Horse Color Explained

Rating:
Summary: Useful for horsemen, breeders, equine artists, and laymen!
Review: An excellant book, far better than I had expected. Very well organized, starting with the most basic of colors through the more complex patterns and mixes thereof, Jeanette Gowler concludes with examples of the unusual and very rare. Cover to cover color photos are extremely well done, showing both examples of the same horses both 'in color' and 'out of coat' for different seasons for comparison, detail shots/close ups are provided, and multiple examples are illustrated within each group. And although the author concentrates rather heavily on breeds of horses presently in Australia, she still covers a wide range around the world and quotes other researchers in the field. Additionally she provides some information where she disagrees with previous publications on equine colors and their inheritance. I believe that this book is the best in its field that I have found to date, both for breeders, buyers, and equine artists like myself who want to get it right. Added to a group of such books on this topic, one can see the recent changes evolving in our understanding of equine genetics in general through this book, and use the mulitiple studies by differing author/reseachers for comparison and cross reference.

Rating:
Summary: Good for basics, but be careful.
Review: As a breeder of quarter horses this book has become a fundamental resource for our breeding program to evaluate potential crosses to ensure that certain color issues (i.e., too much white, rn to rn issues, etc) do not occur. Well written and illustrated, it is by far the most comprehensive and useable book on this subject I have ever come across. Highly recommended for breeders in particular.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've found on Horse Color!
Review: Horse Color Explained is well organized and rich with charts, diagrams, drawings and many color photographs. Jeanette Gower does an excellent job of explaining the subtleties and variances of horse color, even if the terms and descriptions are new to you, you will find this book fascinating and easy to read!

This is an exceptional book; well written, well presented and a great value for the price. This is a must have book for every horse lover's reference library.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've found on Horse Color!
Review: Horse Color Explained is well organized and rich with charts, diagrams, drawings and many color photographs. Jeanette Gower does an excellent job of explaining the subtleties and variances of horse color, even if the terms and descriptions are new to you, you will find this book fascinating and easy to read!

This is an exceptional book; well written, well presented and a great value for the price. This is a must have book for every horse lover's reference library.

Rating:
Summary: Some facts are well explained, but...
Review: I am very interested in Horse Color Genetics and have read quite a bit on the subject. As a Paint breeder however, I am not very happy with this book. I feel Gower has stated her opinion to much. She makes too many statements that are pure "taste" and not fact. Especially when it comes to Blue eyes, mixing Paint patterns and cremello's. Other than that she does explain very well.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent details & photos, but....
Review: I was very impressed with the photos & detail of the breeding for color. The only thing I found untrue is she stated there is no record of a pink eyed albino horse. Maybe she only checked in Australia, but here in Iowa I know of one born on my dad's farm. He has the pictures & told me he had a team of "American Cream" draft stock (a mare & a stallion)& in the 1940's a white filly was born with pink eyes. They named her "Sally" & she had no problems physically, she could pull a plow just as well as her parents. I'm very interested in the science of color & its hardiness under saddle, many old timers & cowboys have a rare view of what colors will "wear" better for the work they do. I read everything I can find on horses, but the best information has been directly from cowboys & "old-timers" (farmers). I would recommend Ben K. Green's books also.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent details & photos, but....
Review: I was very impressed with the photos & detail of the breeding for color. The only thing I found untrue is she stated there is no record of a pink eyed albino horse. Maybe she only checked in Australia, but here in Iowa I know of one born on my dad's farm. He has the pictures & told me he had a team of "American Cream" draft stock (a mare & a stallion)& in the 1940's a white filly was born with pink eyes. They named her "Sally" & she had no problems physically, she could pull a plow just as well as her parents. I'm very interested in the science of color & its hardiness under saddle, many old timers & cowboys have a rare view of what colors will "wear" better for the work they do. I read everything I can find on horses, but the best information has been directly from cowboys & "old-timers" (farmers). I would recommend Ben K. Green's books also.

Rating:
Summary: The title says it all - a great horseman's reference book
Review: The thing that grabs your attention when you first see this book is the photos on the cover. You may think to yourself: "Wow, is that really a brindled horse? - weird." Then you notice the photo of the Paint, and the other horse's picture above the brindled one. Hint: it isn't a grullo. At least the fourth horse on the cover is simple, it's black, but then look closer, it isn't, it's brown. These are just a few of the surprises that you'll find in this most fascinating book about horse coat color and the genetics that determines it. For most breeders defining color is important, and this comprehensive, very easy to read book is a must. The everyday horseman will enjoy this book for it's wonderful color photos, including some surprising color patterns, as well as the easy to read explanations.

The first part of the book is the most important to read thoroughly. The author does an excellent job charting and explaining genetics, making it uncomplicated and easily understood. It is so well done that anyone involved in breeding horses will be able to make better decisions based on the probabilities of certain crosses and even how to avoid undesirable traits such as CID, HYPP, and lethal white syndrome.

The whole book is filled with numerous charts, tables, diagrams and such excellent pictures that it's very easy for the reader to learn the subtleties of horse coat color and patterns. The appendices are very thorough, though I did find one typo in table A that was mildly confusing. Table C corrects the problem.

The author is Australian, an authority on genetics, as well as knowing the various requirements for many breed and color registries. Although there seems to be an emphasis on the Australian breeds, which shouldn't surprise, there are many photos and descriptions of the genetic make-up of European and American breeds, too. As a Quarter Horse breeder, myself, I found all the information extremely useful for my program, as should all horseloving people. I definitely recommend this book. By the way, the true genetic color of the "grullo" on the cover is explained on page 112.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favourite books
Review: This is an exceptional book; well written and well presented. The variety of horse and pony coat colours, both photographed and drawn, is a real eye-opener and quite fascinating. However, some of the colour names and descriptions may be rather baffling to readers if they are not familiar with Australian and/or American terminology. Additionally, many readers could be totally overwhelmed by the seemingly very complicated genetic terminology, formulae, genotypes and predictions, especially if this subject is new to them. This subject, especially the gene designations, is mostly theoretical, anyway, and its presentation is very variable even amongst 'experts'.

I do not agree with all that is written in this book, but if one remains open-minded, this is a book that will draw one back repeatedly.