Passports for foals and something not right ???

[Bedford Joy]

How much can a foal change colour etc since being passported at 2 months of age ? I was going through the foals passports today and one is not adding up. It says he has 4 white stockings, but he only has 2 and it says he has 4 white hooves but he only has 2 white hooves. Can a foals colour alter that much or do you think the passport may not be his?

The passport does show his upper lip flesh mark and his white star which are correct.

Hmmmm confused x

 

[Diddleydoo]

I'm no expert at all but if nothing else I don't believe the hooves could have changed colour in 2 months. I would be suspicious, but then I usually am.

 

[brucethegypsycob]

Not sure about the hooves but I had a foal last year out of a chestnut mare and a jet black stallion. Foal came out grey as would be expected, then Changed to jet black as again was expected. Passport was completed as black. 12 months down the line he is now a lovely dark bay and no way you could call him black. These things happen.

 

[Char0901]

My yearlings passport was done at about 3 months old, I think... He was already greying out so obviously his colour was grey. He does have 3 white socks, varying heights, as he gets older and lighter I'm not sure if these will stay noticeable or not.
I didn't know that the colour of horses hooves could change though... I'd be checking that out, that would make me a bit suspicious x

 

[Bedford Joy]

He is now 10 months old and clearly only has 2 white socks not stockings and 2 white hooves. I am going to contact the breeder if I can x

 

[Bedford Joy]

Sorry to confuse you .. the foals were born June 2013 and the passports were done Aug 2013 and they are now 11 months old

 

[Char0901]

I think it would certainly be worth a try. My boy is 'offically' 1 in 3 weeks. He has changed a lot, born bay, now full on grey. I've just got his passport out and looking at the description of his face it says 'small star on central forehead, flesh Mark between the nostrils'. This has now actually nearly joined together to make more of a blaze. I bred him and was there when passport was done, so no issue for me! But I guess they cab change...
Saying that though, unless he's grey, stockings don't turn into socks, two don't disappear and hooves don't change colour.
Good luck, hope you find them x

 

[sywell]

It is a practice among some studbooks to encorage vets to put black/grey for example when it is thought that a horse may change colour. It helps because if the original passport is lost and you have a grey horse you do not know what colour it was when it was born. Vets should use their knowledge and when they identify a foal with a white fluw on its fetlock and they know it will dissapear say so on the ID or ignore it.

 

[monsterwillow]

Hooves actually can go black. Ive had serveral foals born with white hooves that have gone black x

 

[Bedford Joy]

Thanks peeps. I think it is possible for the hooves to change colour as I have been looking into it but for 4 white stockings to change to 2 white socks on a black colt is not usual :-(

 

[lelly]

Did you breed this foal or buy it? If there is any doubt about the passport being his you should get his microchip read and check the number. I did this recently on a horse I bought in a hurry to get it a way from a bad home. I was told she was four but it turns out she had the wrong passport and she is only two.

 

[Bedford Joy]

I bought the foal in Feb this year. I cant see a microchip number on the passport should it be on there? Would he definitely have been microchipped? The vet is coming to castrate him and his brother next week so I will ask him to scan them both x

 

[happyclappy]

who got the passports done? you or the breeder? i think you could/should have noticed when you purchased or had pasported. foals usually change colour but not hooves and lower socks/stockings

 

[lelly]

The chip number should be on the page where his drawing is. He should have been microchipped its law now. My fillies chip is on the left hand side of her neck half way up her mane. She doesnt have any markings drawn on just a cross where the chip is. The vet will be able to tell you if he has one.

 

[Bedford Joy]

The breeder. I rescued the colts and had had them a month when the owner finally handed them over.

 

[Bedford Joy]

Yes its there ! Where can I check it ?

 

[lelly]

You need to get his chip read with a scanner and compare the number with the one on the passport. The vet will do it or you might be able to borrow a scanner if you know of anyone that has one.

 

[cambrica]

Not sure about the hooves but I had a foal last year out of a chestnut mare and a jet black stallion. Foal came out grey as would be expected, then Changed to jet black as again was expected. Passport was completed as black. 12 months down the line he is now a lovely dark bay and no way you could call him black. These things happen.

Can foals be born grey? I never thought they could or very rarely?
My Sec A was born buckskin, never expected that! then turned every shade of grey from near on black (very dark dapples) to snow white. She is greying out more each year but I still get some of the dapples in summer. Her hooves definately changed as they were all white and are now a mixture/striped.

 

[lelly]

When I found the correct chip number for my horse I tracked down the original passport issuer on Grassroots equine chip checker. They do only cover a certain number of passport issuing offices though. They then sent me a duplicate of the original.

 

[Bedford Joy]

Thanks guys I will get the vet to scan them to check the chips match the passports on Tuesday xx

 

[SatsumaGirl]

Can foals be born grey? I never thought they could or very rarely?
My Sec A was born buckskin, never expected that! then turned every shade of grey from near on black (very dark dapples) to snow white. She is greying out more each year but I still get some of the dapples in summer. Her hooves definately changed as they were all white and are now a mixture/striped.

I think the poster is probably referring to the mousy-greyish colour that black foals are often born.

OP, there is a thread on here from the other day, discussing a Clydesdale (I think, could be Shire, my memory is rubbish) and its for sale advert. I believe its stockings/leg colour has changed as it's grown. Foals can be born with lighter (or darker) legs than their eventual adult colour.
As far as hooves go, I can only speak from experience. My Appy cross has 3 white stockings and 3 white hooves. His 4th hoof was black up until around 2 (maybe 3) years old; it's now striped.