Answering my own question, he was deep chestnut with a black mane. An HOC (Horse of Color).
You can’t make these headlines up anymore!
SMH...
If mane/tail/& lower legs were black-—that would be called a BAY by most horse owners. I have owned 6 horses in my lifetime that were BAY.
Collecting sperm & then castrating him doesn’t make sense.
IF he is a worthwhile runner-—his sperm can make alot of money.
IF he was too much to handle—then possibly geld him.
John Henry—a thoroughbred—was gelded early because he was such a temperamental horse to handle. ONLY one groom took care of him. He raced long after most of his breed are retired to stud & he did make alot of $$$$$$.
Then there was CIGAR——a well bred stallion who should have been used heavily as a stud——Turned out he was STERILE.
Believe it or not-—there actually is insurance for that problem-—and the owners collected.
That coloration of some shade of brown with a black mane & tail is called a “bay”. A “chestnut” has a mane/tail that is the same color as the body or lighter.
The ‘brown’ of a bay can have many shades - I had a bay mare whose coat, while brown, had copper highlights. Her son had a very rich brown coat with no highlights and a horse I was showing for someone had a very dark coat, seal brown which is almost black, with dapples. All had black manes/tails.
I had horses for 40 years - just adding more detail to the BLM color description :-)