Horse colour checker: which jump poles can a horse see?

Horses see mostly blues and yellows, so to a horse green and orange both turn khaki, and on grass they nearly vanish. Check ten pole colour pairs on sand and grass, as you see them and as a horse does.

Ten pole pairs, two arenas

On sand

Red and white You A horse: dark grey and white
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Blue and white You A horse: blue and white
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Green and white You A horse: khaki and white
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Orange and white You A horse: khaki and white
One stripe blends into the ground.
Black and white You A horse: black and white
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Yellow and black You A horse: yellow and black
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Blue and yellow You A horse: blue and yellow
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Red and yellow You A horse: dark grey and yellow
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Red and green You A horse: dark grey and khaki
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Orange and green You A horse: khaki and khaki
One stripe blends into the ground.

On grass

Red and white You A horse: dark grey and white
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Blue and white You A horse: blue and white
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Green and white You A horse: khaki and white
One stripe blends into the ground.
Orange and white You A horse: khaki and white
One stripe blends into the ground.
Black and white You A horse: black and white
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Yellow and black You A horse: yellow and black
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Blue and yellow You A horse: blue and yellow
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Red and yellow You A horse: dark grey and yellow
Easy to see: both stripes stand out from the ground and from each other.
Red and green You A horse: dark grey and khaki
One stripe blends into the ground.
Orange and green You A horse: khaki and khaki
Hard to see: the whole pole blends into the ground.

Flat colour samples stand in for real sand, grass and paint. "Blends in" means the two colours look alike to a horse's colour vision; light, shade and movement still help it.

A simulation made from published eye studies. Not what the animal feels.

What colours can horses see?

Mostly blues and yellows, plus white, greys and black. To a horse red looks dark grey, green looks khaki and orange looks khaki, so it tells them apart mostly by how light or dark they are.

Which jump pole colours are easiest for a horse?

On both sand and grass: red and white, blue and white, black and white, yellow and black, blue and yellow and red and yellow. Each of these pairs has stripes that stand apart from the ground and from each other through a horse's eyes.

Which colours should I avoid on grass?

Green and white, orange and white, red and green and orange and green: through a horse's eyes at least part of the pole blends into green grass.

More to play

The science behind it: the numbers and studies for the horse