Painting resources

There is a link on the list for the Czech-Moravian Belgian under the references for sooty colors, since very dark chestnuts are common.

I have posted a new page to the blog titled Resources for Painting References. Links to the blog pages appear in the upper right sidebar. 

My goal with the page is to provide some reliable sources for reference images. I have divided it into general color groups, although many of the links include images that would be useful across multiple categories.

I've selected resources that have numerous, high-quality images. For most artists, we are trying to get as much detail as possible, so clear lighting and a large size was important. For many of these, you will want to click through or right-click to get a larger image. Many of these are galleries or discussion board threads, so look for page navigation tabs to see all the photos.

This reference comes from a thread about Akhal-Tekes on the Russian-language discussion board, KoniClub.

I have also included many foreign language sites. For most of these, you will not need to understand the text, but using a browser like Google that automatically translates pages can be helpful. I also encourage readers to explore the website links further. For example, I have linked Christine Sutcliffe's lovely Flickr album from the 2024 Royal Highland Show under resources for greys. There are wonderful images of greys—and especially duns turning grey, like the pony below—in that album, but there are also previous years' shows in other albums if you navigate back to her main Flickr page.

I have only included a small (and, I must confess, randomly selected) portion of my own go-to resources. If you have any reliable sources you would like added, please feel free to contact me. 

The scourge of AI slop

Every equine artist I know collects reference pictures. My own collection numbers in the hundreds of thousands. I started collecting images in the late 1970s, cutting out magazine pictures and "relocating" my favorite horse libraries one xerox at a time. 

But the internet was a game-changer. That was when my reference collection went from several boxes of papers to a box of external hard drives. 

In the past, the biggest issue with using the internet to collect reference pictures was misidentified breeds or colors. That changed with generative AI. Now, realistic-looking photos can be fake. That is what the image at the top of this post is. Here it is with the original. 

That's the Arabian stallion Marwan Al Shaqab. Because he's a well-known horse, and that's one of the more recognizable images of him, quite a few people pointed out that this was an artificially generated image. 

That probably won't stop artists from painting models with patterns based on the image, or judging from encountering documentation showing that "pinto Arabians can look like this." Interesting photos spread through the model horse community. Trying to get the word out that one of them is misleading can be an uphill battle. 

Just ask me how many times I've talked about the horse on the left, and how often I still see his picture on documentation. No, he is not a buckskin silver. He is a cream-diluted horse turning grey. The horse on the right is a silver-diluted buckskin. 

Silver and cream interact, making the black areas of the horse look warm and brown (right) rather than cool and silver (left).

At least Alen's Smokey Bandit—the buckskin grey Tennessee Walking Horse—is a real horse. 

 At the moment, there are still things that tell someone when an image isn't a real horse. Probably the most consistent error is headgear. The programs do not recognize that there are two different groups of equipment—halters and bridles—so it tends to merge the two things. Even more telling, though, is that it cannot seem to distinguish bits from other metal hardware. Lead clips are likewise a mystery to it.

If the unrealistic appaloosa pattern wasn't instantly suspicious, the "snaffle bit as halter ring" is a good giveaway that this image is fake.

Generative AI struggles with pinto faces, and often substitutes "white grey with markings" in areas that would have pink skin.

But as AI-generated images get more sophisticated, artists—and anyone trying to evaluate realism in art —are going to face challenges. It will not be long before very convincing images, and even videos, will be out there. Eventually, the consistent "tells" will improve. 

Evaluating images

As AI-generated images become increasingly difficult to identify visually, how can artists avoid using misleading references? 

Here are my rules of thumb:

1. Professional-looking photos are usually marked by a photographer. Look for a signature or logo. Be on the lookout for partially removed watermarks; they are more common in AI images than you might expect. (See the first image on this post for an example.) 
   
   
2. Generally speaking, you want to see a clear connection between the horse pictured and the account posting the image. That might mean the poster is the owner, breeder, breed association, event, or photographer.
   
   
3. Look for motivation for sharing. Is the horse being offered for sale or promoted at stud? Is the owner sharing a recent success? Are they asking for input about color, ancestry, or breeding? Posts using AI images are often clearly trolling for engagement. (Responding to them is a great way to get the scammy "Forgive me, but I noticed how clever/pretty/interesting you were and just had to reach out..." replies.)
   
   
   
4. Look for a name. Owners and breeders usually identify their horses. Sometimes you'll need to find the original post to see this text. It may not be visible when viewing photos using the "media" tab.
   
   
5. Unless you are looking at historical photos, be somewhat cautious if you only find one image of a particular horse. 

Captions from AI images (left) often include emojis and hashtags. Captions for real horses (right) usually have identifying information.

Reliable images

Here is an example of an unusual pattern reference that checks all five "likely real" boxes. 

I should note that while this breed, the Freiberger, is known to have a dominant white mutation (W1), the expression of that pattern is typically all-white or near-white. There has also been an unusual splashed white Freiberger with a sabino-like pattern, though that horse was sterile.

This type of patterning, which falls within what I call the "patchy sabino" phenotype, is not something I have seen in W1 Freibergers—or any Freibergers to date.

However, the images are watermarked by the photographer (#1). The group where this first appeared, Freibergerpferde suchen (Seeking Freiberger Horses), is run by a non-profit that helps breeders find buyers (#2). The motivation for the post is, obviously, to sell the foal (#3). The foal's name, sire, and damsire are all listed in the description (#4). Finally, there are multiple images of what is clearly the same colt (#5). Those facts make this a much more reliable reference for painters than the image at the top of this post.

Collect from reliable sources

General interest horse groups on social media—and particularly Facebook—are some of the worst offenders for providing steady streams of fake images. If the group has the adjective "Beautiful" followed by a horse-related noun, or an adjective followed by "Stallions", or "Love" anywhere in the title, it's probably best to treat images there with a lot of skepticism. 

Facebook can still be a good source for reference images if you know where to look. What I look for are the following types of groups:

• Breed associations
• Breed appreciation sites (this one requires caution, especially for color breeds)
• Breeder pages
• Equine photographers
• Breed-specific color groups
• Breed history groups

I am also a big believer in looking beyond social media sites. Some of the best resources for reference images are auction catalogs, sales videos, and stallion directories, all of which are typically found on independent websites. 

A list of reliable image sources

Social media sites are a lot more likely to push AI-generated content into user's feeds. There are good resources for photos, but it takes some work to find them. With that in mind, I am assembling a list of reliable sources from the categories I've listed above. Once that is finished, the list will be added to the blog's "pages" list with the Horse Breed Reference List. 

More on body shape - Orlovs and Dutch Trotters

Count Orlov with a grey trotter, sometime identified as the Orlov foundation stallion Bars I. Painted in 1890 by Nikolai Sverchkov.

In the previous post, I wrote about the central myth in early 20th-century horse breeding, which was that all 'well-bred' horses have Eastern blood. Over time, this evolved into the idea that the Arabian—erroneously credited with the creation of the English Thoroughbred—was the primary "improver" of horse breeds. This led to the tendency to designate any Eastern horse as "Arabian" and then emphasize its influence. 

One of the most obvious examples of this is the Russian Orlov. Most descriptions of the breed will credit the Arabian stallion Smetanka as the founder of the breed. This painting almost always accompanies articles about Orlovs. 

Smetanka, believed to have been painted by Gavril Vasilyev in the late eighteenth century.

Smetanka was purchased in Turkey in 1774 and traveled by land for two years to Russia. He died the year after he arrived, leaving behind only five foals. Of those, the stallion Polkan was the most influential. Polkan's dam was a buckskin Danish mare from the Frederiksborg Stud.

The Frederiksborg Stud started in 1562 with Spanish and Neapolitan horses. These were later crossed with Turkish, Moroccan, and English horses. When Count Orlov imported the mares in the late 1700s, it is likely they still retained some of the original Spanish type. 

It is still possible to see the Spanish influence in Frode, a Frederiksborger foaled in 1855. There is another picture of him here. 

Polkan, who was half Arabian and half Frederikborger, produced a son that could more accurately be called the foundation sire of the Orlov Trotter. That was Bars (1784-1806). To establish his Khrenovsky Stud, Count Orlov linebred the descendants of Bars. 

The dam of Bars was an imported Dutch trotting mare: a hartraver. When responding to comments made by Walter Winans about the breed in the Live Stock Journal, the head of the Russian Agricultural Department described her in this way: 

The Orloff Trotter is not originated from several Arab stallions and Danish mares, as Mr. W. Winans means, because the first so-called ancestor of the Orloff Trotter—Bars—was a son of an Arab-Danish stallion out of an imported Friesian mare. The trotting qualities were inherited undoubtedly from the Friesian, or Flemish Hartraver (Trotter), and the influence of Friesian blood cannot be omitted.  (Live Stock Journal, June 1, 1917) 

Winans, whose article prompted the official to write, was an American residing in England, but who grew up in Russia. He is perhaps better known as the sculptor who discovered the famed Arabian stallion Skowronek in Poland and imported him. 

Skowronek, shown with his fifth (and best-known) owner, Lady Wentworth of Crabbet Park

Winans' interest in Arabians might explain why he focused on Smetanka. However, just as early Morgans didn't look like Thoroughbreds, the Orlovs of his day didn't look much like Arabians. It would be more accurate to say they looked like Friesians. Or rather, like our modern conception of a Friesian horse. 

Here is the Orlov stallion Varmik (f.1894), who was used at stud during the time Mr. Winans and the official from Russia were exchanging letters in the Live Stock Journal.  

Varmik was linebred to Bars. He also carried crosses to other Dutch mares used in the program.

Here is an Orlov mare from that time. Like Varmik, her body shape is distinctly Friesian-like. 

Here is Varmik's grandsire, Projda (f.1873). 

Even when Orlovs were grey, the body type is still very reminiscent of the Friesian. 

Gromadnyj (f. 1894), showing the heavy bone, feathered heels, and an overall shape similar to the previous examples.

It's not just the historical Orlovs that have this body type. It's not hard to find in modern Friesians. This lovely colt was offered at the 2023 yearling sale at the Moscow Stud Farm #1. Even at his young age, he has noticeable feathering on his heels. (Clicking on his picture will take you to the farm's website and a video showing his trot.)

Baget (f. 2022), a grey Orlov colt pictured as a yearling and offered at auction by Moscow Stud Farm #1.

So the Hartravers were Friesians? 

Does all this mean that the references to Dutch horses and "hartravers" were Friesians? 

The Orlov is one of the most thoroughly documented breeds from the 1700s. The amount of detail kept on the horses—particularly when it comes to the origins of the mares—is quite remarkable. However, this is all before there were breed registries. Terms like "Friesian" and "hartraver" could mean different things depending on who was speaking; there were no breed registries to regulate what was meant by a name. 

Tall, black horses of the modern Friesian type have a long history in the Netherlands. They were popular for use at funerals in Europe. Writing about the different classes of horses employed in London, one author referred to them as the "Black Brigade." 

The funeral horse hardly needs description. The breed has been the same for centuries. He stands about 16 hands... Altogether there are about 700 of these black horses in London. They are all Flemish, and come to us from the flats of Holland.

The illustration that accompanies the text shows horses of the Friesian type. 

Illustration from The Horse-World of London, published in 1893

The similarity between the funeral horses and the Orlovs was noted by a traveler writing for the Country Gentleman's Estate Book in 1913. 

A highly typical feature is the shape of the croup... which is seen in several Continental breeds, and most markedly so in the old unimproved Dutch breed of horses, of which so many representatives are used in this country as hearse horses at funerals. 

Based on the appearance of the descendants of Bars, it seems likely that the "Dutch trotter" mares used by Count Orlov were of Friesian type. They would not have qualified as Friesians today. For one thing, Bars' Dutch dam was grey. At least one other Dutch mare used at the stud was also grey. But in body shape, it is easy to imagine that they resembled a modern-day Friesian.

Does this mean Justin Morgan was a Friesian?

Bars was foaled just a few years before Justin Morgan. His dam was a "Dutch mare," and Justin Morgan (the man) always claimed his stallion was a "Dutch horse." Does that mean the foundation of the Morgan breed was a Friesian? 

No, it doesn't. Written accounts dating back centuries indicate that Dutch breeders were famed for producing strong trotters. They also produced more than one type of trotter. 

There is notable similarity in the body shape of the Orlovs and the Friesians, but neither resemble Morgans.  That's because there were two different sorts of Dutch trotting horses. Writers referring to Hartravers might be speaking of either type. 

Sultan, an East Friesian, and Varmik, an Orlov, illustrate the two different body shapes "hartravers" might have. (The two horses were born a year apart.)

A German writer, commenting on the horses of East Frisia in a 1879 government report, said they were like the "Harttrabers of neighboring Holland." 

That means there were three different "Dutch horses." There was a heavy draft, a tall black ceremonial carriage horse, and a fast-trotting coach horse. It seems likely that when Justin Morgan spoke of Dutch horses, he meant that last type. 

As blood horses became fashionable, especially in English-speaking countries, stallion promoters 'discovered' suitable back stories for their animals. The Hartravers were largely forgotten, which is why the information provided by Justin Morgan's son found few proponents. The only "Dutch" horses they knew about were the heavy drafters.