Think about your classmates at school. Do you all look the same? How do you identify one friend from the other? What makes people look similar and different? In life, it's important to recognize people. What physical characteristics do you look for when telling two people apart?

Let's think about horses. Have you ever gotten two horses mixed up? In this activity, you'll learn about common horse markings and how to describe them.

Using markers, crayons, or colored pencils draw the proper color and markings for the horses below. Research various horse markings and find the definitions of the terms in the pictures below.

Horse Colors & Markings.pdf

American Paint Horse Patterns

Appaloosa Patterns

Visit the horse curriculum website for additional resources at www.4-H.org/curriculum/horse You may need to ask your project helper to assist you in filling out the markings.

The Mane Event

Now find more pictures of different colors and markings of horses. Old catalogs, horse magazines, or horse show programs may be helpful. Print off / cut out the pictures you find and attach them to a poster board. Identify beneath each picture what color the horse is and what markings are present. Share your poster with your project helper.

Stable Talk:

Once you have completed the quiz, discuss the following questions:

Horsin' Around (Share what you did)
- Where did you find pictures for your poster? What did you learn by making this poster?
Bits & Pieces (Process what's important)
- Why is knowing the colors and markings of horses important?
Horsepower (Apply to your life)
- Are there other things in your life that you need to identify? How do you tell things apart?
Galloping Ahead (apply what you learned)
- How can you use your poster to create a game to help someone else learn?
Riding into the Sunset (Careers)
- Why would a veterinarian need to know the colors and markings of horses?

Horse Sense: Coat Colors & Patterns

Bay: Brown to reddish-brown; always have black manes and tails and black lower legs

Black: Black hair from nose to tail

Brown: Brown hair on the entire body; mane and tail are also brown. May appear black but have brown points.

Chestnut: Reddish-brown color on the entire body; mane and tail may be the same color as the body or darker.

Gray: Mixture of white and other colors on the entire body; sometimes has dapples, which are darker gray areas; will get lighter as the horse ages.

Roan: Mixture of white and other colors over the entire body; head and legs tend to be darker than the body; do not get lighter as they age.

Sorrel: Reddish-brown body with a reddish or lighter mane and tail

Appaloosa: Breed of horse with leopard-type markings on the rump or over the entire body Seven coat patterns are recognized: blanket, fewspot, leopard, frost, marbleized roan, snowflake, and white with dark spots over quarters.

Pinto: A horse color pattern with patches and not spots. The horse is a dark color (such as bay, brown, or chestnut) and white. common patterns include overo, tovero, and tobiano. Visit the horse curriculum website for additional resources.

Spur You On:

1. When horses are registered with a breed association, they must be clearly identified. Research what different breed associations require for identification in their registry. Share what you find with your project helper or club.

2. Go online and research the different facial markings of horses. What makes each marking different?

3. With an older family member or your helper, take or find pictures of the facial markings of four different horses. Post these to Instagram, and ask others to identify the markings.

4. Find and print pictures of 10 differently colored horses. Create a memory game with the pictures and names of colors. Have friends try to match the correct color with the correct horse picture.

5. Horses can be identified in a variety of ways including signalment, tricoglyphs, lip-tattooing, hot branding, freeze branding, outlining leg chestnuts, and implanting computer chips. Research each of these types of identification and creat a poster with your results.