Owners of greys tell me about owning one please

webble

webble

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When Kiki was PTS I didn't think I wanted another, I'm not sure still.
I have been browsing however and seen lots of that's nice but not for me ads. 3 weeks ago I saw one I liked and enquired about, the seller answered my questions and sent me a lovely video of him. I then went away for a few days but keep going back to him in my head.
The only thing putting me off is he is grey, white grey. I've always said I'd never have a grey, one of the reasons I bought kiki was he was black. Not long after seeing him i also read the thread on here about greys and melanoma. So tell me, how much time will I spend worrying about mud and poo stains and more importantly melanoma?
 
Do you guys find stable or turnout hoods help with managing stains/ colour?
I now have a grey highland after a bay which was bliss. Whilst she isn't too bad yet, she is only 2. Want to get a head start if I can, which seems futile when I think about it. Thanks
 
Will someone look at the ad for me and give me some honest feedback please? I don't want to post publicly because the seller seems nice and genuine
My friends all said go see him but I think they would say that about a 30yr old donkey to get me going again. Plus he's 2.5 hours away and I'd want to take someone with me and that's a big chunk of time to ask for
 
We have 5 greys at the moment , all varying shades of greyness.
Finn at 14 is the most white, he’s the worst for rolling, always looks an odd colour . So I’ve just learnt to embrace the mud . Pip loves a mud bath , but seems to avoid poo stains. But the best is Dream, she 8 and an absolute delight . Stays clean as much as my other non greys . The other 2 are foals and so haven’t learnt to roll in poo /mud yet .
The one thing I will say is that all our greys are wonderful temperaments s
So if you like the horse buy him/her regardless of colour
 
webble said:
Will someone look at the ad for me and give me some honest feedback please? I don't want to post publicly because the seller seems nice and genuine
My friends all said go see him but I think they would say that about a 30yr old donkey to get me going again. Plus he's 2.5 hours away and I'd want to take someone with me and that's a big chunk of time to ask for
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I will look ☺️
 
At least you wouldn’t be keeping him on Devon clay.

No matter how much I washed and prepped my childhood grey he went a fetching shade of pink Every Hunting Day once he sweated up.

I’m afraid that the melanoma risk would put me off. The last thing you need is another heartbreaker horse.
 
I wouldn't discount a grey but I'd really try not to have another 😆
I embraced the muddy colour with Til but then I find they're less dusty than bays and blacks and less attractive to flies. I've ridden various greys and had very few flies but the other horses I rode woth were swarmed.
 
My grey did love a good roll in the mud and over the winter wasn’t always groomed to perfection. He showed to top level but generally was just a good bath and a spot clean the show day. Had some melanomas lazared off when he was 23 I think. Would have missed an awesome horse if discounted greys. I was actually after a grey when I found him
 
So sorry about Kiki, we have had our fair share of heartbreak over the last few years haven't we. I now have a grey, come and meet her, as I couldn't bare the thought of another bay hanging its head over D's door. A grey mare was the complete opposite so I was ok with that, I now adore her. Cowboy magic and a Haas Schimmel brush will be your new best friends, a yard with a hot shower in winter is a bonus. I do get the added bonus of morning poo pictures from the girls that turn her out more often than most. I try not to think about melanomas until it happens, if it happens.
 
Mine (avatar) is usually spotless but we have no mud and he's out 24/7 so not confined with his own poo. He had more or less greyed out apart from knees and hocks at 10, first visible melanoma last year at 19. But they can be badly affected and I gather the earlier they grey out the more that's a possibility.
 
I have had grey after grey and it really isn't that bad, my current ridden mare is actually very clean whereas my old retired mare loves to be covered head to foot in mud. I haven't rugged them the last few winters as they are very good dooers and neither of them have been bathed this year and still look fine. With regard to melanomas the only one of mine that had them was my gelding and they didn't bother him at all. He was fit and healthy right up until I lost him to colic at 25. If the horse is everything you want i'd ignore the colour.
 
I think I would want to know when he turned white, there's some evidence recently that the earlier they lose their pigment the more likely they are to get tumours, though not sure the actual figures (they'll be out there in Google land I'd hope).
 
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My late gelding was grey, had a few melanomas later in life, but nothing serious. He was part hippo though so lots of washing over the 21yrs we were together! Current horse is ginger, it’s quite nice not to have to wash his tail/legs/head/entire body before outings etc! That said, I’d not discount getting another grey in the future.
 
Maybe I have been lucky, my little Welsh is grey and no health issues melanoma etc wise (touch wood). He’s not often stabled but when he is doesn’t seem to get poo stains. Nor particularly muddy unless it’s horrendously wet, as it is this morning moving off very wet summer fields, so he’s practically black and I’m at peace with it! During drier and summer months he stays white grey, not the horrid beige colour.
 
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