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A classic chestnut horse, this copper-red shade is sometimes also called "Sorrel."

This Haflinger is a chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail

A dark liver chestnut

Chestnut is a color of horse, consisting of a red or brownish coat, with a mane and tail the same or lighter in color than the coat.

Chestnut is one of the most common horse coat colors, seen in almost every breed of horse. Some breeds, such as the Budyonny, Suffolk Punch, and Haflinger are exclusively chestnut. Other breeds, such as the Belgian are predominantly chestnut.

See also: Equine coat color genetics

Chestnut is formed by the recessive "e" or "red" gene. It is one of the two base color genes that all horses possess, the other being the "black" or "extension" gene "E." Other coat colors, such as red dun, palomino and cremello, are created when additional dilution genes of various sorts act upon the base "e" gene.

Therefore, while it is possible for two non-chestnut parents to produce a chestnut foal, a chestnut bred to a chestnut will only produce a chestnut.

See also: Equine coat color

The most common type of chestnut is a solid copper-red color. These copper-red chestnuts are also sometimes called sorrels in some parts of the world. When a chestnut horse has a markedly lighter mane and tail, it is said to be "chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail." A dark chestnut is called a liver chestnut or sometimes simply "brown." (This can be confusing, because some very dark bay horses are also sometimes called "brown.") Very light chestnuts are sometimes called "blonde" chestnuts, or in some places, the term sorrel is used.

A flaxen chestnut, with a lighter-colored mane and tail, is a common color variation, but in some cases may be produced by the addition of another gene patten beyond the basic (ee) gene. One gene responsible for the flaxen mane and tail, (FfFf), also causes lighter lower legs. There are genes which are responsible for darkening the coat into a liver chestnut, but evidence of a "sooty" gene is still uncertain.

Sorrel a term often interchanged with chestnut when referring to a horse that is a solid copper-reddish color with a reddish or flaxen mane and tail. In the American west, almost all copper-red chestnuts are called "sorrel." ^[1] In other parts of the world, some consider a "sorrel" to be a light chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail. Some breed associations use the terms "chestnut" and "sorrel" to describe lighter and darker shades of red-based coats.

Palomino horses are not chestnuts, though a few flaxen chestnuts with light coats are occasionally accepted by some Palomino registries. A true Palomino is a combination of the chestnut "e" gene, modified by a dilution gene, sometimes called the cream gene. Breeding two palominos can produce a palomino, cremello, or chestnut foal. The surest way to breed a palomino-colored horse is to cross a chestnut with a cremello.

Bay horses are not chestnuts. Even though they have a red coat, bays also have a black mane, tail and lower legs.

The silver dapple gene acting on a black coat produces a chocolate brown-colored horse with a lighter mane and tail. Absent genetic testing, it is probably impossible to differentiate such horses by appearance alone from true liver chestnuts that have a flaxen mane and tail.

• Chestnut Horse Genetics, Information, & Photos

1. ^ AQHA glossary of coat colors

• Bowling, Ann T. "Coat Color Genetics: Positive Horse Identification" from Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis. Web Site accessed February 9, 2007

• Equine coat color
• Equine coat color genetics