Colour Mishaps Revealed

[midnight star stables]

For educational purposes, I was wondering if some could share their horse’s actual colour (either known or genetically tested) and their colour on their registration papers for both AMHR and AMHA where applicable. There have been many post lately of horses listed as the wrong colour. Also who chose the color - breeder, registry or you don't know?

For example, my gelding is registered as a Palomino with AMHR. He was listed as such before I purchased him. In reality he is Perlino in colour.

My one mare is registered as a Black pinto in AMHR and a Blue Roan pinto in AMHA. Breeder chose these colours given her best guess at the time. The mare is now a grey, base colour still truly unknown, however I feel it is plain black.

Last year:

This year, lighter:

Another mare is registered as Chestnut with AMHR. She is now Black in colour; however colour was questionable at time of registration. Out of two black based grey pintos, I feel confident this mare will stay black with age.

As a foal:

At seven months:

What are some other registration “opps” that you have in your barn? Are some colours more commonly mistaken? I find that perlinos, cremellos, silver bays, sorrels, palomino and maximal expression pintos are the most commonly mistaken colours.

 

[supaspot]

I only have one amha mare thats been registered wrongly , shes a silver bay who was registered as chestnut and I have a falabellamare registered as red dun and I think shes just chestnut with flaxen

 

[Sue_C.]

When I sent his paperwork in to AMHA, with him as chestnut, the papers came back to me with him registered as a bay. Here he is at a couple of weeks, and three years...

I just waited for his permanent registration, and got it corrected.

 

[midnight star stables]

When I sent his paperwork in to AMHA, with him as chestnut, the papers came back to me with him registered as a bay. Here he is at a couple of weeks, and three years...

I just waited for his permanent registration, and got it corrected.

Wow, that is the reddest Bay I've ever seen! LOL

Lovely colour though!

 

[rubyviewminis]

My very obviously silver dapple/black mare was originally registered as palomino for one registry, and buckskin for the other! Even as a foal she was obviously silver dapple/black, with big dapples I might add even now with her winter coat!

 

[Cavallini Farms]

I have a chestnut pinto mare who is clearly a pinto in her pictures ON her papers, but is registered as a solid chestnut.

 

[Equuisize]

Our 10 year old mare was registered with AMHA, with photos as a baby, as a chestnut w/2 blue eyes.

Her papers were returned that she was a palomino w/2 blue eyes, then registered as such

with AMHR. AMHR didn't require photos then.

Last year we had her tested with UCDavis and she is genetically a red head/chestnut, the original

color choice by her breeder.

As our stallion is a red and white pinto I am pretty well assured of getting my favorite color of horse - red. And it's been proved true

with all 5 of their red headed or red and white pinto fillies.

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

My most common issue on my papers (both A and R) is that my appaloosas are registered as solid colors instead of appy. Also have pintaloosas as only pinto. Most were done by the breeder one was done by me and I had Appy and Pinto both checked for the AMHA application and still only got pinto I left it since his R papers are right and I wasnt sure if AMHA allowed pintaloosa or not, I might change it when he goes permanent if I remember. I also had a filly that only showed pinto characteristics at birth but started getting appy coloring as a yearling obviously after the papers were already done.

 

[MindyLee]

I must be the lucky one here to not yet have any issues with colors I choose for my horses registrations. And I have funky colors too.

KNOCK ON WOOD!

 

[wiccanz]

I have a DNA tested Smokey Cream stallion, but even with the DNA results sent in, AHMA still insists he be a cremello .... sigh :arg!

 

[LindaL]

My daughter's gelding is registered with AMHA (with pics sent in) as a chestnut pinto...he is very obviously a silver dapple (silver black)...nothing "chestnut" about him...lol

 

[cretahillsgal]

This old gal is registered as a sorrel pinto with one reg and a palomino pinto with the other(Cant remember which is which). But is in fact a red dun pinto. But to be honest she hides the dun markings with all her white. Wouldn't know it if she hadn't already had dun/grulla foals by non-dun stallions.

And this is my son with his silver pinto gelding, who is registered correctly with A, but is registered as a dun with R.

 

[Joanne]

I have changed numerous AMHA papers over the years that were incorrectly registered by their previous owners.

But I have been guilty as well. The sabino gene can make a foal look like a silver. I incorrectly registered two horses as silver BEFORE the silver or sabino tests were available. Here is an example of one of the ones I incorrectly registered that had to be color corrected with AMHA.

Pacific Casanova as a foal.

Yearling photo:

Four Year Old:

Some Sabino horses get darker every year for their first few years. He was imported to Australia as a yearling. Here he is last year at the Australian Nationals.

Sometimes these colors are tricky!

 

[Becky]

Great examples, Joanne, of how tricky sabino can be! I, too, have had black sabinos that looked silver. So glad there is a test for silver now!

I've changed the colors on horses' papers many times. A silver bay mare registered as palomino for example.

I wish it was easier to correct HEIGHTS on papers. An owner can increase heights easily, but to go down in height, it's quite an undertaking. With AMHA, a director has to measure; with AMHR a steward and a judge have to measure. I have several horses that are considerably smaller than their papers say, but they likely won't get changed.

 

[Loess Hills]

When I sent this little filly's papers in to AMHA the color they selected was palomino. Her dam was heterozygous for the silver dilution gene and sire was homozygous black. Which makes her a silver bay - even though she appeared very light as a foal.

 

Here she is as a weanling:

 

 

And as a yearling: Note the dark lower legs, flaxen mane and tail, and striped hooves

 

 

That was the last time I let the registry select the color - now I prefer to check the color myself on the registration paper, and color test if I'm uncertain.

 

[ohmt]

I have lots! Way back when, when my grandparents were the ones in charge of registrations papers, there were a lot of mistakes. But, they went by what they saw and didn't know about color/pattern genetics so no one can be upset with them for that.

Maple Hollow-I bet Mars Rosebud is one of your appaloosas listed as solid in AMHA! She WAS born completely solid, a dark chestnut with zero characteristics. That was back before we knew her sire was a snowcap and that all of his foals would end up with appy characteristics at some point. All of the foals we got from "Chianti" were born solid and then varnished out years later. Now when I get solid foals from my few spot stallion I list them as appaloosa before they even start to show their appy. Actually, I haven't had any problems with AMHA and AMHR about those ones!

Bay filly that AMHR changed the color on to black

This mare is listed is a chestnut...excuse her largeness-this was taken a week before she foaled and for some reason is the only picture I can find. Would you believe me if I said her foal was actually small

This bay leopard stallion is listed as chestnut appaloosa

Here's the filly that AMHR put down as silver black PINTO instead of silver black appaloosa (sired by a few spot and out of a varnish mare)

This mare was listed as a palomino, but I convinced my grandparents to change it to red dun. She is actually a silver red dun

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

I've got several, haven't bothered to change them since they're broodmares and a stallion:

Daisy, she's a dark bay, but registered as black, I can see where someone might think she's black, especially in her winter coat:

Another is my girl Copper, registered as a red roan, but she's a silver bay roan:

Blondie is registered as white, but she's a light palomino:

Sky is registered as blue roan, but I believe he's a black and the varnish/sabino I believe is giving him the roany look, not him being a true roan:

 

[Devon]

Eli is registered a sorrel I believe he is silver bay, he has silver legs and black and silver mixed mane and silver tail! As well as silver throughout his red coat..

 

[FoRebel]

Our perlino stallion is listed cremello on his papers. We have a silver dapple mare that is listed chestnut... We've tried to get her changed on her AMHR papers (even with paying the color change fee) but we were refused because according to them "she is chestnut not silver dapple". I get frustrated with AMHR because of the color issue on our horses...

 

[Sandee]

Here's an example of what I was saying about older registrations making me wonder at the color. This is my stallion's dam who is listed in the studbook as grey pinto:

It seems obvious to me in this photo that she's a silver dapple.