So, what is a bay?

Bay / Dark Bay

Bay horses have a brown body, ranging from light brown / tan, (golden or light bay) bright, blood red (bright or blood bay) through to deep mahogany brown (dark bay).  No matter what tone of brown the coat, the points are always black (mane, tail, legs).  Although they can have face and leg markings, when there are white markings on the lower portions of the limbs, the hair above, around the knees and hocks, is black.  Very dark bays can be called bay/brown.

Ø  Dominant for the AGOUTI and EXTENSION genes (AE)

Ø  Dark bay – darkest shade – mahogany

Ø  Bright bay

Ø  Blood bay

Ø  Light bay

Ø  Most common coat colour

Ø  A strong bay is meant to a sign of a hardy, tough horse.

Ø  When clipped, bays can go to a darker, mousey colour, or a paler yellow colour. 

Ø  Lighter bays can sometimes have a list or dorsal stripe down their spine.  Some people think this adds hardiness to the horse.

Ø  Some bay horses have black shading, making them appear sooty.

Ø  One breed of horse – the Cleveland Bay is, as the name suggests, always bay.  To enter their stud book, the horse must be bay and can only have a small amount of white on his face.  White leg markings or large white stripes on the face are not allowed.

Ø  The abbreviation for bay is b