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What color is my donkey?

Compare your donkey’s coat with 34 illustrated looks. Start with the freshly shed coat in daylight, then check the muzzle, eyes, belly and inner legs.

Planning a pairing? Try the Donkey Color Calculator or read how it works.

Black and brown

Black

Black miniature donkey with a cream muzzle, pale eye ring, belly and inner legs.

Registry words · Black with cross or black, no cross MDR reference

What to check · Check freshly shed hair at the roots and around the eye. Black can bleach reddish at the tips and can show a cross.

Brown

Chocolate brown miniature donkey with a cream muzzle, pale eye ring and belly.

Registry words · Brown MDR reference

What to check · Look for warm brown at the roots in daylight. Both black and brown can have a pale muzzle and eye rings.

Black · no light points

Black miniature donkey with a dark muzzle, eye area, belly and lower legs.

Registry words · Black MDR reference

What to check · Check the muzzle, eye rims, belly and inner legs for dark hair where the black plate above has pale points.

Two gray-dun donkey heads, one with a cream muzzle and pale eye ring and one with a dark gray muzzle and eye area.
Light points and no light points

Dark brown

Dark chocolate brown miniature donkey with a cream muzzle, pale eye ring and belly.

Registry words · Brown MDR reference

What to check · Part the coat at the neck or flank and check the shade close to the skin. A very dark brown body can look black in shade.

Brown · no light points

Chocolate brown miniature donkey with a dark brown muzzle, eye area and belly.

Registry words · Brown MDR reference

What to check · Look for brown roots and dark hair around the muzzle and eyes. Check the belly and inner legs too.

Compare light points and no light points

Dun and red

Gray-dun

Gray-dun miniature donkey with a cream muzzle, pale eye ring and dark shoulder cross.

Registry words · Gray-dun MDR reference

What to check · Look for a gray body with darker trim and a shoulder cross. A foal or winter coat may look brown until the mature coat sheds.

Gray-dun donkey's withers and back with a dark dorsal stripe meeting a dark shoulder cross.
Dorsal stripe and shoulder cross
Gray-dun donkey foreleg with faint uneven darker bands and one solid brown hoof.
Faint leg bars

Light gray-dun

Light silver gray-dun miniature donkey with a darker shoulder cross and pale muzzle.

Registry words · Gray-dun MDR reference

What to check · Compare the pale body with the darker mane, tail and stripe. Check the mature coat before calling a fuzzy light foal gray-dun.

Charcoal gray-dun

Charcoal gray-dun miniature donkey with a dark shoulder cross and cream muzzle, eye ring and belly.

Registry words · Gray-dun MDR reference

What to check · Check the contrast between a deep slate body and the darker trim. The cross can be easy to miss on a very dark coat.

Gray-dun · no light points

Gray-dun miniature donkey with a dark gray muzzle, dark eye area and gray belly.

Registry words · Gray-dun MDR reference

What to check · The body can match gray-dun while the muzzle and eye area stay dark. Look at the belly and upper inner legs for the same absence of pale hair.

Compare light points and no light points

Rose dun

Rose-dun miniature donkey with a pale rose-tan coat, reddish shoulder cross and cream muzzle.

Registry words · Rose dun MDR reference

What to check · Look for a rosy gray or buff body with darker trim. Recheck after shedding, when a gray-dun foal may lose the red cast.

Sorrel

Sorrel miniature donkey with a chestnut red coat, red mane and tail, and cream muzzle.

Registry words · Red (Sorrel) MDR reference

What to check · Check the mature hair close to the skin and compare the color of the body, mane, tail and lower legs. A reddish foal coat can shed to gray-dun.

Dark sorrel

Dark sorrel miniature donkey with a liver-red coat and cream muzzle, eye ring and belly.

Registry words · Red (Sorrel) MDR reference

What to check · Compare the deep red at the roots with brown and russet. Use the color of the trim and lower legs alongside the body.

Russet

Russet red miniature donkey with black-tipped mane and tail and roaned lower legs.

Registry words · Russet ADMS reference

What to check · ADMS describes a red body with dark trim and roaning on the legs. Look at the mane and tail as well as the lower legs.

Spotted and small white markings

Spotted brown

Brown and white spotted miniature donkey with a white blaze and pink and dark muzzle skin.

Registry words · Brown and spotted MDR reference

What to check · Identify the brown in the colored patches, then check where the white edges meet pigmented skin.

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Spotted dark brown

Dark chocolate brown and white spotted miniature donkey with a white blaze.

Registry words · Brown and spotted MDR reference

What to check · Check the roots in the darkest patches in daylight before calling them black. The white patches can make the dark ones look deeper.

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Spotted brown · no light points

Brown and white spotted miniature donkey with a brown eye area, white blaze and dark muzzle patches.

Registry words · Brown and spotted MDR reference

What to check · Check the muzzle and eye area where brown hair is still visible. White spots can cover the landmarks you need to assess light points.

Compare light points and no light points

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Spotted gray-dun

Gray-dun and white spotted miniature donkey with a white blaze and darker markings in the gray patches.

Registry words · Gray-dun and spotted MDR reference

What to check · Look for gray in the colored areas and follow any visible piece of the dorsal stripe. White across the back can interrupt it.

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Spotted gray-dun · no light points

Gray-dun and white spotted miniature donkey with a dark gray eye area, white blaze and dark muzzle patches.

Registry words · Gray-dun and spotted MDR reference

What to check · Look at the unspotted side of the face and inner leg. Pale hair inside a white patch gives little information about light points.

Compare light points and no light points

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Spotted black

Black and white spotted miniature donkey with a white blaze and pink skin on the white muzzle.

Registry words · Black and spotted MDR reference

What to check · Compare the roots in the dark areas with the black and brown plates. A patch can look reddish after sun exposure.

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Spotted black · no light points

Black and white spotted miniature donkey with a black eye area, white blaze and white socks.

Registry words · Black and spotted MDR reference

What to check · Check for dark hair at the muzzle and eye rings outside the white patches. Use the belly or inner leg if white covers the face.

Compare light points and no light points

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Spotted sorrel

Sorrel and white spotted miniature donkey with chestnut red patches, a red mane and a white blaze.

Registry words · Red (Sorrel) and spotted MDR reference

What to check · Compare the red patches with the shed sorrel coat above. Color can change as the foal matures even when the white pattern stays in place.

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Spotted rose dun

Rose-dun and white spotted miniature donkey with pale rose-tan patches and reddish markings.

Registry words · Rose dun and spotted MDR reference

What to check · Look for rose tones in the mature colored patches, then compare any remaining mane, shoulder or dorsal markings.

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Minimal white

Brown miniature donkey with a narrow white blaze and one white foreleg sock.

Registry words · Spotted, where the registry identifies spotting MDR reference

What to check · A star is a small forehead mark. A blaze extends down the face. Record the shape and extent you see, since a small marking alone cannot identify a KIT variant.

Two brown donkey faces, one with a small white forehead star and one with a white blaze down to a pink muzzle.
Star and blaze

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Tricolor look

Tricolor miniature donkey with brown and white body patches and black mane, tail and leg markings.

Registry words · Spotted MDR reference

What to check · Describe the white patches and the shades in the colored coat separately. Light points can add another shade to the overall look.

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Tyger spot

Gray-dun miniature donkey with many small round white spots across its body.

Registry words · Spotted ADMS reference

What to check · Look for small scattered pigmented spots across the coat. ADMS describes this as a spotting pattern.

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

White and nearly white

Frosted spotted white

Frosted white miniature donkey with faint colored patches and dark freckles around the eye and muzzle.

Registry words · Frosted Spotted White (FSW) MDR reference

What to check · Check for pigment around the eyes and patchy or freckled skin on the muzzle. Foal patches can fade with age while darker skin remains.

Frosted white donkey face with dark freckles around a brown eye and across a pink muzzle.
Frosted spotted white skin

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

American ivory

American ivory miniature donkey with a cream coat, pink skin, a blue eye and pale hooves.

Registry words · Blue-Eyed White (Ivory) MDR reference

What to check · Look at the skin around both eyes and across the muzzle. Broadly pink skin and a cream-white coat are clues. Eye color alone cannot settle American ivory. Check family records.

American ivory donkey's blue eye beside a white donkey's brown eye, both surrounded by pink skin.
Eyes in white coats

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Dominant white example

White miniature donkey with pink skin, a brown eye and pale hooves.

Paperwork · Describe the white coat and skin for registration UC Davis reference

What to check · The reported W example had a white coat, pink skin and brown eyes. White coats can look alike. Use the coat history and a donkey-specific test to establish a tested KIT result.

American ivory donkey's blue eye beside a white donkey's brown eye, both surrounded by pink skin.
Eyes in white coats

Give exposed pink skin shade and protection from sunburn. Donkey Sanctuary sun care

Roan and long coats

Red roan

Red-roan miniature donkey with white hairs through a chestnut red body and darker head and lower legs.

Registry words · Red Roan MDR reference

What to check · Look for white hairs mixed into a red ground color. Check the face, legs and trim where the red is easiest to see.

Gray roan

Gray-roan miniature donkey with white hairs through a gray-dun coat and darker head and lower legs.

Registry words · Gray Roan MDR reference

What to check · Part the hair to check for a mix of white and gray hairs rather than a solid gray body. Compare the face and legs.

Dark roan

Dark-roan miniature donkey with white hairs through a black coat and near-black head and lower legs.

Registry words · Black or Brown Roan MDR reference

What to check · Check the darkest surviving hair and the roots to separate black from brown. Record both possibilities if they are hard to tell apart.

Brown roan

Brown-roan miniature donkey with white hairs through the body and neck and darker head and lower legs.

Registry words · Brown Roan MDR reference

What to check · Check the brown hairs in the mix and compare the unroaned areas. Separate a scattering of white hairs from a distinct white patch.

Woolly gray-dun

Gray-dun miniature donkey with a long, dense coat and a soft darker shoulder cross.

Registry words · Gray-dun MDR reference

What to check · Part the long hair to see the base color. The wool can hide the edges of the shoulder cross or the light points.

Woolly dark brown

Dark chocolate brown miniature donkey with a long, dense coat and cream muzzle, eye ring and belly.

Registry words · Brown MDR reference

What to check · Look at the roots and around the eyes, where a long sun-faded coat may show less of the underlying brown.

Age and size

Check a foal’s hair close to the skin and around the eyes for a clue to the mature coat. Recheck once the adult coat has shed. The same colors can appear on donkeys of different sizes.

Fuzzy gray-dun donkey foal with long legs, a short body and a pale muzzle.
Gray-dun foal
Gray-dun Standard donkey with long legs, upright ears and a cream muzzle.
Gray-dun Standard donkey
Black Mammoth jack donkey with very long ears and a cream muzzle, eye ring and belly.
Black Mammoth jack

ADMS foal and adult coat guidance

Questions about donkey colors

Does a dorsal cross mean my donkey is dun?

Most donkeys have a dorsal stripe and a shoulder cross. Dun often makes them easy to see, and a black donkey can also have a cross. A cross by itself cannot establish dun.

Gray-dun donkey's withers and back with a dark dorsal stripe meeting a dark shoulder cross.
Dorsal stripe and shoulder cross
Gray-dun donkey foreleg with faint uneven darker bands and one solid brown hoof.
Faint leg bars

ADMS donkey markings

What does Cameo mean on donkey paperwork?

The Miniature Donkey Registry lists Cameo under unusual colors that fall outside its visual categories. Cameo is the registry spelling. “Camino” was a label in the old visualizer.

Miniature Donkey Registry color terms

More ways to check a coat

Use the illustrations to describe the coat you see. For inheritance, compare family records and any test results available for that trait.