Most of the horses in the world, according to statistics, have a bay suit (there are also black, red and gray). Often, horse breeders, lovingly, call them "bunks." This color is found in almost any breed, with the exception of artificially bred, for example, Dutch friezes.
Etymology "bay"
Where did the word “bay” come from, and what does it actually mean? The word does not have a generally accepted etymology, since linguistic scientists themselves do not have an exact answer to this question. But there are two explanations that deserve attention:
- the word is of Czech origin and is a derivative of “snĕdý” - “dark-skinned”;
- from the verb “oppress”, “kindle”, “brown”, that is, “bay” literally means “color of fire” - a fiery or red color of a dark tone.
Color, Appearance and Apprentice
Under the color understand the color laid at the genetic level of the horse. This is a combination of factors - pigmentation of hairs, the color of the skin and eyes.
For example, if you meet wild horses in their natural habitat, you can be surprised at their very unexpected protective color, which depends on the environment and season. Breeds bred by man (cultural) are distinguished by a wide variety of colors. Experts count about fifty shades of fourteen suits.
There are only four main suits - gray, red, bay and black. But there are a lot of derivatives from them, but all classifications are still conditional.
And then, for some specialists who rely on the genetic code, this amount seems large. Some suggest reducing the classification to three suits, leaving everything but gray. Other specialists are ready to reduce the number to two - black and red. But the attempts so far remain attempts by both breeders and hippologists - specialists in the study of horses, rely on the classification, which has been conducted since ancient times.
Shades - various shades of colors, they can vary greatly. Sometimes it is only a specialist who can determine a bay horse, because of the shades they begin to confuse it with a different suit. The word "remake" is rarely used among professionals, they usually say so - cherry bay.
Apprentices are the rest of the horse's color options; often they are characterized by the presence of spots, marks, and tan marks.
Key Features
There are several basic characteristics of bay:
- two-tone suit;
- the base is brown, the saturation and tone are diverse - from pale sand to almost black;
- suspension (mane and tail) - black, not fading in the sun, as, for example, in the black suit;
- the ears are edged with a black rim;
- coloration of the lower extremities - black;
- always black grandmothers and fetters - keratinized bone growths located 20 cm above the hooves (except for the wild otmastki);
- gray skin, sometimes with pink patches characteristic of some apprentices;
- brown eyes, brown.
Cubs can be born with light-colored tummies and limbs, but they should not be rejected, because after molting everything falls into place and they acquire a brown color.
In small foals, up to six months, the hair is soft and long, then it gradually changes and becomes stiff and short. By this time, an individual color is already manifested. Therefore, it is difficult to say what color the calf was born; it is necessary to wait a certain time.
Varieties
There are 7 main varieties of otmastki bay:
- Chestnut horse. It differs in a uniform color - rich chestnut, resembling the chestnut peel, shimmers in sunlight. The suspension and lower limbs are black.
- Red-bay representative. Thick brown with a reddish tint. This combination gives the coat a fiery color, and in the sun it seems that the animal is in “tongues of flame”. The “cherry” stallion holds the palm of beauty - the darker the coat, the better this luxurious shade can be seen. Suspension and limbs with brown tint. A horse with such coloring is a rare phenomenon and is considered a real "gem" of the stable. In sunny weather, the wool casts fiery flashes and looks luxurious. It is this signal that as close as possible corresponds to the name “bay”.
- Bay-savras (wild) blind. It is quite difficult to see, it is very rare. The animal is a pale brown protective color with a reddish tint, dark spots may be present on the body. The color of the suspension and limbs does not correspond to the general characteristics of the bay. They are neither charcoal, but brown, since black hairs mix with light brown. The eyes of the animal are rarely yellow-amber.
- Dark bay, carack or black horse. Their color is very dark, almost coal-black, and the black one has pure saturated black. In the dark, it matches the color of black coffee or dark chocolate. And the coal legs and a suspension characteristic of the suit are difficult for a non-specialist to distinguish. The back, part of the head - the cheeks and neck are much darker than the whole body. The animal does not have any bleached or whitened areas. This horse is beauty and grace itself, since coloristics advantageously emphasizes its exterior.
- Light bay horse. This is the opposite of the previous style and has a lighter brown color, which looks like a dark bulan color. It is not surprising that even experienced hippologists can’t immediately tell who is in front of them - a light bay or a bulan horse. Some representatives of light color have a red brick or “rusty” shade. Whitened areas around the eyes are allowed. The suspension and legs are black with an admixture of brown hair.
- Reindeer bay suit. The upper part of the animal is darker, the tone gradually brightens and the horse’s throat, stomach and muzzle are the brightest areas.
- Golden bay. The lightest horse, its color is tan or sand, a slight reddish tint is possible. In the sun, wool casts gold. This leggings are similar to a bulan.
In the bay suit, one can find white lower limbs, the so-called “white socks”. Until recently, such a coloring of the legs was considered a marriage of the suit, since it indicated the weakness and soreness of the animal. To sell such a horse was problematic. Scientists dispelled this myth. Light-colored limbs are not related to health, and can not be a defect.
The apprentices
In addition to the main varieties of the game, there are 7 types of application:
- Bulan's apprentice. It is characterized by a basic tan color with a sandy or earthy hue. The suspension and limbs (above and to the hocks) are carbon. The “wild” gene can reward a horse with “zebroidity” on its limbs and a black “belt” on its back. There are several varieties of this applet:
- light-muzzle horse of almost milky color. The legs and mane with the tail are black; they create a contrast with the primary color;
- dark mulberry resembles a light bay suit. Black spots are scattered across the sand-colored body;
- golden and silver-mulled horses are distinguished by the ebb that appears in the sun. For the golden ones, it is accordingly golden, for the other, it is silver. In addition, the latter variety is characterized by a dark pattern at the withers, resembling butterfly wings;
- in a bulanic-piebald body, spots of the usual large size are randomly scattered throughout the body. This is considered a manifestation of albinism, that is, the animal does not have the pigment melanin.
- Silver bay suit. It has a characteristic brown color of different saturation with a reddish tint. And thanks to the silver gene that affects the black pigment - the tail and mane have a light color in different tones - from ash to pure white. In this case, the color of the mane and tail of her may not coincide and differ in saturation. In order not to confuse silver bay with another suit, you need to pay attention to the following factors:
- the bay’s legs are less light than the tail and mane. The silver gene mainly affects only the suspension. The coat on the legs is brown in light shades;
- with a detailed examination of the suspension, in them you can notice strands of ash color, less often black. The game representatives will have the darkest locks of dark brown color, but not black at all.
- Coddling a horse. It has a bright brown body, on which white small spots are noticeable in the eyes, nose and mouth, groin, on the front legs and croup. A rare variation with the manifestation of the wild horse gene.
- Bay-pied colony. Large spots of white are randomly scattered along the brown body. They have an irregular shape. Suspension and limbs are either painted white or have a combined color with the addition of black and brown.
- Karakova horse. It looks like a dark bay, but differs from it by a whitened tan. They are localized on the face and in the inguinal zone.
- Chubara apprentice. It is characterized by a large amount of white hair. White wool spreads a symmetrical spot from the sacrum. A variety of stripes and marks of the bay suit are scattered on a light background. Her skin is gray in a speck of pink. Interesting look her hooves, having a striped color. If we consider the color as a whole, then it will be closer to the bay color.
- A roan horse. Reminds a gray-haired individual. She is similar to a forelock, but she has even more white hairs. They evenly cover the entire body without affecting the head and limbs. These parts have a characteristic color for bay, but in general the color will be closer to white. During molting, when exposed to sunlight, the wool does not change its tone, unlike the forelock.
Character
Each horse has its own individual disposition and habits. The nature and color are in no way connected with each other, this was proved by scientists who have done a lot of research and debunked this myth. So a horse can be kind and aggressive, calm and quick-tempered, playful and lazy.
Health
If the color does not affect the character, then health is just connected with it. Brown animals do not have a predisposition to genetic diseases. Nature gave them endurance, strength and speed of legs, which is why they are often participants in various contests and competitions.
Breeds
In each breed there are representatives of the bay suit, and this is no coincidence. It is popular among breeders and horse breeders. Standing apart - Cleveland bay breed. There are only animals of this color. They are powerful, chestnut color. The breed is very old, and was bred in medieval England.
Famous "nests"
Bayed horses are regular participants in various sports and races, they win first places and often become record winners, whose names fit into the "horse" history:
- So, the long-lived record holder is a gelding named Billy. While horses live on average 25 years, he lived for 62 years. And his life was not strewn with roses, all his life from birth to death, he towed a barge along the coast.
- Volcano is a heavy truck, which in the distant 1924 was able to carry luggage weighing 29.5 tons.
- The dark-bay horse of Narko is the progenitor of many champions who annually win prestigious competitions.
- Picolo Ribot is an Italian steed who never knew what a loss is, because he has only one win in his piggy bank. He managed to come to the finish line, overtaking his rivals in several buildings.
- The best English racehorse officially recognized is Frankel. It was valued at a record $ 200 million.
- An elegant and beautiful horse Poet with a tragic fate, who received the nickname "Ballerina" from fans and the more prosaic - "Million Dollar Baby". Shining since 2000 in various competitions on the exterior, where she was always favorite, and in competitions her gallop, lynx and judge's step were rated very highly, often setting the maximum score.
The most expensive horses
Thanks to statistics, it is known that in the list of the most expensive animals in the top ten there are a large number of bay birds.
Forty million American dollars were given so much for the bay stallion Sheriff Dancer back in 1963, and at the end of the 20th century this record was broken by the prince of Dubai, who gave 85 million dollars for the stallion of Montju. There is no doubt in the profitability of the purchase, since the Arabs know a lot about horses. In the 21st century, Monkey was recognized as the most expensive horse. This stallion was sold for $ 16 million, while before the sale he had no time to take part anywhere, unlike his parents.
Horse horses in art
The grace and beauty of this suit could not but interest the people of art - artists, sculptors, directors, poets.
The Belarusian sculptor Vladimir Zhbanov gave birth to the sculptural composition “The Crew of Governor Zakhary Korneev”, installed in Minsk. Two bay horses harnessed to the chaise won the love of citizens and tourists. Copies of this sculpture migrated to Russian cities. They can be found in Tobolsk under the name "A pair of horses harnessed to the crew", in Kursk - under the name "Governor's carriage" and in the city of Dolgoprudniy near Moscow.
Poets also did not stand aside and devoted lines of poems to these magnificent animals, and on the poems of Apukhtin was written the romance “A couple of bay”, which became a classic.
Cinema and horses are inseparable, especially when it comes to shooting pictures of military, historical, adventure themes. Bay horses often appear in films - “War and Peace” by Bondarchuk the father, “Elusive Avengers” and others.
In painting, there is a subgenre - hippic, from the Greek word hippos - horse. Many artists in the 18-19th century captured bay in their landscapes, battle paintings, ceremonial portraits. In these times, the horse played a significant role in human life - it was both a means of transportation, and a breadwinner and a true friend on the battlefields.
Let the man replace horses with “iron horses” in the age of progress, the rider on a horse still attract attention, horse racing has not lost its relevance, and the horse itself has become a luxury that not everyone can afford. The bay suit remains popular as before.