Smoky Black - Smoky Black Mimics

Smoky Black Mimics

• Dark bay: When smoky blacks fade from exposure to the elements, their legs usually retain their color, giving them the appearance of a bay or brown horse with black points. However, the brown coat of a bleached smoky black recalls orange rather than red or mahogany.
• Black: A true genetic black horse may still develop a sun-bleached coat, usually due to issues related to management and nutrition, though in some cases there may also be genetic factors contributing. A smoky black looks very similar to a sun-bleached black, and often only pedigree analysis or genetic testing can distinguish between the two.
• Seal brown: The just off-black coat color of true seal browns can sometimes be misidentified as smoky black, or vice versa.
• Liver chestnut: The palest, most evenly-bleached smoky blacks may mimic the darkest shades of chestnut. Chestnuts do not have true black tones in their coats, and will usually reveal reddish character around the fetlocks. Smoky blacks usually have uniformly black legs. Furthermore, chestnuts do not possess amber eyes.
• Classic champagne: Paler smoky blacks with amber eyes may be confused with the activity of champagne on a black coat. Champagne horses have pinkish, freckled skin and green, hazel or amber eyes, as opposed to the dark skin and brown or amber eyes of a smoky black.
• Grullo: Grullo is the action of the dun gene on black. Typically, grullo coats have cool slate hues as opposed to warm orange-brown tones. Furthermore, grullos have dun characteristics such as bold dorsal stripes and leg bars.