

Bay coat colors Origin of Bay termīay can be a body of water or a type of window. Sorrel coloring is prevalent in most breeds. Popular breeds with Sorrel coat colors include Thoroughbred, Belgian draft horses, Tennesse Walking Horse, and Quarter horses. Though the agouti gene isn’t visible, a Sorrel can carry the gene and pass it to its progeny. The A agouti gene only affects black pigments, so it isn’t visible in a Sorrel horse’s coat. When an animal has a gene with identical alleles, they are homozygous. Because red is recessive, they must carry two copies of the red factor ( e) allele. However, in the western horse world, these animals are sorrel horses. It’s the standard chestnut horse to most people. Sorrel horses are entirely copper-red, including their coat, mane, and tail. Sorrel herbs are plants with bright green leaves and dark copper-red stems and veins.īut the first uses of “sorrel” as a term describing horse coat colors trace back to the mid-14th century and is likely from Od French sorel for sor “yellowish-brown.” Sorrel color description Sorrel is likely a reference to the red color found in the sorrel herb. These new colors are identified by terms typically unique to the description of horse colors, such as bay, sorrel, chestnut, and roan, to name a few. So in basic terms, every horse coat color starts with a red or black base, and modifications or dilutions of the base create various coat colors. Bay is also considered a base color by some people.Įxtention genes control the production of red or black pigments. Horses’ coat colors are derived from one of two possible base pigments: red or black, which means that every horse has a gene for either of these pigments.
