Mast is one of the main features of the horse; it is a hereditary trait and is determined by the color of the covering hair of the head, neck, hull, limbs and protective hair of the bangs, mane, tail and brushes (frieze).

The main colors are black, brown, red, yellow (sandy), and white (colorless). It is believed that there are no black and white suits; raven, sorrel, red and gray are the main colors, and all others √ derivatives (sub-mast colors). There are other classifications, one of which I will use below.

Generally speaking, both classifications and even the definition of suits are quite conditional, as they are not genetically correct, which is quite understandable – our ancestors, who named the suits, were not familiar with it. And, by the way, in the Wild West, the division into suits is somewhat different from ours.

A horse’s suit is the coloring of the horse’s hair as well as skin and eyes. One of the main individual distinguishing signs. A horse’s color is not just a coloring, but a certain combination of colors, a type of pigment distribution, which has a genetic basis as well. If horses have the same coat color, but different skin and eyes, or the same color on the body, but different mane and tail, their colors can be different (compare isabella and light-colored, redhead and bay). At the same time the shades of the same suit may differ very much (for example, a light sable coat has pale, sandy color, but the darkest shades of the same suit can approach to dark-brown and even black).

Shades and Grease

Masks can be different shades – omastocks. Ottomastok indicates the intensity of color of the main suit (dark, light), the color nuance (golden, red), the uniformity of color (muhortaya, podlasaya), etc. Basically, its name consists of 2 words – hue + coat (red-red, light-bellied), although there are independent designations (sex, wine). In some cases, two (and more) names of lasso can be used simultaneously for a more precise description of color (dark golden-red, light sorrel in apples). Moreover, in a conversation or in a text, the word suit is more often used rather than ottocks: a horse of dark-bellied (reddish-tiger, gray in apples) suit.