Understanding Hair Growth Patterns

Article and photos by Darynn Bednarczyk

All horses have a unique hair pattern within their coat that is uniform across every breed and subtype. This pattern carries into coloration and markings, specifically in paint, roan and appaloosa horses. It is important to study and understand this pattern. One of the biggest mistakes that new painters will make in attempting white markings, dapples and roaning is not following the equine hair growth pattern.

There are a few key areas to pay attention to when painting: the flank, the forehead, the underbelly, and the chest. Once you understand this pattern, there is no coat colour you can’t achieve!

I always have a hair growth chart above my painting desk. If you search for these charts, they are available online for printing. Make sure you have both sides of the horse printed out so your brain doesn’t have to mentally flip the image. It can also be helpful to create your own hair growth model to better visualize those tricky areas.

The main body hair grows on a gradual slope that flows in the direction of the back of the horse. The flank is the only area of obvious variation from the side.

The leg hair generally follows the pattern of the main body. The fronts of the legs will have hairs that travel down the knees and hocks. The backs of the legs will peak in the middle from either side of the leg. The back will have a center line where the hairs start to descend on either side of the body.

You can see clearly on this custom that the flank disrupts the pattern quite a bit.

The Flank

Real horse flank

Traditional scale custom, hairing in acrylics

The flank is the most complex and obvious display of hair growth. This is incredibly important to understand. Starting in the crease of the flank, if you visualize a line going down the center, the hairs will fan outwards from that crease. The hairs heading towards the hindquarters will continue over the hind end. The hairs heading towards the abdomen will arch over and crash into the hairs coming down the belly. This will create a faint line of change in direction, and in some horses, a peak. Lately I have been incorporating an emphasis of the flank on all my horses I paint, even within white makings and dapples to add the ultimate sense of realism and coat patterning.

Traditional scale flank detail

Stablemates scale flank detail

The Neck

There is a defined line of hair that runs along the neck. The hair changes direction from this line to turn into the mane. This area can also contain a swirl, which is more prominent in some horses than others.

The Underbelly

The belly has a change in hair direction that runs down the center. The hairs will peak in the middle from both sides of the abdomen. There are also two swirls underneath the flank, as a well as a possible swirl that occurs at the belly button. There is no hair in the groin area. Markings will follow this pattern as shown on the appaloosa horse. This is best understood by studying photographs, real horses and practicing this area with paint.

The Chest

The chest has two peaks of hair that occur over the two muscles between the front legs. They fan out from the center line on each muscle, in a similar fashion to the flank. Hairs will come down from both sides of the neck to peak in the middle as well. Some horses can have unique peaks and swirls within the neck, chest, and throat.

The Forehead

The forehead has a swirl that generally sits between the eyes. Some horses can even have multiples. These swirls come with superstition that their placement defines the personality of each individual horse. The hair swirls away from the center of the forehead and down the sides of the cheeks. Facial markings will follow this pattern.

Equine hair patterns take quite some time to understand fully. Study tons of reference images and expose yourself to real horses. Make a point of practicing this technique on different models in different positions as well. Happy painting all those roany ponies!