Foals turning grey

[DanielleP]

Who has any experience of this?

What colour were they born and how long did it take for them to turn grey?

I have a black foal who is turning grey and interested to find out how 'white' a grey she is likely to be. Mum was flea bitten grey and dad is black. Best guess?

 

[josephine]

My foal was born of both grey parents. My mare was dark dappled grey when I got her at aged just 7. She is now pure white but slightly fleabitten, aged 15. Foalie was born liver chestnut with blaze. Is now 12.5 weeks and dark steel grey on head and neck and body now turning too.

I am wondering the same!

 

[wonkey_donkey]

My foal is 6 weeks old and was born dark brown with white socks and a big white blaze. However, he had white circles around his eye's and a white beard so obvious from day one that he was going to be a grey. He is 6 weeks old now and his face is turning very grey and there are loads of grey hairs mixed in within his coat which now makes him look a dun sort of colour. I reckon he will grey all over by the time he is about 6 months old.
Hope that helps.

 

[DanielleP]

Have you got any pictures? I am intrigued! Foalie sounds lovely.

 

[Springs]

Hi All,

we have a 4yo stallion who was from a gray mare and a bay stallion. He was born bay and his colour has changed over the past 4 years. He is now a steel gray with an all black main and tail.

If you look at the webb site you can see him and his mother Jasmin and see the changes. http://www.springfieldstud.com

The gray geine is generally the dominent one so if one of the parents is a gray then there is a very high chance that you will have a grey foal.

 

[DanielleP]

Thats great thank you.

My foal was born black with a white star and one white sock. Over the last 3-4 weeks she has started gettign white hairs around her eyes muzzle and ears, and yesterday i noticed a few grey hairs mixed in her coat so i think she will go grey just not sure how grey and how long it will take. 6 months is probably a good guide line.

Have you got any pictures of your foal turning grey ? Thanks

 

[Springs]

Hi, it was 2 years before spring really changed colour, but the little bits of gray around the eyes are a good sigen that yours will change over a period of time.

 

[josephine]

Here is my foalie two weeks ago showing how grey she is going!

 

[DanielleP]

I love Jasmin. My grey mare who had the foal is a King of Diamonds mare horse on my signiture. and who can be seen http://www.greenlees-equine.com/photo1424598.html

 

[josephine]

[ QUOTE ]
I love Jasmin. My grey mare who had the foal is a King of Diamonds mare horse on my signiture. and who can be seen http://www.greenlees-equine.com/photo1424598.html

[/ QUOTE ]

She is lovely. My mare is King of Diamonds on her dam's side, so they are related!

 

[DanielleP]

Josephine> Wow! do you think that she will change to the iron grey and stay iron grey or do you think she will go lighter?

 

[DanielleP]

Josephine> LOL! Springs is KOD too so we are all running around with grey KOD offspring on our hands!

 

[timmy1977]

the grey gene is so strong that alot of coloured stallion owners wont let them cover grey mares as it brings the statistics on the success rate of getting a coloured foal down.

 

[Faithkat]

My filly was born chestnut (YAY) but . . . .

2 days old (28 April 2007)

6 weeks old

3.5 months (8 August 2007)

13 months (1st June 2008)

and last week - 15 months (5 August 2008)

 

[DanielleP]

wow! what a change, mum is gorgeous has to be said! Do you think baby will be rose grey?

 

[Faithkat]

I think she will be proper grey like her mum by next year, Mum was apparently born chestnut too (filly's sire is chestnut) but when bought at 23 months was pretty much as grey as you can see in first photo. She was only just 6 (by 4 days!) when she had the filly last year.

 

[Magicmadge]

I am wondering about this one to. My 12 month filly is out of a mare born bay and now grey with black, legs, mane and tail at 5. The filly was black with white star and socks when i got her at 8 months. Now she is more like dark chocolate (could be the sun) and is getting white hairs throughout her coat, not loads but they are increasing. Nothing around the eyes. Would the greying process be quicker than this if she was going to be like her dam?

 

[Faithkat]

Not necessarily. I bought a "grey" Arab when he was 18 months old and he was actually dark bay roan (don't have pics that I could post) and he went truly grey quite slowly. His father was white by the time he was 20. My New Forest yearling is passported as grey (his sire is grey) but he looks dark brown in photos. There are grey hairs appearing in his coat but he doesn't have the grey above the eyes that the filly had at a few days old. Have to wait and see!

 

[josephine]

[ QUOTE ]
Josephine> Wow! do you think that she will change to the iron grey and stay iron grey or do you think she will go lighter?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think she will be iron grey/roan for a year or so and then slowly get greyer and paler. All a bit of a gamble really!

I dont mind what she is, she is adorable and I will keep her with me for ever (if fate is not too unkind to me)!

 

[Becky123]

I have just put my mare in foal to a grey stallion, she is a bay, were are hoping for a grey

 

[CrazyMare]

This is all interesting, my mare is grey, I put her to a bay stallion. Foalie came out chocolate brown and is now a dark dark dark bay/brown showing only a dot of white hair on her head.

Reckons she will go grey!?

 

[danni1986]

hmmm its a tricky one! my KOD mare (yay) was very dark steel grey when i got her as a 7yr old, now at 16 she is flea-bitten white!! Her filly (bay sire) was born very dark bay, with jet black mane, tail and points. she then went very light bay, and now is very dark again with grey hairs in it, almost a bit roany!! so who knows!!

 

[volatis]

[ QUOTE ]
the grey gene is so strong that alot of coloured stallion owners wont let them cover grey mares as it brings the statistics on the success rate of getting a coloured foal down.

[/ QUOTE ]

The grey gene is dominant in that if it is passed on, the foal will eventually grey out. However it has no impact what so ever on your chances of getting a coloured foal - totally different genes.

I bred a heterozygous grey mare (so a 50/50 chance of passing on her grey gene) to a heterozygous coloured stallion (again a 50/50 chance of a coloured foal)
The foal inherited the tobiano gene from its sire, and so was born bay and white. However she also inherited the grey gene from her dam, so her bay bits will eventually grey.

There was still a 50/50 chance of the stallion passing on his tobaino gene, as there is with every single heterozygous tobiano stallion in the country.

 

[nikkiportia]

 

[nikkiportia]

Heeheee,

Loved this little foal from about 3 seasons ago, little panda eyes

Was a complete little shite though,

 

[timmy1977]

hi, yeah i appreciate what you are saying, i wasnt talking about heterozygous coloured stallions though just coloured stallions in general, im no expert its just i was talking to a breeder at addington last week and they were telling me that alot of breeders wont use grey mares with the coloured stallion as theres even less chance of a coloured foal than with say a bay mare or chestnut. prehaps they were passing on incorrect information

 

[CalliChristmasTree]

Horsey at the yard was born completly chestnut but will be all "white" by the time he is 5..
Just over a year old now and already looking roany.

 

[Shilasdair]

My foal was born bright chestnut (dam chestnut, sire grey). She didn't have the grey circles round her eyes, but did have a few white hairs through her coat.
By 6 months she was chestnut roan, by a yearling she was er...peach coloured....and now (as a 3yo) she is quite a dark dapple grey.
She will go white, but I think it'll be a few years.
S

 

[no_no_nanette]

Josephine and DanielleP, I've got another KOD mare, (grandsire on dam side), and she looks SOOOOO like your girl, Danielle, I can't believe it! Same facial expression .... (And apparently KOD was capable of being a complete
b*$*!*d on occasions, which explains a lot about Beth!

) Beth was very dark dapple grey when we bought her at 4; at 12, she's now very slightly flea bitten white. Her yearling was born dark brown/bay, but is starting to go roan, and is definitely going to be grey at some point, though he's taking his time about it!

 

[volatis]

timo, sadly a lot of stallion owners seem to know bu**er all about colour genetics, so wouldn't be surprised if they were saying that. But the mare carrying the grey gene has no impact whatsoever on whether the stallion passes on his tobiano gene.