Chestnut Drafters

by Didi Hornberger

Have you ever had a problem assigning a correct "breed" to one of your chestnut Drafters? Other of course, than the "Belgian" or the "Suffolk", which breeds accept chestnut horses for registry in their stud books? Assigning Draft breeds to Bays, blacks, grays, pintos, and even roans are easy choices; however, sometimes finding an "authentic" breed for something like the Breyer chestnut Wintersong can be somewhat of a challenge.

Rather to my surprise, I discovered quite a number of "legitimate" chestnut Draft breeds out on the Internet. The interesting thing about these Draft breeds where the color "chestnut" is neither "selectively bred out", nor heavily discriminated against in the show ring, is that each breed has some interesting feature or other, all its own, besides color. Care must be exercised however when assigning a specific breed to one of you chestnut drafters, since conformation, type, size, germane-to-breed characteristics, (specifically concerning the amount of natural "feathering" on the legs, or lack of feathering) and stud book requirements will all enter into your choice.

Proper documentation on any "uncommon" or little-know breed will always prove helpful when showing. It is wonderful if you are intimately familiar with – say, the "Rheinish-German Draft" breed, but it isn't going to help a model judge to accurately decide this model's placing if they have never heard of it and haven't a clue what it is supposed to look like, or what colors are approved for the real stud book registry. As always a picture is worth a thousand words, and a small picture with a few of the "right words" show that you have done your homework on the chestnut Draft breed which your model is supposed to be portraying. Remember – "chestnut color" isn't your only consideration. Take into account how much your chestnut Draft model actually LOOKS like the breed you choose for him/her.

Too, there is nothing at all "plebian" about showing your chestnut Draft model as a Belgian, if in fact he is conformed and "engineered" like a Belgian. Belgians are nifty drafters, and although the most popular and well-recognized colors in the breed are chestnut or sorrel, they originally were many different colors including bays and roans, and were sometimes referred to as "palominos". And among the chestnut/sorrel ones, they actually come is different shades of "blond." Below are some very BRIEF thumbnail descriptions of 19 Draft breeds which accept chestnut coloring into their stud book registries.

Ardennes: Belgium, Luxembourg, & France. Chestnut permitted. Heavily Feathered. Heavy Draft type. 15.0 -16.0 hands.

Australian Draught Horse: Australia. All solid colors accepted, white below the knee is accepted. Excessive white on face or body is not favored. Light to heavy feathering.

Auxois: France. Now a rare breed. Chestnut is uncommon, but present and permitted. Medium fathering, 15.2 – 16.2.

Balikun: China. Light Draft. Small. Most commonly bay or chestnut. Stands 12.2, and up. (Under 14.2 are ponies.) Alternate reference site.

Belgian: Belgium. Chestnut or sorrel color preferred, altho there are other colors. Minimal feathering, standing up to 17.0 hands. Alternate reference site.

Black Forest Horse: Southern Germany. Dark Chestnut coat w/flaxen mane & tail. Stands 14.2 – 15.3 hands. Minimal feathering. Alternate reference site.

Brabant: Belgium, Holland, France, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Germany. 15.2 – 17.0 hands, with heavy feathering. Most commonly roan, but chestnut is present and permitted. Alternate reference site.

Breton: Bretagne, France. Most commonly chestnut & roan. 15.3 – 16.3 hands, with medium feathering. Alternate reference site.

Clydesdale: Scotland. Bay, chestnut or sorrel, black, or roan, with bay highly preferred and favored. Sabino and high white leg markings and extensive white on the face are also favored. Heavy feathering. Generally 16 – 18 hands, with some individuals taller. Alternate reference site.

Comtios: France. Light Draft, with minimal feathering. Most appear palomino, but are considered as chestnuts. Chestnut coloring is most common; with some bays. 14.1 – 15.1 hands. Alternate reference site.

Dole Gudbrandsdal: Norway. Small draft breed with 2 subtypes, one used for draft work and the other used for harness racing. Chestnut is present and permitted, although it is less common than bay, brown, or black. 14.1 – 15 hands. Moderate feathering on the heavier sub-type. Alternate reference site.

Dutch Heavy Draft: Netherlands. Chestnut, bay or gray. 16.2 – 16.3 hands, with medium to heavy feathering. Alternate reference site.

Finn Horse: Finland. Is most often chestnut. Light horse, with no feathering, compatible with many uses, including light draft work, harness racing, and riding. 15 – 17 hands. Separate stud book exists for pony-sized Finnhorses under 14.2 hands. Working Finnish Draft type has had a separate breeding section since 1924. Alternate reference site.

Haflinger: Austria/Northern Italy. Only chestnut coloring is permitted. Uses include light draft and harness, as well as many styles of riding. 13.2 – 15 hands. Minimal feathering. Alternate reference site.

Percheron: Northern France. Chestnut coloring is permitted under American registry, as well as roan, bay, black, and gray, but British registry permits only black and gray. Most common colors are gray and black. Excessive white markings are undesirable. 15 –19 hands; minimal feathering. Alternate reference site.

Gypsy Cob: USA and UK. No set color standard for Gypsy Cobs, altho pintos are by far the most popular. The "Cob" is the draft variety of Gypsy horse, standing 14.2 – 17 hands, with heavy feathering. Chestnut coloring, as well as chestnut pinto, ("Skewbald", in UK terms) are permitted, but are rare. Alternate reference site.

Rheinish German Draft: Germany. Now rare. Main colors are chestnut, bay, gray, and strawberry roan. Sometimes brown or black. 16 – 17 hands. Medium feather. Alternate reference site.

Schlesweiger Heavy Draft Horse: Germany. Usually chestnut colored, although black, bay and gray occur. Light/medium feathering, standing 154 – 162 cm. Middleweight drafter.

Shire: Alternate reference site.

Suffolk, or Suffolk Punch: UK. Chestnut is the only permitted color in the stud book. 16.1 – 17.2 hands, with light – minimal feathering. White markings are rare, & generally limited to the face & lower legs. Alternate reference site.

So! Have fun assigning your chestnut model drafters to a color – appropriate breed, and please remember to document the more uncommon breeds. Sometimes it can be frustrating to locate "just the right" chestnut draft breed for your models – hopefully, you will find this list to be helpful in that respect. There are probably other Draft breeds which accept chestnut coloring; if you find any, I'd love to add them to my list!

 

Addendum:

The more I learn about horse colors, the more interesting these subjects become. It is very interesting to learn what the “blond” draft horse colors are actually considered. Somewhere I read that the different shades of red and gold in the Belgian Breed also have their own names, (Maple??? Dark red??? Russet??? Brick???) but I can’t remember where I read that. Until I got immersed in this latest “Breed Highlight”, to me all Belgians came in various “shades of blond”.

I’m delighted to find out that the “blonde” Belgians are actually the “lighter than chestnuts”!

The westerners also like to call anything with a solid red coat, a “sorrel” – you almost never hear “chestnut” mentioned west of the Mississippi River. Call a red horse out there anything but “sorrel” out there, and they look at you real funny, except maybe in California! Of course, the reverse is true with the TB’s I grew up with on the East Coast and in Europe; the TB’s are always “chestnuts”, no matter the shade of solid red. Draft hoses of course, are a different matter.

One of the most interesting things about many of the “color designations” is that they all seem to vary, from breed to breed. A “sorrel QH” from Texas might be called a “chestnut QH” in Virginia. This latest Breed Highlight article led me into ever new territory, as they always seem to do, and that’s the most fun thing about researching all of these different breeds, as they apply to the models!

Thanks for letting us all know about those lighter coat shades in the Belgian Breed – henceforth I will look at Belgian Drafter colors with new eyes!

upBack up to Library
homeReturn to the Model Horse Gallery Home Page

This page maintained by the Model Horse Gallery Curator ©2010-2020