Do bays change colour with age?

[TheLadyInBay]

I have my lovely bay veteran mare out 24/7 bare and I have noticed how her colour seems to be changing with here age. When I first had her her summer coat was like a gorgeous amber colour that would fade to a really pale bay in the sun, on top of this she was ( and still is) covered in dapples everywhere, which used to go black in the sun. Now she is really quite dark reddy brown with dark brown dappled and gold bits on her flank and nose. Her winter coat has got a bit darker but not as obvious.
Is this normal or is my granny b a freak of nature?

 

[0310Star]

I don't know about age, but my dark bay mare is a different colour every year lol she's 15!

 

[Victor44]

She may be growing a thicker coat as she gets older which makes it seem darker?

 

[TheLadyInBay]

I think it may be a thicker coat but when she first changed I kept looking across the field and mistaking her for another horse of the same colour it wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't owned her for 10 years.

 

[Megibo]

My mare is different each year! In winter she always goes very dark bay (I LOVE her chocolatey skin when she's clipped ). In summer she can just a normal light bay to, to a dazzling sun reflecting bright bay or like this year a light bay and all dappled !

 

[TandD]

yep different colour every winter/summer coat for mine too!
however this year the boys got a 'bleached' band round his middle...looks like someone painted him with bleach and left him in the sun so hes gone almost blonde...looks a little odd, bit like a malteaser (dark head, light middle, dark bum)......

 

[TheLadyInBay]

I'm glad my mare isn't the only colour changing beastie looking at photos she seems to go from gold, then nearly blood red and now dark bay, it is useful for knowing which year a photo was taken though

 

[kerrieberry2]

not sure but my dun mare has defo got darker as shes got older! she was a very light sandy dun when I first got her! a few yrs back i'd moved yards and someone said to me "are those 2 bays yours" bay? I know she was dark but bay!! come on!! and when I clip her, she goes grey so I call her my donkey!!

 

[Amber1012]

Ohh can anybody upload any photos of these changes? I have a bay mare but only had her afew month so haven't seen any change yet.

 

[rachyblue]

My old boy used to change frequently, the black on his legs was always darker in the summer, in the winter only his points were black. He always had more grey hairs in his summer coat when he got older, they pretty much vanished in the winter.

My young bay got me worried the first year he changed into his summer coat, under his belly and the inside of his armpits/groin go almost grey, was convinced he was going to grey out! They are funny things bays....

 

[TheLadyInBay]

My mare is 22 and she only has just got grey round her eyes, I tell her she can stop right there

 

[tinpot]

my boy too changes every year. when he was a foal he was bright bay. and over the last 8 years he has gone from this to dark bay,black , to this year where he is like a chocolate with no black points at all???