NWBHC Equinealities, Bay Color

Bay

An intense color, it was the first horse color to be valued for usefulness, durability and eye appeal. It comes in several shades and the different shades are common to all breeds of horses. this color will not bleach out from the effects of sweat and the rubbing of saddles and harness. This is due to a remarkable amount of refraction and reflection of light. The pigment deposits within the hair shaft are uniform in pattern and they are slightly larger than the individual pigment deposits of other colors. Also each separate body of pigment has a fine needle in every direction which fuses the entire pattern together, stabilizing the pigment within the hair. Darker shades have larger pigment bodies than the standard bay pattern, causing them to shut out more light and appear darker.

Regardless of the shade of bay, all horses of this color should have black legs from just above the knee and hock to the hoof. The hooves should also be black. These horses are correctly described as "bay with black points." There is one exception to the black point rule. The lightest shade of bay occasionally has the body color mingled into the points.

Dark Bay

Often confused with brown, modern horsemen registering and consistently describing horses as dark bay or brown in ignorance about the color. Dark bay does have an overall brown appearance to its body, but it does have bay markings on the flanks, underbelly, and muzzle. Also the inside of the hind legs will generally have a very reddish bay color. The same bay pigment pattern is found in the hair, but to a greater intensity. A brown horse might have the appearance of a bay over its back, shoulder and rump, but it would never have the true bay cast in other parts of its coat. A dark bay will also have an overall bayish cast instead of brown. the heavy concentration of pigment deposits, which have stabilizing needles interconnecting each pigment, are in rows at an angle to the hair shaft.

Mahogany Bay

Not nearly as dark as a dark bay, it is dark over the rump and lesser regions along its back, ribs and shoulders. A combination of standard bay and dark bay pigment patterns are distributed over the horse's body. Standard bay patterns appear in the flanks, neck and muzzle and in the highlights on the lower part of the hindquarters, insides of the legs and shoulders. The rest of the horse's body color is made up of darker patterns and shades. The color determined in the hair shaft is made by alternating layers of dark bay and standard bay pigment patterns within each single hair.

Standard Bay

A uniform color of clear bay all over the horse's body, it has the dark hair only in the points from the middle joints of the legs to the hoof. It also has the black mane and tail. Possessing the same heavy dark hide, the standard bay's hair reflects light and absorbs less heat as do the other darker colors. Rarely ever showing sunburn or other types of discoloration, this color is the most useful shade of bay. It doesn't have the undesirable characteristics of the darker shades, but it's hide is equally durable. Standard bay is probably the best of the horse colors, withstanding abuse and maintaining its true shade in all climate conditions and hard work. The uniform coat color results from a less intense concentration of pigment deposits which allows for a greater refraction of light.

Blood bay

This eye-catching shade of bay is often the most attractive of the bay shades to horse fanciers. However, this shade is more susceptible to heat, sweat and pressure damage than any other bay shade. this is due to "channels" in the hair shaft which completely lack pigmentation, allowing more light to pass through. These channels or clear spaces occur between "panels" of pigmentation and they run the length of the hair shaft. The reddish lustrous cast of the blood bay occurs due to the refraction of light through the pigment.

Light Bay

It has fewer pigment deposits with which to absorbs light, thus allowing a greater light refraction. For all general purposes, it has a sufficiently dark enough hide, but its lack of pigment density fails to allow it much resistance to sunlight and heat as other bay shades.

Look for an update on this article with genetic information soon.

Source:

Green, Dr. Ben. The Color of Horses, The Scientific and Authoritative Identification of the Color of the Horse. Northland Publishing. 1974.