Horse IQ

Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish brown body color with a black mane, tail and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds.

The black areas of a bay horse’s hair coat are called “black points.” Black points always include the mane and tail, almost always include the lower legs (unless covered by white markings), and may also be found on the tips of the ears. Bay horses usually have black skin under their hair coat, except beneath white markings.

Bay horses range in color from a light copper red, to a rich red blood bay (the best-known variety of bay horse) to a very dark red or brown called either dark bay, mahogany bay, black-bay, or simply brown. Some bay horses will exhibit dappling, a faint pattern of concentric rings within the coat, usually only appearing on a summer coat, considered a sign of a healthy horse in good condition, though the tendency to dapple may also be, to some extent, inborn, as many well-conditioned bay horses do not dapple.

Many light bay horses and blood bay horses have a two-toned hair shaft, which, if shaved too closely (such as when body-clipping for a horse show), may cause the horse to appear several shades lighter, a somewhat dull orange-gold, almost like a dun. However, as the hair grows out, it will darken again to the proper shade. This phenomenon is usually not seen in dark bays.

Yours for Better Horse Health,

Sierra Lynch

Tags: Horse Colors

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