereditary and is dominant over the chestnut gene. However, the genetic markers for flaxen mane and tail have not been fully researched.
Above is Delite's Queenly Aire, or "Mariah." She is a 14.2-hand Tennessee Walking Horse and is chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail. It took years for her to grown that gorgeous mane and tail!
Mariah was bred to a palomino stallion and produced the above mare, Sonoran Moon, aka "Cora." Cora is liver chestnut with a mixed mane and tail. This is an excellent example of how we can't always predict what shade of chestnut the foal will be when it comes out that color.
This is Snoopy. We could almost call his coat color sorrel*. Notice the extreme mixture of color in his tail.
This little filly is Ruby, well named for her gorgeous, bright red coat.
Chestnut is a recessive gene and is designated in writing as "ee." Geneticists refer to a single e allele as "the red factor." When the horse has two e alleles, then it is homozygous for producing red, aka chestnut. Unless it is bred to a horse with a gene or allele that is dominant over chestnut, then the offspring will always be chestnut. To understand this further, black is a dominant allele designated in writing as "E". When a horse has one E allele and one e allele, it will be black as E is dominant over e. When a horse has two E alleles, then it is homozygous to produce black horses every time it's bred and will never produce a chestnut horse. (Click here for more information about black.) Genetic testing is available to find out if a horse carries the red factor--Click here for more information.
Overall, the best way to describe chestnut is that when no other color gene exists that is dominant, the horse will be chestnut. This makes it the the most basic color for all horses.
* It's important to note that there is no genetic difference between sorrel and chestnut. They are just two different names for the same color. I have heard an explanation that sorrel horses tend to have a more orange tint to their coats, while chestnut horses are more red or brown. However, genetists don't make that distinction, so it's not really a distinction I make either.
Names for Chestnut Horses
The following are names I've gathered over the years that I think are well suited to the chestnut color of a horse. Feel free to respond to this post to add more names to the list!
Auburn, Bittersweet, Blood Red, Bloodstone, Blush, Brick, Burgundy, Brandy, Bronze, Cardiac, Cardinal, Carmine, Cashew, Cedar, Centavo, Cerise, Cherry, Chester, Chestnut, Chili, Cimarron, Cinnamon, Citrine, Clay, Copper, Coral, Crimson, Dahlia, Damask, Diablo, Fire, Firecracker, Fire Fighter, Firefly, Firefoot, Fire Ring, Firestorm, Flame, Flash Fire, Fuchsia, Garnet, Geranium, Ginger, Iced Tea, Magenta, Peanut, Pecan, Pilgrim, Pippi Longstocking, Puce, Raspberry, Red, Red Baron, Redbird, Red Eagle, Redeye, Redford, Red Hawk, Red Heart, Red Hot, Red October, Red River, Red Robin, Red Rose, Redrock, Red Rum, Red Star, Red Wing, Red Clay, Rocky, Robin, Rojo, Ron Weasley, Rosa, Rose, Rose Red, Ruby, Rudy, Rusty, Sanguine, Sardonyx, Scarlet, Scotch, Sedona, Seeing Red, Sienna, Sierra, Tabasco, Terra Cotta, Topaz, Whiskey, Wildfire
Review:
Chestnut/sorrel - the base color of all horses.
Recessive - the qualities recede and are not observed when a dominant allele is present.
Represented as ee and known as the red factor.
Shades include chestnut, liver chestnut, and chestnut with flaxen mane and tail.
Thank you to Peggie B. for the photos of Snoopy and Ruby.
Can you reference your source about Red being the base for "all" horse colors. All of my resources say that all horse colors are either Red or Black based.
ReplyDeleteActually, I am working on my next post, which is Black - The OTHER Base Color. When the allele for black is not present, then the horse will always be chestnut. This makes it the base color of all horses. Black is considered a base color because it is the next step up, so to speak, and it is strongly influenced by other color genes.
ReplyDeleteBut that isn't very clear. It makes it sound like you are saying that ALL horse colors are Chestnut/Red Based. That would mean even a black horse is Chestnut Based. Then in the next one you say that black is the other base color of all horses.
ReplyDeleteIf all horses are Red Based and all horses are Black based then what do you get? See how that is misleading. Makes it sound like Bay would be Black and Red based. It is much easier to just say that all horse colors are either Red or Black based and go from there.
Sorry i don't want it to seem like I'm nitpicking just I tend to get asked a lot of questions and have had to learn how to explain things in every simple terms. I can see how someone would read that "all horses" bit and get confused. Add in Bay and someone might think that Bays are always Heteroz Black because to get the red body you have the red factor gene. That is one myth I have heard before.
ReplyDelete"That would mean even a black horse is Chestnut Based."
ReplyDeleteThey are. If the horse was not black, it would be chestnut. Chestnut is the "fall back" color. If you have no other dominant or modifier genes present, such as black, then the horse's color is chestnut.
Bays are bay because of the agouti gene, which restricts the black to the points. Since the black is now restricted to the points, what color is left for the body? Chestnut. Even a bay horse that's homozygous for black will still have a chestnut-colored body because that's the base color for all horses.
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ReplyDeleteCan you reference that. As I said all of my resources say two base colors, black and red and none of them say that Red is the base color of all colors.
ReplyDeleteRed and black happen at the same area, the Extension series. When it is E(+) it produces eumelanin or black pigment. When it is E(e) phaeomelanin is produces which results in the red pigment.
No where can I find anything that says that all horses are Red based.
I don't remember exactly where the reference is. I do remember TWHBEA having an article about color on their website and having quotes from Dr. Sponenberg talking about this.
ReplyDeleteI understand that you don't understand what I'm talking about. I'll try one more time. If the E is present, then the horse has eumelanin. But if eumelanin is not present, what color is left? Unless the horse is albino (no pigment at all, which is nearly impossible), then it will be chestnut, no matter what. Perhaps the best way to explain this is to say that chestnut is the most BASIC color that a horse can be.
No I totally understand what you are trying to point out what I am saying is that it's confusing and not the normal information.
ReplyDelete