Recently, I had a client ask me about why the eyes on her horse (a dark bay) where so dark, when she sees other horses that I have painted with much more light colored eyes. It occurred to me then that perhaps there needs to be more information out there on why eye coloration happens the way it does, and why her dark bay horse has darker eyes than some of the palominos or chestnuts that I've done. Its not there is less detail in those dark eyes... it just is harder to see in lower light.
The EYES have it
Just like in people, the color of horse's eyes are genetic, and is effected by the same genes that pigment the skin and body color. Just like how its rare to see a very pale skinned platinum blonde with brown eyes, or a very dark skinned african american with pale blue eyes-- the color of the skin/hair effects how dark the eyes are. It has everything to do with the pigmentation of the overall creature.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wLIulHENwY4/RrDdotwzKkI/AAAAAAAAALs/5UAc9Nu5JDo/s400/twoeyes400.jpg
In horses, the same rules apply. Black/bay horses will have the darkest eyes, and the lighter the body color, the lighter the eyes tend to be. Here are some color examples:
Bay horses:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/239/3161147474_fce82ede54.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2450/3550755828_264a5b8cce.jpg?v=0
Gray horse (used to be bay):
http://www.azalearabians.com.au/pictures/eye.jpg
*Gray horses will have eyes that go with the color they were born. For example, a chestnut-gone-gray will have lighter colored eyes than a bay-gone-gray. Similarly, a light bay will have lighter eyes than a dark bay.
Chestnut horse:
http://www.equipedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/close-up-face-chestnut-horse.jpg
http://image.equinenow.com/119556_1/face_hind_horse.jpg
Palomino horse:
http://www.sugarfootfarm.com/Codyhd.jpg
The wild card are buckskins. Traditionally, they would have eyes similar in color to palominos, due to the dilution. However, if there is a lot of black on the face, or are smutty (darker colored) then their eyes will be darker as well.
Sclera:
White sclera is most common on patterned horse, such as appaloosas and paints, which count it as a breed characteristic:
http://static.squidoo.com/resize/squidoo_images/-1/draft_lens4888762module38060412photo_1244197970Eyes_Appy_vs_afraid.jpg
However, most horses have brown sclera, making it very difficult to see against the dark eye:
http://www.uh.edu/engines/horseeyereflection.jpg
Often times there is a blue ring around the eye as well. Here are two great pictures of that ring and also of the brown sclera:
http://k43.pbase.com/u16/crs/upload/5107082.HorseEye.jpg
http://i.pbase.com/u13/laurent_laveder/large/38511389.PC190021.jpg
Although there are some exceptions, most 'solid colored breeds' like TBs, QHs, and Morgans have very few individuals with white sclera. The exception comes in when patterned horses are present, or introduced, into the gene pool (for example, pure arabs come in sabino, and there is a lot of interbreeding between Paints and QHs), and this can change the pigmentation of the sclera because of the patterning.
Basically what it comes down to is... the darker the horse, the darker the eye, and visa versa. :-) Of course there are always exceptions, but this a good general jumping off point!
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2 comments:
AMEN on the brown sclera! I've been trying to convince people of that for years!
darn great pics and info bit some of the pics dont come up.. the ones of the blue ring around the eye .. the pages come up as forbidden.. and you have 2 of the same pics in the 1st horse. the bay one .. Id love to see the pics of the blue ring around the eyes! can you repost them maybe in the blog instead of as a link? thanks for the ref pics too! I love the real close-up of the eye that shows how brown the whites are.( not really white at all!) and shows all the wrinkles around the eye...
Rebecca Turner
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