chestnut

Chestnut is a form of brown, lighter and redder than bay.  It covers a whole range of variants.  At one end of the spectrum are wishy-washy yellowish horses, right through coppers, gingers, rusty, red, brown red, orange and rich, dark reds, with every shade in between.  Liver chestnut is the other extreme.  These horses are the colour of raw liver, deep dark red with an almost purple tinge.  Chestnuts can be described as light, dark, liver or bright, as with bays. 

The points of all chestnuts are the same colour as the coat, generally with the same colour or slightly paler mane and tail. A flaxen mane and tail is pale, when some of the hair is the coat colour and the rest is varying shades lighter, producing an almost strawberry blonde, corn colour or silvery grey effect. This is known as a chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail.  The mane and tail can also be a shade darker than the body, but they are never black. (Liver Chestnuts can also have flaxen manes and tails). 

They often have white markings.

In some places, chestnuts are called sorrel.

The Suffolk Punch in Britain is a breed that is only chesnut.  (They spell the name without the middle T).  Small face markings are allowed, but no leg markings.  Bright chesnut is the most common, but they list 7 variants.

Recessive for EXTENSION gene, black not shown anywhere on the body, (ee).

The abbreviation for chestnut is ch