All the pretty little ponies
We have quite the variety of colors amongst our beautiful little herd here at Cheval Assistants and Leaders for Independence. Why don’t we talk a little bit about what those colors are and the genetics behind them?
First up, bay!
Bay is the most common color of horse, and is seen in a huge variety of breeds. It is caused by the Agouti gene over a black base coat. Agouti restricts the distribution of black pigment. Essentially, you can think of a bay horse as a black horse that has had a limitation put on the amount of black, revealing the red pigment on the body. The exact genetic mechanism behind things such as shade has not been found yet.
A bay horse will have a medium to dark brown or red coat with a black mane, tail, legs, and edges of the ears.
There are many different shades that run the gambit from a light, Sandy Brown, to bright red, to rich brown, to such a dark brown that it almost looks black.
True to the horse world at large, bay is the most common color in our herd.
Cherry is a light shade of blood bay. Her coat is a very clear, vibrant red as opposed to a more brown hue.
Cali is a darker, much more brown shade of bay typically referred to as mahogany.
Some bay horses are so dark that they almost look black, and you can only tell that they are bay because of the reddish hairs around their eyes, nose, and flank. This extremely dark shade of bay is often referred to as brown or seal bay.
Whatever shade they are, bay horses are easily distinguished from other colors because of their black points and medium to dark coloration.
Fun fact: Bay was the first color that mutated from the original color of the wild horse more than 40,000 years ago.
Some of you may have noticed that one of our bay horses is missing from this post. He’s a bit unusual, and gets his own next week.
Cheval Assistants and Leaders for Independence 
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