What color is my horse?

With the AQHA they separate the common color "chestnut" into two separate colors, "sorrel" and "chestnut.' A sorrel is a horse that has a light reddish tone, with a reddish mane and tail that match. A "chestnut" is considered to be a dark red tone, almost a brown, with a mane and tail that matches. This could also be called a liver chestnut. Still a reddish color, but has a deeper and darker tone.

The blonde mare could be simply a flaxen mane. It is not unusual for chestnuts to have a flaxen mane or tail. It could also be a genetic, such as a silver bay or silver chestnut, but in order for her to be a silver chestnut her tail would also be flaxen and she would have silver tones on her legs.

So to answer your question it would depend on how deep the tone is in order say whether she was a chestnut or sorrel. They are two different shades of the same color. If she is darker, almost liver-colored she would be a chestnut, if she is lighter, then she would be a sorrel.

Equine Professional and BS Degree in Equine Studies, Pre-Law and Political Science

She is SORREL! I have a beautiful little sorrel mustang he's red like a chestnt but has a beautiful blond mane. A horse that is chestnut has a redish coat and a redish mane and tail

P.S. ive ridden a chestnut so i know the difference

Sorrel and chestnut are the same things. If she only has a blonde mane, perhaps it's just sun-bleached. However, she could also be a flaxen sorrel.

Chestnut and Sorrel are the same. The only differences are that Western riders tend to call their red horses Sorrel and English riders tend to cal them Chestnut. If she has a light colored mane and a red body color, she is known as a "flaxen chestnut". (:

BTW, I've had one before, they are gorgeous, aren't they? :D

Chestnut and sorrel are the same thing, though Western riders typically refer to lighter chestnuts specifically as sorrel.

The simple answer is she is a chestnut.

Her mane may be sun bleached, or she may be a flaxen chestnut. Manes more readily sun bleach than tails, so that is also a possibility. My chestnut's mane sun bleached, while his tail did not, and he looked like you describe your mare. He was simply a chestnut, not flaxen, but his mane wound up being lighter than his base coat because of fading.

I would say, chestnut w/ flaxen mane (deeper reddish browns are usually called sorrels).

This QH here sounds like yours, and is registered as Sorrel: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1...

basically the same thing but i think QH its called sorrel