Ever wondered how a horse owner can tell the difference between the members of their herd? Size, breed, gender, and personality will always play a big role in differentiating between horses, but what if these factors where irrelevant? How would you tell the difference between two horses of the same size, breed, gender, and temperament? Any horse owner will tell you that they have learned to memorize the facial markings of their horses. Also, facial markings are great identifiers because they don’t change. Markings are present at birth and do not change over the course of the horse’s life.
Most markings have pink skin underneath most of the white hairs, though a few faint markings may occasionally have white hair with no underlying pink skin. Markings may appear to change slightly when a horse grows or sheds its winter coat, however this difference is simply a factor of hair coat length; the underlying pattern does not change. Below are a few of the most common facial markings of horses. How many have you seen before? Also, if you are looking for a horse property in Colorado, contact us today and speak with one of our horse-person realtors.
- Blaze: a wide white stripe down the middle of the face.
- Strip, stripe, or race: a narrow white stripe down the middle of the face.
- Bald Face: a very wide blaze, extending to or past the eyes. Some, but not all, bald faced horses also have blue eyes.
- Star: a white marking between or above the eyes. If a stripe or blaze is present, a star must be significantly wider than the vertical marking to be designated separately.
- Snip: a white marking on the muzzle, between the nostrils.
