Sooty bay

Appearance

Foals		Foals look the same as regular bay foals. It can take years for the coat to start darkening.

Foals

Foals look the same as regular bay foals.

It can take years for the coat to start darkening.

Sooty can be expressed in different ways, tends to increase as the horse ages and may show seasonal/diet changes as well. On bay-based horses, it often mostly darkens the topline of the horse, like soot was dropped over it. This can cause a broad fake “dorsal stripe”, which is called countershading. Some sooty horses show a darker ”face mask". Sooty can also darken the entire coat and cause prominent dapples.		Adults

Sooty can be expressed in different ways,

tends to increase as the horse ages and

may show seasonal/diet changes as well.

On bay-based horses, it often mostly

darkens the topline of the horse, like soot

was dropped over it. This can cause a

broad fake “dorsal stripe”, which is called

countershading. Some sooty horses show

a darker ”face mask". Sooty can also darken

the entire coat and cause prominent

dapples.

Adults

Bay shade variations

Sooty seal brown

Mimics

Sooty bay horses can look similar to seal brown horses. Dark (seal) sooty bays can look like black horses.

Seal brown horses are born with their darker color. Sooty horses develop it over time.
Look at the points of the horse. These should be black in color
Look at the soft parts of the horse. These parts should be reddish in color.

Genetics

The genetics behind sooty haven't been discovered yet.

In our game, Horse Reality, sooty is caused by the sty-allele of the hidden sooty gene. This allele acts recessive on chestnut bases, and dominant on bay bases. For any color we don't know the genetics of yet, we have to come up with something to make it work in-game. Which means working with just observations and theories. Since sooty isn't testable yet in real life, it also isn't testable in game.

Read more:
Bay | Sooty chestnut

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