Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Your Favorite Color (of horse, of course.)

Okay - we love our readers - so let's play a little reader participation game.

What's your favorite color of horse?
Bay, sorrel, palomino, paint, buckskin, chestnut, black, appaloosa, grey, or ?????

Of course, I'll be the first to admit that A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color. But deep down, we all have our favorites.

I adore paint horses, and always pick them out in a field driving past. In fact, the picture I still use as my author photo:

Linda Benson and Pete
is of me and a paint horse that I have since sold. But he was a pretty guy, wasn't he? With one blue and one brown eye, I adored his coloring (although he does look a little chubby here.)

I tend to like horses with color. I love palominos, like Laura Crum's Sunny. I adore a good buckskin horse, and I like chrome on a horse: flashy white stocking, bald faces, something special to make them pop. And I love bays - anything from a plain bay horse to a bay with a wide blaze and high white stockings is very cool, in my book.

Years ago, my dad used to do a little "horsetrading" on the side, and I often went with him on his buying trips. Besides riding and helping him find gentle family horses to resell, we always looked for pretty ones, too, because the truth of a the matter is that "pretty sells."

But color is definitely a preference. Some people adore sorrels, some chestnuts, some brown-bay or black. Some like plain horses, and some people like flashy ones.

So you tell us! In the comment section below - let us know your favorite color (or colors) of horse!

Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered to win a copy of my book, The Girl Who Remembered Horses.
 
 I'll draw the winner's name from a hat on July 1, 2013. U.S. entrants can choose a paper or ebook copy, and international entrants can win an ebook. Fair enough?

Okay, Go! What's YOUR favorite color of horse???

at

27 comments:

  1. PromiseJune 25, 2013 at 6:40 AM

    I loved Promise's shade of bay - I always called her a "seal bay" with black legs, and black and fawn colored highlights on her face. She didn't have a spec of white on her (other than a few little scars on her legs) and I often had people say they didn't normally like solid bays but she was very flashy.

    Otherwise, I'm not picky about color...if the horse is well put together, well-trained, etc and happens to be a pretty color, great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJune 25, 2013 at 7:19 AM

    That is tough, because I love some paints, but not all, and I really do not care for a paint with a blue eye or too much white on their face.

    There is something about a nice grulla that I like, especcially a smoky colored one. I love roans too.

    I still think that one of my favorites is and always will be a simple sorrel with a flaxen mane and tail.
    Do not enter me though, as I already have a copy of the book.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda BensonJune 25, 2013 at 7:20 AM

    Thanks for entering, Promise! Yes, I like plain bay horses, too. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJune 25, 2013 at 7:49 AM

    I always wanted a liver chestnut with a bald face and 4, high white stockings...I LOVE splashy horses.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Linda BensonJune 25, 2013 at 8:32 AM

    Hi, Cindy D. Yep, grullas are very cool! And Kris - you like "chrome" on a horse, too. *grin* Thanks for entering. Good Luck!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Laura CrumJune 25, 2013 at 8:41 AM

    I'll play--though if I'm not allowed to enter as a fellow author on the blog, that's OK. I love talking about horse colors. So I am like you, Linda. Bright bay is my favorite color. Either with no white or a lot of chrome (like my Gunner). I like palominos and buckskins, too, though I have never owned a buckskin and Sunny is my first palomino. I like some paints and I like roans. My least favorite colors are gray, brown, and sorrel, and yet I have three much-loved horses that are brown, sorrel and gray respectively, on my place right now, so I guess I am able to play by the good old rule not to choose a horse for his color. I've noticed that if a horse is a good horse and you come to love him, you tend to like his color. Funny how that goes (!)

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJune 25, 2013 at 8:43 AM

    After working on a breeding farm my favorite color has evolved to match the stallion they stood while I was there; bay, 4 whites, star and snip. He threw enough chrome on his kids to keep them flashy along with being nicely put together.

    ReplyDelete
  8. hammerhorsesJune 25, 2013 at 8:46 AM

    I honestly believe there is no such thing as the right color - I have a bay pinto, a black rabicano, and a grey, so color was not a deciding factor for me. However... my dream horse is blue-black with a nice bold star and 4 white stockings.:) (fyi - my black rabicano has a small star and 2 hind whites, close but not perfect, lol!)

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownJune 25, 2013 at 9:49 AM

    I love leapord appys. I think they are soooo amazingly beautiful! I also love anything with blue eyes...

    However, I have honestly seen the beauty in something that is slightly understated but flashy. My pony is a strawberry roam with a blaze and four high whites. She also has a gold mane and tail. You don't notice it at first, but she is SUPER FLASHY, and I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. BellaJune 25, 2013 at 10:06 AM

    I love dapple greys! It is especially cool to watch them run a cross country course.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Liz StoutJune 25, 2013 at 11:49 AM

    Bays. All shades of bay. I'm such a sucker for a bay horse with some chrome. *swoon*

    ReplyDelete
  12. CamrynJune 25, 2013 at 12:02 PM

    That's a rough one. My mare is a pale chestnut, love her so of course love her color. If I were shopping for merely color (which I wouldn't) I'd go for a Blue Roan with no white.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Linda BensonJune 25, 2013 at 12:13 PM

    Thanks for commenting, everyone, and Good Luck! We all kind of have a secret fantasy of our Perfect Color Horse, don't we? *grin*

    ReplyDelete
  14. RiderWriterJune 25, 2013 at 3:07 PM

    Hands down, my very favorite is dapple grey. My childhood heart horse was that color and that was it for me! My favorite horse (pony) of recent years is in my avatar; he was a dapple grey Pintaloosa, and I thought him quite stunning.

    Having said that, I also love a dark bay or bright chestnut with chrome. Gotta have something to struggle with keeping white or I'm not happy, I guess! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Belea T. KeeneyJune 25, 2013 at 4:56 PM

    I love all horses, even the "ugly" ones, but I do lean towards grays and palominos. Something about the way the light reflects on their coats, I dunno.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Martha Seaman McKeeJune 25, 2013 at 5:15 PM

    Buttermilk Buckskin, just like Dale. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. a wild rideJune 25, 2013 at 6:29 PM

    I currently have two bays (one a brown bay with a white star and snip, one a blood bay with a snip and two white socks) and a sorrel with flaxen mane and tail. I think they are all gorgeous, but honestly, if I were to pick a horse based on color alone it would be a blue roan or a buckskin. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. AnonymousJune 25, 2013 at 6:34 PM

    I would love to own a buckskin or a darker palomino one day but I am hopelessly drawn to Chestnuts with lots of chrome! Bald faces are the kicker for me as long as they don't have blue eyes. I think this is because I've most always had chestnuts but so far my best horse (current one) is chestnut with a bald face and has 4 white legs. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Gayle CarlineJune 25, 2013 at 10:38 PM

    I have a black and a chestnut rabicano. I love them both, but I admit, I love a pretty black horse.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Sharon TJune 26, 2013 at 7:25 AM

    I'd have to say a plain bay gets my vote. But I also love a dappled grey.

    ReplyDelete
  21. irish horseJune 26, 2013 at 7:49 AM

    I love a dark dappled gray, with a dark mane. Even when they lighten. But I am more than happy with my bay, who is a bit flashy, but mainly because it hides the dirt...

    ReplyDelete
  22. DomJune 26, 2013 at 8:06 AM

    I like dark brown, especially when they're all dappled out! Then again, nothing gleams like a chestnut...

    ReplyDelete
  23. BCsMomJune 28, 2013 at 11:58 AM

    I love true blue roans and red duns.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Linda BensonJune 28, 2013 at 12:36 PM

    Awesome, everyone! Keep 'em coming. You've still got a couple of days left to enter - just let us know your favorite color of horse!

    ReplyDelete
  25. 14.1handsJune 29, 2013 at 1:47 PM

    I tend to agree with Laura in that when you have a good horse you tend to love their color - everything about them. I always wanted a dark bay because their color really shines. Though after having a nutty dark bay horse, not so much anymore. I have had a wonderful grey, liver chestnut, chestnut with flaxen mane and tail and a black horse. Though I am an English rider, I love westerns and have always wanted a paint. I love leopard apps too! Horses are like people the better the personality the prettier they become.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Linda BensonJuly 1, 2013 at 5:24 PM

    And the winner (picked out of my prized Zenyatta cap) is *drum roll please* "Dom" !!!

    Dom - please email me: linda (at) lindabenson.net and let me know your preference - paper or ebook copy.

    Thanks everyone who entered! I LOVED hearing all of your favorites.

    ReplyDelete
  27. VenettaJuly 23, 2013 at 12:15 AM

    This is cool!

    ReplyDelete