WALKING HORSE WEST ( Cont .)
Nature has given the horse speed , strength and endurance naturally , but in breeding some kinds of horses , the strength and endurance of the horse developed further . Horses bred for strength , such as draft horses , have deep muscular bodies , large feet , strong legs , and great weight . Horses bred for speed have longer and narrower bodies .
Twenty years ago , the average life span of the horse was about fifteen years , but today , the average life span is around 22 years . Many horses live to be 30 years old . Some mares are still producing foals at this age . The age of a horse is calculated from January 1st , regardless of what time of year it was born . A young horse grows rapidly and will reach about half of its mature weight by the time it is 12 months old , if it is properly cared for . If a colt is well developed , it can be broken to ride at the age of two years . However , serious and extensive training is not started until they reach the age of three . Horses of different sexes and ages have different names . A mare is a female horse . A stallion is a male horse that is used for breeding to sire colts . A colt is a very young stallion , and a filly is a young mare . All male and female horses under the age of one year are generally called foals . A gelding is a male horse that cannot be used in breeding . During the lifetime of a mare , she can produce up to twenty foals . There have been records showing one single mare foaling more times than that .
COLORS OF THE HORSE
Nature , in her very mysterious way , went wild with the paint brush when she decided to give color to her precious horses . The colors are broken down into groups ( with various shadings in each group ) and are known as follows : Bay , black , brown , palomino , pinto , sorrel , chestnut , gray , white , buckskin , roan and appaloosa . The bay horse is usually a deep brown color ( varying as many as six different shades from very light brown to very dark , almost black
‘ known then as seal brown ’, offset by black points which are the legs up to the knees , black mane and tail . A palomino is a gold colored animal with a white mane and tail . The pinto , with a different name for each different pattern of color , but just called pinto for identification purposes , is either white with black , brown , gold , etc ., spots or patches , or of any of the listed colors with large white spots or patches . A sorrel , with various shadings , is a golden-red color , with usually a flaxen mane and tail . The color known as chestnut is the deepest shades of sorrel , with the mane and tail approximately the same coloring . You may hear a chestnut being refered to as copper , liver , mahogany , etc ., depending on the shade of coloring .
A buckskin has black legs , mane and tail , sometimes with a black line following the backbone , but the rest of the body many range from a very pale yellow to a very deep gold color , sometimes with dark hairs running through the yellow . An appaloosa has two main classifications , the leopard and the blanket appaloosa . A leopard appaloosa is white with small spots , like drops from a paintbrush , scattered over the entire body , or most of it . The spots can be brown . The blanket appaloosa is generally dark colored ( brown or black , and roan shades ) from the head back to the hips at which there is a large white spot covering the rump . In this big patch of white , there will be many tiny spots , again as from a paintbrush , of the same coloring as the rest of the body . The roan can be any one of the solid colors listed above ( black , sorrel , bay , chestnut ) with solid white hairs running over the entire body ; two other roan colors are the common strawberry roan and the blue roan ( a smokey-blue color with the white hairs ). Strawberry , of course , means a red shade . When registering a roan , it must be stated black , roan , red roan , blue roan , etc .
MARKINGS The markings , the white areas seen on horses , vary as to name and where they are on the horse . On the head you may find a star ( a white spot of many different shapes ) on the forehead between the eyes ; a narrow strip of white is called a strip . A wide strip of white is called a blaze . A section of white on the muzzle is known as a snip . When the head is half white , or totally white , it is then known as a baldface . On the legs , the white is known as the following : just above the hoof , a slim band of white following the hairline is called a coronet ; a section of white halfway between the hoof and the pastern is called a half pastern ( half sock ); white up to the pastern is called pastern ( sock ); slightly above the pastern it would be called the ankle ( sometimes quarter stocking ); halfway between the hoof and knee would be a half stocking ; white up to the knee itself is a full stocking . A patch of white on the backside ( heel ) of the coronet , on the outside would be called outside heel , and on the inside ( facing the opposite leg ) would be inside heel , or if it covers all of heel it may be called full heel or both heels . Many roans , although not classified as pintos , may have large white splotches on their bodies and may resemble a pinto . The white on the hind legs may go completely beyond the hock , up to the flanks . From there , they may be completely white underneath the belly . Some palominos may be marked similarly .
Occasionally you will find what is termed an albino . This is a horse that has a solid white body , pink skin , and eyes ranging from pinkish to a dark red in color . A glass eye ( an eye that is a pale blue ) can occur in any color of a horse , including white horses . Glass eyes on a white horse should not be confused with the eyes on an albino . There are so many shades and variations in the coloring , that it is almost impossible to describe each and every color of a horse . The above are the basic classifications and will enable the average person to envision the color , or know the color , if someone speaks of a chestnut , palomino , roan , etc .
30 VOICE of The Tennessee Walking Horse