An investigation into British equestrians preference for horse coat colour and perception of equine coat colour bias. Poster presented at British Society of Animal Science (BSAS) annual conference in Chester, April 2015.

1. Results
Is there a ‘Colour Fashion’ in British Bred
Sports Horses?
An Investigation into British Equestrians Preference for
Horse Colours and Perception of Equine Coat Colour Bias
Anna Fisker Hansen1,2*, Dr Hayley Randle2, Dr Joanna Dixon2,3
1Plymouth University, 2Duchy College, 3Plymouth Marine Laboratory
*anna.fiskerhansen@plymouth.ac.uk
Background
Changes in ‘fashion preference’ of equine coat colours is
evident through domestication of the horse and with
the introduction of studbooks. Anecdotal
feedback from participants of the BEF
Futurity has suggested a judging bias
according to the colour of the
horse. This study aims to
investigate horse
colour preference
and perception
thereof in
British
eques-
trians.
The Message
• Survey results suggest a perceived bias in the British
Equestrian Federation (BEF) Futurity according to the
colour of the horses.
• Block Coloured and Spotted were the least favourite
horse colours of the British equestrians surveyed.
• No single horse colour group were significantly
favoured by the surveyed, suggesting a possible bias of
horse coat colours to be negative.
• Future detailed analysis of
BEF Futurity data of the
years 2008-2013 will
investigate this
further.
Method
An online survey was
designed, piloted and
distributed though social
media (June-September
2014) targeted at British
equestrians (n=65). Chi-
square tests on survey
responses were used to
analyse the significance,
with an expected equal
spread of preference
amongst the 7 horse coat
colour groups .
Conclusion
The performance
evaluation phase of
the BEF Futurity is, as
participant feedback
suggest, thought to be
biased by horse coat
colour. This suggest a
cause for further
investigation. The
significantly lower
preference of Spotted
and Block Coloured
horses, compared to no
significance of favoured
horse colours, suggest
the possibility of a
a negative horse
coat colour bias.
Block Coloured
and Spotted
horses were
chosen as least
favourite by a
significant
amount of
survey
participants
(p<0.001).
Favourite
Horse Colours by
Surveyed British
Equestrians
Least Favourite
Horse Colours by
Surveyed British
Equestrians
Perception of Horse Coat Colour Bias within
Equine Sport and BEF Sport Horse Evaluation by
Surveyed British Equestrians
40 out of 65
survey
participants had
a favourite horse
colour, but no
single colour
were
significantly
favoured
(p=0.68).