Horse coloring?

okay...my horsey is a registered SORREL quarter horse. i noticed that she has like a bay (dark brown) dorsal stripe. it is about one inch wide all the way down her back. just wondering if this is normal for a sorrel???

Horse coloring?
I've seen some horses have what looks like a dorsal stripe even though they're not dun. It happens sometimes, although usually it's not nearly as dark as a true dun's dorsal stripe.





Do you know what color her parents were? One of them would have to be dun for her to be a dun as well, it's a dominate gene.





Does she have any other evidence of dun markings, like zebra-like stripes around her knees/hocks, stripes on her withers, or stripes on her forehead? If so, then she's definitely a dun. If not, and neither of her parents were dun, then she's just an unusual sorrel.
Reply:If she has a dorsal stripe then she isn't a sorrel, she would probably be considered a Red Dun. Duns are the ones that have dorsal stripes.
Reply:Actually if it is feint it is not a Dorsal Stripe. My dark bay has one too but he is not a dun. It is called Counter Shading and causes a lot of confusion as it is not really a Dun factor. Google it and you will get a lot of information on it.





Hope this helped!
Reply:its probly normal for all horses.She probly just has the dun gene.like our bay quarter horses mare for example.Probly has the rabicano gene since she has the racoon tail.
Reply:The best thing to do is take good pictures of the left and right side, as well as the face on and rear. Then take pictures of her back, and send them to AQHA and ask them. This is what they do, and if there needs to be a change on her registration they will do that.
Reply:I can't see your picture, but I have a red dun horse that was registered chestnut in error. The registrar didn't notice that was wrong and it just isn't worth it to change her papers. A red dun will have a very defined dark red dorsal stripe and you may see some striping on the legs. The mane and tail are the same color as the stripe. Dun factor is known as a dilution gene which is why the body looks like a faded red. One of the parents must also be dun since it is a dominant gene. It is very difficult to get a high shine on a dun color horse, although mine does get some dapples.
Reply:Typically, a "dorsal stripe" like the one that you described, would be attributed to a Dun or a Grullea horse...still, what I think happened is that when your horse was a foal and the registration was completed, her coloring was not fully distiguishable, so her owners registered her as a "sorrel". I have a Palamino gelding who was registered as a chestnut, but was then re-registered as a Palamino once his white man and tail came in fully.
Reply:I have the same issue. My horse is a bay, with a dorsal stripe. We thought she'd turn grey, but she hasn't. it's not really prominent, just kinda faded looking. I think I wold still consider your horse a sorrel.
Reply:The dorsal stripe is a dark line that goes from the base of the mane to the base of the tail. Sometimes it goes through the middle of the mane, tail or both giving the horse a dark streak through the middle of each. It is always present on a Dun horse and should not be confused with the more subtle dorsal stripes caused by countershading. The only way a foal can be a true genetic Dun is if one of the parents is also Dun.





Some other ways to tell if your horse is a dun is to look for zebra striping on the upper legs, dark shoulder barring across the withers area and cobwebbing on their foreheads.





I'm thinking that if the dorsal stripe is only apparent on certain days/lighting then your horse is a sorrel with countershading down it's spine.





Pictures would be very helpful.
Reply:Horses that have dorsal stripes are definitely considered duns or buckskins. Sorry I had no luck opening your pictures.
Reply:ive seen sorrels with a faint "dorsal stripe" but does she also have the spiderwebbing on her upper legs? plus when you register horses, they can change afterwards. our baby we registered grullo, but he turned completely sorrel. we never changed it, but he did pass away as a 2 1/2 yr old, so. :( and my paint is registered black and white, but he is brown i can tell because his nose is brown. when you register at 6 months old it hard to tell what thier mature color will be.
Reply:She might have been regestered when she was young like most horses are and young horses change colors as they grow older. I had a red roan that turned sorrel and a blue roan that turned bay roan.
Reply:That's funny. What you're describing is a dun.





Sorrel is the same as chestnut, or reddish-brown.





Duns have shade differences, and a dorsal stripe along the spine.





As for the registered color...idk, maybe the color is hard to determine when they're young?