Wild Mountain Farms
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horse Colors: Black

Black Horses

A black horse is black all over - body, mane, tail and legs. Some black horses, however, do show patches of dark brown at certain times of year, certain stages of life or in bright sunlight.

Black is the third most common color in horses and the least common of the base colors.


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Genetics:  A black horse must have a dominant E gene. Thus it could either be:  (EE) or (Ee). The A gene, however, must be homozygous for the recessive: thus, a black horse will always be:  (aa).

There are a couple different versions of the black gene, some causing a more brown/black and some a more jet black. Both these are represented by the recessive 
(aa) unless specified otherwise.
​
  • (EE) and (aa)
  • ​​(Ee) and (aa)

Description:  Black horses has a black body color as well as black points - legs, mane and tail. It may be jet black in all situations or sometimes have patches which are tinted with dark brown.
​
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Foal Colors
Black foals are often born looking dark brown, bay or even a slightly silver looking dark gray. They become progressively darker as they grown, sometiems continuing to look like bay horses until they are 3-5 years old.
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This horse looked bay (lots of brown in his coat) until he reached almost 5 years of age.
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Other Color Genes Mixed With black
​
Paint - If a paint horse's base color is black, then the horse will be tobiano - black all over with large, irregular splotches of white. 
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Roan - If a roan horse's base color is black, it will be what is known as a black roan, having all the normal coloring of a black horse with interspersed white hairs all over the body, legs, mane and tail.

Other Colors Easily Mistaken for Black

There are other colors which are sometimes be mistaken for black.

Black Buckskin - A black buckskin horse is almost always mistaken for either a bay (brown) or black horse. In this case, the buckskin gene routinely fails to lighten the body color enough to distinguish the horse from a non-lightened horse. Often the only way someone finds out that their horse is black buckskin instead of bay or black, is when it unexpectedly produces a palomino or obviously buckskin foal.
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We called this horse brown for many years, not realizing she was a black buckskin until she unexpectedly produced a palomino foal.
Dun - A particularly dark dun may be occasionally mistaken for a black horse with some brown showing through. In this case, the dark dorsal stripe may be hidden by blending into the darker body color, and the primitive markings on face and legs may only be noticeable when the horse is in summer coat and in bright sunlight.
​
Gray - All gray horses start out a different color. A gray horse with a black base color could easily be mistaken for a black until it gets older and its coat starts to turn.
YOUR MARE: Is your mare black?
return to horse colors overview

Location

raising rocky mountain horses
​for every rider

Because when the mountains are wild,
the horse shouldn't be!

Wild Mountain Farms
PO Box 209
25111 Mill Creek Rd.
Frenchtown, MT  59834
406-239-4748
info@WildMountainFarms.com
Christie and Dave Goodman

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  • WildMountainFarms
  • About Us
    • Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
    • Christie's Writing
    • Dave
  • Our Stallion
    • 2021 Breeding Season
    • 2020 Breeding Season
    • The Breeding Process
    • Schedule Your Breeding
    • Breeding Contracts and Fees
    • Color and Our Stallion
  • Education
    • About the Rocky Mountain Horse >
      • History of the Rocky Mountain Horse Breed
      • Other Mountain Horse Breeds
      • What They Look Like
      • Temperament of the Rocky Mountain Horse
      • What They Do
      • Where to Find a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Cost of a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Genetic Testing
    • Breeding Education >
      • Deciding to Breed
      • Choosing a stallion
      • Getting Started
      • Breeding Costs
      • Breeding Basics >
        • Timing Details
      • AI vs Live Cover
      • Pre-Breeding Preparation
      • Breeding Contract
      • Live Foal Guarantee
    • Basic Genetics >
      • Basic Genetics Expanded
    • Color Genetics >
      • Horse Color Genetics >
        • Basic Color Genes
        • Special Color Genes >
          • Special Color Details
        • The Colors >
          • Red
          • Bay
          • Black
          • White
          • Gray
          • Chocolate
          • Cream Gene Colors >
            • Palomino
            • Buckskin
            • Black Buckskin
            • Cremello
            • Perlino
            • Smokey Cream
          • Champagne
          • Paint
          • Roan
          • Appaloosa Horses
    • Raising a Foal Right
    • Transporting Horses Long Distance >
      • Transport Paperwork
      • Transport Equiptment (Big)
      • Transport Equiptment (Small)
      • Feed and Water For Transporting
      • Driving Practices for Transporting
      • Transport Tips
  • Horses For Sale
    • Stormy-SOLD!
    • Smudge-SOLD!
    • Copper-SOLD! >
      • Copper Stories
  • Our Horses
    • Lady
    • Cowgirl
    • Belle
    • Sugar
  • Our Animal Partners
  • Our Human Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Western Montana Riding Trails
  • The Pacific Crest Trail
    • Who We Are >
      • Why and What
      • Christie
      • Kaladin
      • The Horses
      • Riding Companions
      • Local Resources
      • Home Team
    • Strategy and Goals
    • PCT Basics
    • PCT Water
    • PCT Safety
    • PCT Timing
    • PCT Maps
    • PCT Permits
    • PCT Resources
    • PCT Contacts
    • PCT Gear >
      • backpacking gear List >
        • Shelter >
          • Tents
        • Sleeping Bag
        • Sleeping Pad
        • Camp Chair
        • Water Purifier
        • Water Reservoir
        • Kitchen Gear
      • horse packing gear
      • dog packing gear
      • safety gear
      • photography gear
      • packing organization
  • AirBnB Cabin
  • Wildflowers of Western Montana
    • Arnica
    • Arrowleaf Balsamroot
    • Bear Grass
    • Biscutroot
    • Bitterroot
    • Buttercup, Sagebrush
    • Buttercup, Common
    • Bluebell
    • Cinquefoil
    • Deptford Pink
    • Fleabane
    • Glacier Lily
    • Goldenrod
    • Harebell
    • Indian Paintbrush
    • Kinickinick
    • Larkspur
    • Lupine
    • Mouseeared Chickweed
    • Oregon Grape
    • Oxeye Daisy
    • Pasque Flower
    • Prarie Smoke
    • Salsify
    • Shooting Star
    • Thistle
    • Wild Hyacinth
    • Wild Onion
    • Wild Rose
    • Wild Strawberry
    • Wild Sunflower
    • White Campion
    • Woodland Star
    • Yarrow
    • Plant ID Books I Like
  • Goats
    • Goat Enclosures
    • Feeding Goats >
      • Feeding Dwarf Goats >
        • Dwarf Goat Hay
  • Sheep
  • Horsepacking
    • How Many Horses
  • Sheep