The Equinest - Page 188 - Horse breeds and equine information

10 of the Prettiest Toxic Plants

Alsike Clover
The toxic plants page is steadily growing, and in doing my research I find that many toxic plants are quite beautiful.
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Learn Your Horse Colors

There is a huge variety of horse colors and they all stem from four bases, on top of that coats can be affected by a variety modifiers, dilutions and white patterns.

Base Colors

There are four basic horse coat colors: black, chestnut, bay and brown. From these stem the wide variety of color modifications, dilutions and white patterns we see today in domestic and feral horses the world over.

Black

Chestnut

Bay

Brown

Modifiers

There are several genes which modify base colors, including mealy, sooty and flaxen. The can also affect other modifiers, dilutions and white patterns creating an even wider range of each coat color.

Pangare

Sooty

Flaxen

Dilutions

There is a number of dilutions that affect color, including dun, silver, champagne and cream. They have an effect on bases, modified colors, other dilutions and can be double diluted for more extreme expressions.

Dun

White Patterns

White patterns can affect any color and produce some of the more spectacular horse coats, like pinto, appaloosa and roan. Some breeds are bred for their spotted patterns, while others discourage and won’t register them.

Markings

White markings on the face or legs can occur in all colors and are not (always) related to a white pattern. There are also a variety of different body markings, some from spotting patterns and others simply genetics at work making nice things.

Horse Color Modifiers – Flaxen

Flaxen Shades

There is a fairly wide variety of flaxen shades, but they fall under four (slightly) different general chestnut categories.

White Patterns on Flaxen

Flaxen animals can be affected by white patterns on any breed that carries them, making some brilliantly beautiful combinations. White patterns can also mask and even mimic some of the flaxen characteristics.

99 Plants that can Damage the Health of Your Horse

Did you know that oats can be poisionous to horses?
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Nickerit – Horses Gallop onto The Social Web

*Update, as of 12/22/08 it appears Nickerit is history. Check out my list of social networks for horse enthusiasts to find other horse communities online.
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Girls Horse Club Blog – Cool New Redesign

As I’m working on my own redesign I’ve been searching the web to find inspiration. I found Girls Horse Club Blog, and I like the design. So I thought I’d share it.

They feature articles from many facets of the horse world, like International Horse Girls, Finding the Right Barn, You Know You’re a Horse Girl When.
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Horse Color Modifiers – Mealy / Pangare

Identifying a Mealy

This is one modifier that is fairly easy to visually identify, they almost always have obvious pale hairs around their muzzle. The other soft spots tend to be affected in varying degrees. Here are some of the characteristics that define a pangaré animal and generally the easiest way to identify them.

Light hair around the eyes

Light hair around the flank

Light hair around the muzzle.

Mealy Shades

While mealy doesn’t affect true blacks, when associated with a black base it is called a ‘carrier’ gene. On chestnut coats, it can present itself as flaxen by creating a blonde mane and tail.

Chestnut Base

Bay Base

Seal Base

Mealy Modified and Diluted

Mealy animals may also be affected by other modifiers and dilutions, some of them can mask visual mealy identifiers.

White Patterns on Mealy

The white patterns affect most of the other dilutions and modifiers in the horse color world, although they can mask identifying characteristics. Perhaps easier to recognize on roan or rabicano animals, appaloosa and pinto can mask mealy traits almost entirely.

Roan

Pinto

Appaloosa

Horse Color Modifiers – Sooty / Smutty

Basic Smutty Shades

This coloring can be found on chestnut, black, bay and brown coats. Although for obvious reasons, darkening of the coat only has a visible affect on variations of bay, brown and chestnut animals. The cause of this coloring and how it’s passed on genetically is unknown.

Chestnut Base

Bay Base

Brown Base

Diluted Sooty Colors

The sooty dilution is far more obvious on a lighter coat, so it tends to have the most dramatic effect on those displaying a single dose of the cream dilution gene.

Cream Dilution on Chestnut

Cream Dilution on Bay

Sooty White Patterns

The white patterns can mask or conceal sooty coloring, although when the sooty shines through it gives them a new depth of unique coloration.

Pinto

Appaloosa

The First Cloned Horse Reproduces – Ruins Fugly Horse Business Model

Putting Good Stuff Out of Business

Sites like Fugly Horse of the Day earn their traffic by slaughtering (with words) the fuglier aspects of the species (or should I say those that breed & sell them). If we continue to clone horses, this poor website will be rendered obsolete, which is sad because it makes me laugh.
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Define Your Horse’s Face Markings

Horse face markings are as varied as the animals who wear them. Each horse marking is wholly unique to them, but most fall under several broad categories.

Interrupted Blaze or Stripe

Define Your Horse’s Leg Markings

Almost all horses have leg markings of some sort, from a tiny spot of white to whole white legs. Here are the general definitions of each marking, which are a bit more definitive than markings on the face because they are based on leg anatomy.

Horse Colors – Unexplained Markings and Patterns

Unexplained Markings and Patterns

While some of the rarer markings are the result of various white patterns (especially pinto), there are also plenty of unexplained markings and patterns. Some of which have had geneticists scratching their heads for years.

Bend Or Spots