Q for owners of coloureds

[poiuytrewq]

Just out of interest as I’ve had two and found the same with both!
Do you find the different coloured mane hair grows at different rates and is easier or harder to pull?
Mine, in fact both my old one and this one had mainly black manes which which the hair grows slower and is easier to pull but with blocks of fast growing, hard to pull white.
Also with this one the coloured patches are different feeling hair. He’s tri-colour mainly bay but with white patches which you could probably tell with your eyes shut by running your hands over him. The white patches grow cat hair fast when clipped.
None of this is a problem just an observation which I wondered if it was co-incidence or a known thing!
If anyone wants to post me a tri-colour photo please do!!!

 

[criso]

My first pony was a bay and white mare and agree about the coloured patches feeling different, a bit smoother than the white around. At the same time my friend had a leopard spot appaloosa and it was even more noticeable with him that the spots were smoother and the white hair fluffier.

Her mane was completely white with only the forelock black so can't comment about growth rates.

 

[attheponies]

Hi, yes I have a piebald and he has a black mane with six inches of white in the middle. The white hair is much thicker in texture and it's the same on his hind quarters. I put it down to the same reason that grey hairs are thicker texture than normal colour hair which I think is due to lack of melanin but don't quote me on that!

 

[poiuytrewq]

Ah yes maybe. That would make sense. It’s most noticeable when he has time off (and I let his hair go wild!) he comes back into work with a mass of white everywhere! Far longer than any other bits of him!

 

[GoldenWillow]

Yes definitely. I've had three coloureds, chestnut and white, blue and white (part appy) and J who's mainly bay and white with the odd black bit. All of them the white hair, both on body and mane has been thicker and grown longer. The chestnut and black mane hair on the first two were noticeably thinner and also harder to pull. J has a white mane with a black forelock, his forelock has hardly grown in the 5 yrs I've had him which looks slightly ridiculous as he's a hairy traditional!

 

[ycbm]

I have a spotty whose white coat is a double layer and the dark spots a single layer which moult a lot less hair. Odd, isn't it?

 

[McFluff]

Gosh, I’d never appreciated that there was a difference, but now I think about it the white patches on my mare do grow faster, seem to moult more, get cat hairs etc. She has a small patch of black in her mane (I don’t pull it), and it is shorter than the white section.

 

[Shay]

I have a piebald - the white hair grows cat hairs faster and is far tougher to clip than the black hair. Sadly he is ( or would be if I let him) heavily feathered will all white legs. It takes industrial strength clippers to get through it if I let it grow too much!

 

[Caffrey6590]

Oh yes my boy gets long curly white winter hair and shorter black hair. In spring his white hair comes out in handfuls! His white part of his name grows much quicker than his black!

 

[thommackintosh]

Yes to all of this. And, I'm sure Domino makes a concentrated effort to lie down on his whiter side to make his stable stains more visible

 

[Anongirl]

Hmm yes, I have a skewbald (technically tri colour I guess) and a piebald.
Their bay/black patches are softer hair compared to their white bits. Also noticed the coloured patches have all but moulted off the winter coat, but their white bits are still holding quite a bit. How odd.
Can't say I've noticed the skewbalds mane growing faster or not (he has a mainly black mane with some white) and the piebalds mane is all white. Never pull them either so can't comment on that.