[Nebelung]

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1. seal brown
2. black chestnut (liver)
3. jet black
4. chestnut
5. bay
6. bay roan

i tried to do basic horse colors that i see and tend to mix up a lot. i'll do another with what i consider more advanced colors that i mix up once i figure out enough to tell these guys apart. if you notice any mistakes, PLEASE let me know! I need all feedback I can get so I may learn!

QUESTION TIME!
If you see this and if you can provide answers, please, please share! I am dying to learn more, but don't know where else to turn. A lot of sites tend to speak as if you're already familiar with horses, and a lot of older posts on CS link to outdated / discontinued sites for reference.

If you feel like you can answer these, please explain in detail beyond "yes" or "no" answers, if you can! It would mean so much to me!

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1. Can dark chestnuts have mealy coloration? Can chestnuts have mealy coloration at all?

2. Are manes and legs the only way (apart from genetic testing) to tell if horses are chestnut or black? What part of the leg specifically do people focus on to determine this?

3. Are chestnuts completely solid? Do they not have any countershading at all?

4. Do dark chestnuts still have greyish skin compared to black in black horses?

5. Do people generally refer to chestnuts as chestnuts, or their specific shades? (Such as, but not limited to, honey and liver)

[24Beaver01]

Henlo I realize this is old but no one answered your questions ;w; I’m not an expert or anything but I know some things!
1. Yes, chestnuts do have pangare(mealy)! Pangare generally expresses in the ‘red’ of the base coats! That is why with bay pangares you can still see their black socks, even in extreme forms! And because seal is a form of agouti(bay) it will also express.
As for dark/liver chestnuts, I couldn’t find any photos, but in theory they should? This was the closest I could find -
2. So determining black/liver chestnut from black I assume was the question? One of the main things is the mane as it is the normal chestnut color. But we can’t do that, they usually have a reddish tint to the fur and in certain lighting but even so they may be as dark as this and the only real tell is the mane, or seasonal coat changes.
The question about the legs made me wonder if you were asking about bay vs chestnut, if not I don’t know how to answer that 😅? And the answer to that would be the skin around the eyes and muzzle are usually black on bays, greyish on chestnut, most bays have a darker shoulder(not dun) and the neck/face can be as well. As for the legs bit on where to look bays show that fairly easily, unless it is a Wild bay
3. Most do tend to be fairly solid colored unlike bays, there are some with it and some without, but most often it’s case by case basis. As for drawing chestnuts, almost everyone adds countershading, or else the design looks flat 💀
4. Not really positive, but based on images on just google, they seem to be more like the base coat color, than black?
5. Depends on the person, group, and community. As well as the horse itself. Most people in the art community like here, do refer to the shades, as that helps with making the design (like if someone orders a custom and they ask for a chestnut, then you will most often get a simple red nut. But if they say liver chestnut then the artist knows they want a dark colored horse.)
If you have just the regular chestnut horse, no specific shade, the names I know are chestnut, red, and sorrel. As for lighter shades honey, and light chestnut, and apricot although that is almost always only used with dun and I personally don’t use it for that reason. And darker, dark red, dark chest., liver chest., and black chest.

It’s like 6am and I can’t sleep 🥲, but sorry it got a lil long 😅