How bright are your 'bright bay' yearlings?

[daisalph]

My 11 month old colt has gone quite dark livery brown since casting his thick winter coat which was much redder. Is he likely to lose this coat and brighten up again? I can see the odd spot of brighter red within the liver so maybe he's losing the dark coat already. How many coats do they get for goodness sake?
Click on the image to enlarge it.

 

[tikino]

my bright bay is very bright as in red

 

[KarynK]

Just a quick reply have to dash but I suspect that your bright bay might be a black and tan will explain later

 

[daisalph]

Look forward to hearing more. he's always been an odd colour - my farrier reckoned he would turn out liver chestnut but he's def. bay of some sort!

 

[competitiondiva]

My 11 month old colt has gone quite dark livery brown since casting his thick winter coat which was much redder.
Click on the image to enlarge it.

Just curious, you say yours has lost his thick winter coat???? Already???? The only horse on our yard who is into their summer coat is a tb who was fully clipped, and even then you can still just see the clip lines showing the slightly thicker coat that wasn't clipped!! An unclipped yearling surely hasn't already cast his winter coat???

I have 2 yearlings, my native is shedding in buckets but also still has buckets left!!! And my warmblood is only just starting to shed!

With regard to colour, I know chestnuts can get darker and darker each year, but not sure about bays though.

 

[daisalph]

Well that's the thing. He has layers of different colour coats. The top one is what I described as his winter coat - longer, coarser and redder. The next layer down is this really dark coat - but perhaps that's just the inner layer of the winter coat? He doesn't seem in a hurry to shed that but there are a few red spots within it so perhaps it's starting to go and he'll come through red? He's out 24/7 - no rug now.

 

[KarynK]

Right sorry foal got in the way! He shows a similar winter coat to my mare, she is the last one in my Signature below in her summer coat she is a classic dark bay with dark across her back but genetically she is homozygous for the black and tan gene.

This is her changing to her summer coat, she is nearly black in the winter

And this is her summer coat

 

[daisalph]

Thanks KarynK. Your mare's colour certainly does vary - she's really tan in the summer. You could well be right about Reilly -he's neither one thing nor the other at the moment.

 

[daisalph]

She's really red bay isn't she? Lovely. Reilly is much darker. But perhaps he's further on in shedding his winter coat as we're a long way south of you.

 

[criso]

Not a yearling but every year my boy goes dark before he goes bright.
He is mahoghany bay in winter, then this time of year his summer coat (or what looks like it) comes through really dark. First year I had him I though he was going to end up dark bay. Then a lighter coat comes through and he ends up almost bright bay.

 

[daisalph]

Not a yearling but every year my boy goes dark before he goes bright.
He is mahoghany bay in winter, then this time of year his summer coat (or what looks like it) comes through really dark. First year I had him I though he was going to end up dark bay. Then a lighter coat comes through and he ends up almost bright bay.

Yep. That could well be him. His mother does the same only not quite so dark as him. It's a lovely colour the dark one - really dark mahogany.