Losing skin pigment in greys

[Cornish]

I'd be interested to see how many people have had a grey that loses a lot of black skin pigment (not just hair pigment) during greying out process? Is this vitiligo? Horse had a largely black skinned face when I bought her at 3.5, with a blaze and pink nose. She had small pink irregular patches round udder, vulva and on inner thighs. She is now almost entirely pink skinned from cheekbones down and is losing more pigment round eyes at age 8. Wherever hair or skin is disturbed or rubbed on her body, she loses the pigment so is covered in large and small patches of pink skin and white hair corresponding to fly bites, knocks, rubs etc, as well as the usual loss of coat colour on black skin due to greying out. She also has melanomas under tail which is obviously pigment related (being treated). Sounds like a silly question, but surely not all greys lose the black skin pigment too? Photos to show the progression - ages 4, 6, 7, 8 (excuse the odd faces - she's usually either chewing or sleeping!).

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I think it is probably vitiligo and unrelated to grey. There was a forum member on here a while back who had a bay with vitiligo and IIRC it was his head where the skin colour change occurred (or mostly occurred).

 

[TheHairyOne]

I have one! The patches move around a bit with coat changes as well but every year he ends up with a bit more white. He is now 16 and has had this 3/4 years.

Before:

After:

 

[Cornish]

I have one! The patches move around a bit with coat changes as well but every year he ends up with a bit more white. He is now 16 and has had this 3/4 years.

Before: View attachment 49948

After:

View attachment 49949

Oh I love his spectacles!!! I guess its less noticeable on mine as she greys out, but it's frustrating as she has a patch beind my leg where she got a rub during coat change last year. She's still quite dark there so it looks awful! People have asked if she's part appaloosa due to the freckling and mottled skin patches.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

How weird, never seen anything like that before. Makes him very easy to identify.
The before picture looked so much like my old section C that I felt quite odd for a moment.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Hair where wounds were, growing in dark happened on my grey too. Eventually it did go pale again. A while back she squeezed under a low branch and had a cut along her hindquarters and the fur grew in chestnut (she's a white/fleabitten grey) so this chestnut line really stood out. After a couple of coat changes it had faded in again thankfully.

 

[Cornish]

Hair where wounds were, growing in dark happened on my grey too. Eventually it did go pale again. A while back she squeezed under a low branch and had a cut along her hindquarters and the fur grew in chestnut (she's a white/fleabitten grey) so this chestnut line really stood out. After a couple of coat changes it had faded in again thankfully.

Mine's the opposite - the coat is dark generally but where there is any disturbance of the coat/skin (not necessarily a wound, or something that's bled) it seems that the new skin cells just don't carry the melanin so come back pink with white hair. She's got a really fine coat for an ID type and rubs really easily ?

 

[TheHairyOne]

Its very odd how it changes, he has a bit appearing on one ear now!

March 2019 :

August 2019 :



Oct 2019 (where you can see it on his chin too!):



The one in my 1st post was feb 2020.

This was May.