*GREYS* - pros and cons, thinking of buying but ...

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Melanomas are a worry, and now she is 9 I keep a religious look out for them.

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Can I ask why you keep a religious look out for melanomas? I didn't think they were treatable? My mare has a melanoma on the underside of her dock and the vet told me to leave it as once you start to interfere, it could spread? What would you do if you found a melanoma? Genuine question BTW.
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I have just taken a grey arab on - and I was dreading it a lot - and the first couple of weeks were awful - he has had a traumatic last few months and with changing homes and coming on to our nice green grass, he did do lots of liquid poos - and did a lot of sleeping! Cue very very green pony!

But he is a million times better now - and its not quite so bad now.

If the horse is right for what you want - do it. As someone else said, I don't think that there is particularly anymore grooming than other colours of horses - my chestnut mare is just as good as showing up poo face packs as Rupert!
 
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[Yes but chestnuts can be prone to sarcoids!

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Are sarcoids a terminal illness? I always thought they were like warts, unsightly and could be an issue for bridle etc but would actually mean the horse would need to be PTS? I don't know much about them
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Sorry didn't mean that to sound like i was being funny know only too well about melanomas my mums mare had them in the guteral(sp?) pouch and because of where they were they couldn't be removed (which is sometimes an option) if she had been left she would of drowned in her own blood
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so had to be pts
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http://www.hirdandpartners.co.uk/html/factsheets/horse/24_269968.asp?id=1

Bit of info on sarcoids there
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Melanomas are a worry, and now she is 9 I keep a religious look out for them.

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Can I ask why you keep a religious look out for melanomas? I didn't think they were treatable? My mare has a melanoma on the underside of her dock and the vet told me to leave it as once you start to interfere, it could spread? What would you do if you found a melanoma? Genuine question BTW.
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Depends sometimes depending on age of the horse and size/location of melanoma they can be removed or treated with medication but you do have to be carefull that they don't spread and usually if they aren't interferring vets will leave them and they won't ever affect your horse.
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I had a grey 14hh whp, and after hours of baths before competitions each weekend and before hunting, I hoped never to have another grey, then ended up with a 17.2hh grey hunter. Now I have a black and a chestnut horse, really I will hope never to get a grey horse again, I think I subconciously skip any horse adverts that mention grey, I'll never know what I missed! I couldn't do all that bathing again. It depends what you plan to do and what facilities you have, hot water and occasional competitions (or a groom!) would be fine! Day to day grooming is only the same as any other horse.
The 14hh grey had a melanoma on the underside of her dock when we brought her age 7, and an internal one. Neither caused issue and she passed over last year age 29
 
Chestnut's may be prone to sarcoids etc but grey is the only colour to be discriminated against by insurance companies. I spent a year trying not to buy one, did buy on in the end and 9 years later, a year after the insurance company stopped covering his skin (at 12 years old) now he has melanomas on his tail. I now have a bay, much cleaner and no silly insurance problems.
 
Much as I'd like to, I don't think I can say "I would never rule out a horse because of its colour", because in all honesty I can't see me ever owning or even viewing a spotted horse as they really don't rock my boat....
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However, to answer the OP, my grey is my dream horse come true
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I couldn't imagine a horse more perfect to me
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(Except for the fact she is not right at the mo
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) She actually has a sleeker coat than my bay (largely but not soley due to being so much younger) and although the mud may "look" worse initially if they've both been having a roll, then she is in fact easier to clean up as she is less sensitive about being groomed, whereas Star can be a right mare about having mud brushed out of her mane or scrubbed off her face
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Yes, it's more apparent when the tail gets grotty, but that's quite a minor job. My grey lives out 24/7 and last winter she was in work and not clipped. I didn't find her high maintenance at all,
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not different to my bay girl when she was in similar work in winter time, and I think she is pretty darn beautiful
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Each to your own though
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I switch off when I see ads that sound perfect but say "gelding" as I am a mare lover through and through... Sure I shall have another boy at some point in my life though
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Good luck with your horse search
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Laafat, please may I ask, as a pre-warning, which insurance company did you use that discriminates against skin conditions in greys over 12 years old...?
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Ooh, it has also just occurred to me, both this last Olympics and the previous one, in showjumping and eventing, grey horses seemed to dominate it!
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Thanks so much for all your varied replies and pics of such lovely grey horses. I shall certainly go and see the greys that I'm interested in because at the end of the day I think you know when you find "the one" and at that point colour truly will not matter anyway...
 
I love love love greys.I just hate the rain thats all!!! I have a grey and he is crossed with a hippo. He is a stunner when clean and I am proud to own him but you either have grass stains in the summer, poo stains from the stable and mud patches from the wet. And when you brush it all off you end up with a yellow horse. Drives me insane but I wouldn't have it any other way.
 
Melanomas are the main reason I tend to steer away from greys ... however they are by far my favourite colour of horses
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, however even in my huge bunch of horses, I do own a couple of grey mares.

The dirt aspect doesn't bother me.
 
I buy a horse for it's ability & willingness to learn, the colour is immaterial. I have a bay & he's got lovely paces & massive jump. I've recently bought a rose grey. He takes more effort to keep clean but so what. He again has got lovely paces, lovely jump with a back end action to die for & he's a lovely chap. If the horse that ticks all your boxes is a grey then go for it, it doesn't matter.
 
my flea bitten grey mare was nearly always spotless (pun intended!!) I found out that her previous owner "never" groomed her and she'd generally been some shade of green or brown, so maybe that had something to do with it?
 
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