Horses have been an important part of human civilization for thousands of years, we have been using horses for as long as we have recorded history, possibly even before that.
They have been used in farming, races, and wars by all the cultures that have ever walked the earth.
We still use horses in almost all parts of the world and horse breeding has become more popular than ever with the advancements in science and genetics.
Color is a crucial part of the horse breeding process, it might not be well known but there are calculators that you can use to figure out the color of a horse.
This article will be focused on finding the best horse color calculator, you can find a lot of horse color calculators online, and it can be a bit overwhelming to decide on the right calculator.
If you’re a horse breeder or someone who is interested in horses, you stick with this article.
Best Horse Color Calculator
1. Avian’s Coat Color Calculator
Avian is a website related to animal biology and genetics, their animal genetics section has a horse color calculator, and it is probably the most used horse color calculator.
The interface of the calculator seems a little outdated but the calculator itself works perfectly.
Avian’s Coat Color Calculator allows you to select the color details of the sections, labeled as Sire and Dam, these refer to the parents of the offspring you are trying to calculate the color for.
Input the 3 details on the first page of the calculator and click ‘Continue’.
The page will direct you towards more options, where you will have to select further details about the coat color of Sire and Dam, once you have selected those, click ‘Calculate’.
You will see a bunch of colors as results with their probabilities mentioned right next to them.
This website may not look like much but it’s a trustworthy website when it comes to animal genetics.
There are also some instructions and details about the calculator if you scroll down a bit, you should go through these details, they might answer some of your questions.
2. Etalon Diagnostics Horse Coat Color Simulator Tool
This website is all about horse genetics, their Color Calculator is quite different from the Avian’s Coat Color Calculator.
Avian Depends on the color inputs you select for the parents of the offspring, whereas Etalon Diagnostics simulates the color depending on the color genes present in the horse.
You have genetic buttons that you can press if you know the genetics of the horse offspring (these depend on the parents of the offspring). The full form of genetics symbols are also mentioned at on the side of the calculators.
The calculator takes about a minute to load when you first open the website, so this something you might want to consider.
There is an animated horse image at the center of the calculator which changes color as you press the genetic button, if you select the right genetic buttons the color of horse on that image will represent the anticipated color your horse offspring will have.
The layout of the calculator itself is quite simple and straight forward but you need to have an understanding of the genetics.
The website has minimal design, and there aren’t any distractions on the webpage like ads and pop-ups. If you do have sufficient knowledge about horse DNA, you should go for this calculator.
3. United States Icelandic Horse Congress Color Calculator
United States Icelandic Horse Congress is an organization that regulates the knowledge of Icelandic horses, they also maintain the laws and regulations of Icelandic horse breeding and competitions.
Their color calculator is a wise choice as it is backed up by an official organization.
You can register a horse with them and before you can do that, they need the color code of your horse. You can skip the registration part and just use the calculator to find the color for you.
This color calculator won’t give you the color of a future horse offspring but gives you a color code for the horse that you already know about.
Enter 3 inputs in the ‘Calculate Color Code’, Main color, Whiter Markings, and Other markings.
Once you have entered all these details the calculator will give you a color code. The second part of the calculator is titled as ‘Decode Color Code’.
This part of the calculator might come in more handy for you, if you have the color code of your horse, or you know the color code that your horse is going to have you can enter the four digit code here and the calculator will tell you the color and markings of your horse.
4. Color genetics’ Foal Coat Color Calculator
Color Genetics is associated with breeding numerous farm and domestic animals, their Foal (Foal means a young Horse) Coat Color Calculator can be used to calculate the horse’s color.
You might be a little overwhelmed when you first open their website.
The website has a poor design and a dull color scheme, and you can only see the ads and tabs when you open the website, you’ll have to scroll down a bit to see the calculator.
This calculator might not seem appealing but it is the most detailed color calculator on this list.
You have to enter the Extension and Agouti for Sire and Dam, Extension and Agouti are color details for the horses. Then you’re asked if you want to add further color details.
Check the boxes if you wish to add more colors and you will be presented by ‘Grey’ and ‘Dilutions’ section.
Click submit, located at the bottom of the page to get your results, the page may take a few seconds to load your results, and once it does you will have a different color of horses with the probability percentages with them.
How do horses get their color?
It should be pretty clear to you by now that the color of a Horse or animal, depends on the genetics, and the genetics come from parents.
Horses have the widest variety of the coat colors in any domestic animal, and technically any horse breed can be on any color.
One thing you must know before using these or any horse color calculator is that you can never be a 100 percent sure about the color of the Foal, although these calculators will increase the chances of your desired color.
In simple terms, all the coat color of a horse comes from 2 colors, black and red, now might ask where do all the other dozens of colors come from?
The reason we see such variety in horse colors is due to the modifier genes, these modifier genes interact with Black and Red pigment to produce all sorts of colors that we see on horses.
End Note
Horse breeding is a highly complex job, and you need to have adequate information regarding different horse breeds and genetics. The credibility of these calculators can never be assessed due to the complicated nature of horse breeding.
With that all said, these calculators are still the best tool you got and give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect if you know the genetics of horses.
Always refer to professionals when dealing with a horse coat colors, don’t rely on these calculators exclusively as horse breeding is a delicate and expensive procedure.
The most practical horse color calculators have been listed above, and you were hopefully able to find the best horse color calculator, that meets your requirements.
