‘Coloured Breed' is a category whereby horses are classified and registered according to their coat colour, as opposed to their actual breed type.
Different registries apply different rules. Some incorporate rules pertaining to both colour and parentage, while others are concerned solely with colour. Where horses fulfil criteria for both their own breed registry and colour breed registry, dual registry is allowed. Potentially, this increases the sale value of the horse.
Colour-breed registries include: Buckskin, Palomino, Paint, Pinto and Champagne.
BUCKSKIN-
- 4 eligible colours: Buckskin, dun, red dun and grulla. All are diluted forms of chestnut, bay, brown and black.
PALOMINO-
- Palomino colouring is the product of diluting the chestnut gene. The main and tail are white, silver or ivory. Palomino colouring manifests in many breeds, however registration is restricted to particular breeds in different countries.
PAINTS AND PINTOS-
- ‘Pied horses', that is horses with white markings against another colour, are eligible for Paint and Pinto registries.
- Quarter horses and Thoroughbreds are eligible for Paint registry.
- The Pinto registry requires that breeding stock be registered with a Pinto Association or another approved breed society.
- Description terms include: tobiano, overo and tovero.
- Tobiano: demarcated markings against base colour vertical in orientation, generally solid-coloured heads, mostly white legs, white or multi-coloured tail.
- Overo: Irregular, splashy white markings horizontal in orientation, bold white markings on head.
- Tovero: exhibits markings that are characteristic of both Tobiano and Overo.
CHAMPAGNE:
- Wheaten skin colour somewhere between buckskin and palomino.
- Skin pigmentation (mottling or speckling may occur).
- Four common shades: amber champagne, gold champagne, lilac champagne and ivory champagne.
