If buying a foal/youngster would the fact that it was grey put you off ?

[madmare22]

Do you think the colour of a horse affects its saleability ?
What colour do you think sells best ?

I am a sucker for chestnut fillies personally but just wondering what peoples thoughts were, especially with regards to greys ?

 

[Cliqmo]

Personally I would be put off by a chestnut mare as I always think they have a bit too much to say! -funny how we're all different isn't it??

I own a dapple grey gelding (my 4th grey in my lifetime) and every time I've said "I'll never have another one" but I seem to forget when I'm horse shopping!!

I have also heard that black horses have a reputation as being dangerous?? ...and (although I can't ever tell the difference!) you risk preferences with coloured horses as they can be "well marked" or "common / plain" which can win or lose favour with buyers.... so I suppose the safest colour for saleability is probably bay?!

 

[breezing]

Not at all I love greys I have 3 at the moment and possibly 1 on the way .I love to wait for each spring to find out what shade it will be this time .They vary so much it makes watching them grow up more interesting and I know colur shouldnt affect temperament but I have not come across a bad one

 

[sallyf]

Ive sold 4 youngsters this winter with the minimum of fuss.
A grey filly ,a chestnut filly ,a chestnut colt and a bay filly and i dont believe colour has made them any more difficult to sell.
In fact i have a bay filly left so there you go

 

[Simsar]

Our colt is grey, 1 grey mare, its my favourite colour. We have mostly bays/drk browns (7), (2) chestnuts (one ginger one liver), and a grey pony. So would buy any solid colour. Don't like coloureds would never buy one. Sorry coloured fans.

 

[LindyLulu]

I tend to be put off by chestnut mares too, as the ones i have known well like to throw their toys out of the pram too much, but when i start looking for my own (next year i hope) i would be open to everything. I am willing to be proved wrong!
I am a bit of a sucker for greys, i must say

 

[millitiger]

i'd rather not have another grey (don't like all the washing!) so it would put me off a bit.

however, if its breeding, paces, conformation were all what i was looking for then i would still go and have a look.

next on my list is a flashy chestnut!

 

[argyle]

I love greys, we only have one out of all our lot and I always keep my eye out for a nice one.

 

[imafluffybunny]

I love greys but if the horse was exactly what i was looking for I wouldnt care what colour it was.

I have and have had almost every colour horse incl 2 quirky bays, wonderful chestnuts, quirky and calm greys, wonderful black mare.
I really dont pay much attention to colour only if it will do the job.

 

[Clodagh]

I would specifically choose a grey!! I 'do' grey mares. Love them.
The only colour I wouldn't have is a coloured, not my cup of tea at all, anything else I don't mind.

 

[Puppy]

I love greys, so no, it wouldn't put me off at all

Spotted on the other hand and I'd run a mile!

 

[volatis]

I love flashy horses so coloureds, greys and chestnuts with big white faces are among my favourites. I dont really like bay, I find it boring, but I went out a few years ago and bought 2 bay broodmares, so colour really is meaningless to me

 

[madmare22]

Your comments are very encouraging and reassuring

At the moment i have a black really well bred dressage filly and a grey well bred dressage filly. I could do with selling one although i dont really want to sell either of them, its just i have too many of the same age and was wondering which would be more commercially viable. Also i am getting a really smart broodmare on loan but she is grey, therefore i will always have a 50% chance of getting a grey and was unsure whether her offsping would be more or less marketable. So thanks for your replies and please keep your opinions coming.

 

[volatis]

No matter what we say on here it is well known that dressage buyers dont like greys and love blacks, thats why the germans breed lots of pretty black flashy dressage horses, they know there is a market for them.

The jumping crowd tend not to care what colour it is as long as it jumps a fence.

 

[BallyshanHorses]

I would hope people dont just buy for colour.We have possibly 3 greys due this year A Russel and two by Capitalist(Capitol 1 X Sacramento Song) so I would really hope that they would not be dismissed due to their colour.I should hope people go on the rest of the horse and not just the colour or else whay bother with bloodlines and improving from your mare.

 

[DRSsporthorses]

To be honest, colour is the last thing I look at. We currently have a 6 y/o grey gelding (Chellano Z/King of Diamonds)...and I have to say he could have been purple and I would have still gone for him because he is so talented. I hadn't had a grey in many years. And the fact that he loves to rub his head in the mud is really annoying, but if you saw him jump, you would live with it too!

Personally...I have a thing for chestnuts. No real reason other than it just seems that I have always been tremendously successful with chestnuts. So I guess you could say I am partial to chestnut, but that said 'Talent Comes First'...colour last...and I learned years ago to ignore the color and choose talent before all else.

 

[Enfys]

Not if it did the job, it could be purple with yellow spots for all I care. I like greys, I had 6 at one time

On the other hand, I am very specific in what I buy currently, colour and bloodlines have to be what I am looking for.

 

[beckiebeckyboo]

a good horse is never a bad colour....

 

[Touchwood]

Colour doesn't bother me, but IMO it does some people. You will always sell black dressage horses more easily, and you will always have to find the people who like chestnut fillies to sell them! Luckily though, there are plenty of people who all like different things, so I don't think it makes a significant difference in overall saleability...just who you end up selling to

 

[air78]

No, it would make me want to buy it!

 

[nijinsky]

I think it's probably 50:50, to some colour won't matter but whenever I have bought, no matter how nice the horse is I just don't look at greys or coloureds. I'm really boring though & have 4 bays in my field, I just love dark plain horses, all have some white markings on their faces but that's about it. On the other hand one of my broodmares that I loaned out this year is going to Goshka Ringo, the loaner is desperate for a coloured baby and I have no doubt the foal will be gorgeous.

 

[Simsar]

I would specifically choose a grey!! I 'do' grey mares. Love them.
The only colour I wouldn't have is a coloured, not my cup of tea at all, anything else I don't mind.

My partner in grime!!!

 

[rubyrumba]

Ireally don't mind what colour i have, when i searched for my two i was just looking for a specific type of horse, it didn't matter what colour it was. My gelding is slowly greying out and i have a chestnut filly who defies the 'old wives tales'!

 

[Clodagh]

My partner in grime!!!

I can't work out smileys any more but grey is the way to go - we can't be too grimy though, Think of all those coloureds that also only lie with their white bits in the poo!!

 

[Simsar]

Clodagh if you click the go advanced button smilies come back.

 

[Simsar]

Yuk coloureds!

 

[Greymares]

We have six Grey mares and several grey youngsters and already a grey foal this year. We love them and so I hope everyone else does too.

 

[Rollin]

My Shagya Arabs are grey. Although the foundation stud breed chestnut and bay also - for me this breed has to be grey....and my Cleveland Bays? well they can only be one colour.

As a child I always wanted a black horse and bought an old schoolmaster for my dyspraxic son. He was the best - a temperament to die for and polished up a treat.

 

[linali]

Too much washing for me lol, to be honest if its the right horse I would buy it whatever the colour.

 

[Serenity087]

My mare is grey, and I have to admit, I'd be gutted if the foal greys out, but only because (in terms of showing!) there's only a couple of years grace where a grey's markings really show off their conformation, before they turn white and fleabitten

In terms of colour, I think the market is there for the oddies, coloured, appies, creams, dilutes etc - but I don't think it makes an iota for the majority. We found Milo, a unweaned 6 week old apricot dun, at beeston. He didn't make his reserve.

Now we have a 2 year old monster... conformation wise, he's pretty damn hot, and whilst his colour draws the crowds (think palomino with red dun markings and an arab face/attitude problem.....) - I'd argue that his socks are off for showing! (two white on front, nothing on back).

But I'm really really picky... my ideal horse is chestnut with four even white socks and a white blaze...