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Quiz about Strange and Unusual Horse Colors and Markings
Quiz about Strange and Unusual Horse Colors and Markings

Strange and Unusual Horse Colors and Markings Quiz


You've heard of the bay, but have you heard of the wild bay? What about cobwebbing and lacing? Take this quiz to learn about all of those, and more!

A multiple-choice quiz by Morrigan. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
Morrigan
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
264,394
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
8 / 15
Plays
5020
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 206 (10/15), Guest 70 (7/15), Guest 202 (7/15).
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Question 1 of 15
1. A wild bay is a variation of the bay. What's significant about it? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. A horse cannot be brindle.


Question 3 of 15
3. Many colors and patterns are accompanied by which of these? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. What color has a dark brown coat, with lighter brown areas (such as around the muzzle)? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Which of these breeds is well known for coming in the color of silver dapple? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. Which of these occurs because of the dun gene? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. Which of these does the Norwegian Fjord always exhibit? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. Where does cobwebbing occur? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. The bloodmark can occur in horses of any color.


Question 10 of 15
10. A chestnut is an unusual color in which breed? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. Can a horse be both spotted (Appaloosa) and pinto?


Question 12 of 15
12. Countershading can occur on almost every horse color.


Question 13 of 15
13. Which of these was thought to be a result of rain-rot or a blood disorder? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. If a foal has a dorsal stripe, it is automatically a dun.


Question 15 of 15
15. There is more than one variation of dappling.



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Oct 29 2024 : Guest 206: 10/15
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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. A wild bay is a variation of the bay. What's significant about it?

Answer: It has minimal black points.

The wild bay is an interesting color, which has minimal black points. The black on the legs may only come up to the fetlocks. When the black reaches the cannon bone, the black and red begin to mix, resulting in a fading that's not seen in a regular bay. The wild bay is a rare horse color, but it is found in "regular" horses, not just mustangs. A wild bay can also have white markings, just like any other color.

http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/colors/bay.html
http://www.equinecolor.com/bay.html
2. A horse cannot be brindle.

Answer: False

The brindle horse usually has dark stripes on a lighter background, but there are cases of light stripes on a dark background. At one point, it was thought to be part of the dun factor, but it found to be untrue. "Many people confuse the Brindle pattern with Dun Factor markings (stripe down the back, barring on the legs, and occasional regular-spaced striping down the ribs). At one time, it was thought Brindle was a just a variation of Dun Factor. Indeed, there have been many examples of horses that were probably carrying both Dun Factor and Brindle." http://members.aol.com/brindlehos/index.htm

The brindle color can come in many breeds, such as Thoroughbred, Arabian, multiple breeds of warmbloods and more.

http://members.aol.com/l3l13/hist-ref-def/index.htm
3. Many colors and patterns are accompanied by which of these?

Answer: Coat Texturing

Coat texturing is when parts of the coat stand up, and part of the coat lies down, like it usually does. It happens with many types of colors and patterns, including Appaloosa coloring (the black spots may stand up, while the surrounding white blanket may lie down.) It may also occur in solid colors, such as bay, with parts of the coat standing up in striped patterns.

http://members.aol.com/l3l13/characteristics/coattext.htm
4. What color has a dark brown coat, with lighter brown areas (such as around the muzzle)?

Answer: Seal Brown

A seal brown is a brown horse (usually dark brown) with lighter, or mealy, areas. The muzzle may be a light brown, and there may be light brown on the legs where they join the body. A brown horse may have a black or brown coat, with lighter soft parts (muzzle, flank, belly, around eye, girth, inner thigh).

"Some browns have a brown body with 'mealy' (yellowish) or red soft points, and this is usually called 'brown'. Others are very dark or black, with lighter areas, and these are called seal brown. It is also called 'copper-nosed brown' or 'black and tan' in some areas. Some people group brown in with bay, but it should be considered a separate color."

http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/colors/sealbrown.html
5. Which of these breeds is well known for coming in the color of silver dapple?

Answer: Rocky Mountain Horse

The silver gene dilutes black, but not red. When on a black horse, the body is diluted to a chocolate color, and the mane and tail are diluted to a silver. The Rocky Mountain Horse's chocolate color is an example of the silver dilute. On a bay horse, the silver dilutes the mane and tail to the silver color, but since it doesn't dilute red, the body stays the brown color of the bay. The black points will dilute to the chocolate coloring. When on a chestnut horse, the silver is not displayed, so a flaxen chestnut is not a silver dilute.

The silver gene is in many breeds, including the Rocky Mountain Horse, the Miniature Horse, the Icelandic Horse and rarely in Quarter Horses.

http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/colors/silver.html
6. Which of these occurs because of the dun gene?

Answer: Zebra Striping

Zebra stripes are part of the dun gene. The zebra stripes are on the legs, and start where the black of the legs stop. They usually occur above the hock/knee, and are the same color as the dorsal stripe. They are also known as leg barring.
7. Which of these does the Norwegian Fjord always exhibit?

Answer: Frosting

Frosting occurs in the mane (and sometimes in the tail), and is where the outside of the mane is a much lighter shade than the inner mane. In the Norwegian Fjord, the mane is roached, with the dark part of the mane left an inch or so longer than the lighter section of the mane. The darker mane is the result of the dorsal stripe, while the frosting affects the outside of the mane.
8. Where does cobwebbing occur?

Answer: The head

Cobwebbing occurs on the face, usually between the eyes. They are dark lines that resemble a cobweb, and are sometimes called chicken's feet.

http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/colors/dunfactors.html
http://www.equusite.com/articles/basics/colors/colorsGrullo.shtml
9. The bloodmark can occur in horses of any color.

Answer: False

The bloodmark can only occur in gray horses. "Bloodmarks are rare markings that occur in some fleabitten gray horses. A fleabitten gray is a recessive form of gray that causes flecks of the horse's base color to appear in the horse's coat as it ages. All grays get lighter as they age, but fleabittens begin to get flecks of color that return to the body. When these 'fleabites' appear in one area, they may create a patch known as a Bloodmark."

http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/colors/bloodmarks.html
10. A chestnut is an unusual color in which breed?

Answer: Friesian

While most people believe that the Friesian can only come in black, there are several cases of the Friesian coming in chestnut, including the stallion Fire Magic, and the mare Obizuth. The Friesian also used to come in silver dapple and gray. If the sire and dams of both red (chestnut) Friesians were bred again, there is a 25% possibility that they could produce more chestnut foals. "When two heterozygous black horses are bred, there is a 25% chance of getting a chestnut. Therefore both Fire Magic's sire and dam must have been heterozygous blacks, and if bred again, could produce another red friesian."

http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/colors/chestnut.html
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/4075/obizuth.html
http://www.worldofdancinghorses.com/horses.html
11. Can a horse be both spotted (Appaloosa) and pinto?

Answer: yes

Since both spotted and pinto patterns are dominant, they are both displayed when the horse carries them. This combination is known as a "Pintaloosa." They are more apparent in the Miniature Horse.

http://cspotsminiaturehorses.homestead.com/apppatterns.html
12. Countershading can occur on almost every horse color.

Answer: True

It can occur on almost every color, from black to chestnut. It is the color going from dark on the topline (such as from the dorsal line), to a much lighter shade on the stomach. This also occurs in foals, where the foal will exhibit countershading but the adult horse may be a solid color. In some cases, the adult horse may still exhibit countershading, just not as extensive as the foal.

"An ancient camouflage technique is countershading. The animal is colored darker along the topline, and paler below, in order to counteract shadows caused by natural overhead light (which lights the top but causes shadows on the underside making the animal look three dimensional). In horses, the darker topline seen on mahogany bays and in the "seal brown" patten, and the colored back and sides, but almost white belly of the "blond sorrel" pattern, are examples of countershading. There have been no studies that I know of, to determine if one or several different genes may be involved in producing these different countershading patterns. "Mealy" (also called Pangare') may produce the blond sorrel, mealy muzzled bay and seal brown countershading patterns. "Sooty" (also called Smutty) may produce the sooty chestnut and palomino, smutty buckskin and dun, and mahogany bay and brown, countershading patterns."

http://hometown.aol.com/stripedhos/count.htm
http://hometown.aol.com/stripedhos/sootfoal/sootfoal.htm
13. Which of these was thought to be a result of rain-rot or a blood disorder?

Answer: Lacing

Lacing appears on the back, and is thought to be related to the Appaloosa or pinto patterns, although there is little to no evidence of that at this time (June 2007.) Lacing resembles lace on the back, with the lacing being a much lighter color than the body of the horse. In some cases, the lacing started out when the horse was older, on a four year old in one case. In almost every case, the lacing grew as the horse grew older, such as the case of the Standardbred Aachen. It is inherited, as some of Aachen's foals are exhibiting the lacing pattern.

http://www.equinecolor.com/unusual.html
14. If a foal has a dorsal stripe, it is automatically a dun.

Answer: False

Many foals will exhibit a dorsal stripe without the dun factor, which is a result of the natural camouflage. A foal with a dorsal stripe may only be a dun if at least one parent is a dun.

http://www.equinecolor.com/dun.html
15. There is more than one variation of dappling.

Answer: True

There are several variations of dappling, including dappling, seasonal dappling and reverse dappling. Dappling is when the dappling is a lighter spot on a darker background. An example of the usual dappling is what's seen on a dapple gray. It can also occur in bays and chestnuts, as well as several other colors.

Seasonal dappling "started as a darker spot (looking like a reverse dapple pattern). Then the darker hair migrated to the edges producing the classic lighter centered dapple. Similar migrations of pigment have also been reported in Appaloosa horses, although the dapple spots and appaloosa spots themselves probably result from different mechanisms."

Reverse dappling is called roan in donkeys, and is rare in horses. In horses, it's usually seasonal. Reverse dappling is where the dapple is darker than the surrounding coat.

http://members.aol.com/jbatteate/dapple/dapple.htm
Source: Author Morrigan

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
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