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1. Limit the palette

Pick three coat colors for the unit: for example bay, chestnut, and dark brown. Add one gray or black horse if desired. A small repeated palette looks natural across a large formation.

2. Paint the coats in groups

Basecoat all horses by color group. Wash the musculature and mane, then highlight the shoulders, neck, haunches, and muzzle. Keep transitions broad at small scales.

3. Vary the details

Give some horses a blaze or sock, but keep markings uneven and relatively uncommon. Paint manes, tails, hooves, saddles, and tack in a separate pass across the entire batch.

4. Unify the unit

Mount the riders and compare the horses at tabletop distance. Shared harness and bases make the unit coherent even when the coat colors vary.