Sooty (coat)

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This sooty buckskin shows a dark face mask and and the concentration of dark hairs along the topline

Sooty is a term used to describe certain shades of horse coat color. Horses with the sooty trait have black or darker hairs mixed into their coats, typically concentrated along the top of the horse and less prevalent on the underparts. The precise genetic mechanism, or series of mechanisms, is not well-understood but the trait is presumed to be heritable.

The most minimal expression of the sooty trait is visible as countershading, which can mimic the dorsal stripe associated with dun horses. The most extensive expression of sooty produces a dark, often-dappled cast oriented down from the topline. Many horses with the sooty trait have a darker mask on the bony parts of the face.

It was once thought that the sooty trait was responsible for turning chestnut into liver chestnut,^[1] however it is not known to evenly darken the coat.^[2] The sooty trait is responsible for many dark bays and has a particularly pronounced effect on buckskins and palominos.

Horses without any sooty effect are termed "clear-coated."

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