Some fifteen years ago it seemed obvious a certain "something" was missing from the way I painted wargames horses. The techniques seemed all right, but the results just didn't look authentic. A friend suggesting trying Leonardo Da Vinci's method of studying real life and apply the lessons learned to painting figures. That has resulted in owning a very loudly-colored appaloosa, seeing a very wide variety of horses, and now helping friends train young morgan and Arabian horses.
So after all this time I know what a complex question horse color is and heartily commend Tom Ange for tackling this subject.
If Tom doesn't mind, we do disagree on one definition, probably because of the time I've spent with morgan horses. A brown horse has a mane and tail which are brown, not black. If these are black, then the horse is a bay, not a brown. Also on the subject of bays, the darkest ones are sometimes called "true bays" and are very dark with an almost blackish brown body and reddish brown highlights. The effect looks rather like a large, equine Doberman pinscher!
Concerning gray and white horses, from the figure painter's perspective, there are three different ways to get a white horse. A few called white horses have a pure white coat at birth and black skin on the muzzle and elsewhere. An albino has a white coat but salmon-pink colored skin. However a grey starts out as a dark color at birth like a steel grey or rose grey (reddish golden brown grey) but its coat always fades to white over the first seven years. They also have black-colored skin exclusive of things like muzzle strips, snips, etc.
The important point for figure painters is white and pink are very difficult colors to depict realistically. For instance how do you highlight white or keep pink from looking like some garish fantasy or science fiction color? These problems vanish when you use a grey as your guide to painting a "white" horse. Ben K. Green's The Color of Horses has a beautiful series of color plates showing how grays lighten with age. If you try a four to seven year old grey as your model for a white horse, then you'll have much darker color to work with than if you try do an albino or a white horse.
This book has excellent plates by Daro1 Dickinson for all other basic horse colors (like the rose grey previously mentioned) and they are quite realistic, too. For instance they depict how belly colors are not shaded color but rather a highlight. This is something I've learned from observations made while grooming many an equine belly. Nobody seems to mention this as an important point of painting a horse realistically. Missing this can be a major reason why a painted horse figure may not look right, although you can't explain why.
At the risk of confusing you, remember to realize horse color is a complex and ever-changing subject. Keep in mind color definitions vary from breed to breed. The same color on an arabian and a quarter horse would make these animals a chestnut and sorrel respectively. Some breeds have special oolors like liver chestnut morgans. Meanwhile others refuse to recognize what you'd think are pretty standard definitions. For instance, the US Jockey Club registry decrees that palomino thoroughbreds DO NOT EXIST! Other nations have different ways of looking at color, too. Finally, some horse color terminology is just plain confusing as when an apparently white horse is called a grey instead.
Another complication stems from a change in American attitudes towards horse colors which occurred in the 1890's. At this time the US Army Remount Services, the largest breeder of morgans, decided they really didn't want grey morgans. Instead of a need for trumpeters' mounts they mainly required plain trooper's horses so they bred for bays, chestnuts, and blacks. About the same time the civilian fashion arose that a horse with a lot of white markings just didn't look well-bred. There are still horse people today who insist a lot of color on a horse makes it cheap, gaudy and too flashy. So today you'll find very few, if any, grey morgans or any thoroughbreds with bald (i.e. white) faces and white stockings above their knees. You will find the last type of horse is officially a pinto.
Explaining all the color rules variations and exceptions will tax the patience of both our kindly editor and yourself. One possible way to answer your questions isto ask a horse owner you know for permission to see and photograph their animal. A nice way to observe the horse closly is to volunteer to brush it. Then you'll see details like the colors of the insides of ears, how black manes and tails have a hint of brown color and how the color of the hair above the hoof is reflected in the hoof color. So a black leg means a dark grey colored hoof but a white leg means a hom color or even horn and grey vertical stripes. Two morgans I know, Figgy and Fanny have proved most helpful in letting me try out undercoating color chips on them. However, for safety's sake, ALWAYS ASK THE OWNER FOR PERMISSION TO DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE YOU TRY IT. In case you're wondering, nobody so far has produced a book or article which explains all these little details which are necessary to make a miniature horse look believable.
If you can't find a horse or don's especially wish to meet one, another option is to buy horse breed magazines, particular1y during the first of the year. That's when stallions advertise for mares with lavish full color ads. You can also visit a horse show and take pictures. If (like me) you have a very poor sense of color coordination seeing what color horses go best with blue and grey clothes can be very useful. Remember though, a show horse or an advertised stallion will look much better then a real horse who was simply trying to survive any of Judson "Kill Cavalry's" raids. You might approximate this look by unobtrusively observing and photographing a pasture horse who has no shelter and gets groomed very seldom so it has a very rough, dull coat.
One breed a civil war gamer must definitely see in action is the morgan. These horses were in action on both sides during the war. Both the 1st Vermont Cavalry and Rush's Lancers were mustered in with full complemeets of morgans. Also I've been surprised to find out how many morgans were down south, too. According to the Morgan History some famous ones were Stonewall Jackon's Litlle Sorrel and, of course, Phil Sheridan's Riemi of ride to Winchester fame. Rienzi/Winchester is on display at the Smithsonian's Museum of History and Technology in Washington. Though some morgan people feel the taxidermy job just wasn't the greatest Joshua Chamberlain's charger as a brigadier, including the Appomatox surrender ceremony, was a grey morgan gelding named Charlemagne. A visit to a morgan show would provide a chance to see descendants of these civil war veterans. Large morgan shows often times feature antique carriage driving classes which should help inspire you to paint gun carriages and wagons.
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© Copyright 1993 The American Civil War Society
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