KarynK
Well-Known Member
Well there in lies another tale! In the textbooks they will tell you a roan has white hiars throughout the body area with just the extremities the base colour, BUT out on the good old New Forest they have several roan (heading for a breed of cream roans if you ask me!!!) Some of them only have the roan effect over the back, some just a tiny patch on the rump, so I guess that it doesn't have to be all over!
Yes it's possible for a foal that looks chestnut to moult out into roan, they are not all born with roan all over, but a parent would have to be roan to inherit roan.
However that said there are other genes that cause ticking in the coat there is sabino, like in the clydesdales where you get a mottling effect above the sabino leg and belly white that mimic roan.
There is also Rabicano which is seen as various degrees of white hair ticking in the coat that is not always associated with white markings, the tale tale on this is the so called Coon Tail ticking across the top of the tail like this:
http://www.grullablue.com/colors/roancolor/coon_tail.jpg
Like roan rabicano does not fade further with age but appaloosa varnish does, this one is associated with appaloosa charateristics and the horse fades with more white hairs appearing with each coat change, but this does not affect the spots. (confusingly some call this roan)
There are also the mythical Grey Roans - Utter cr*p they are greys that are going grey not Roans at all so wake up Weatherbys they may be grey roan now but it looks silly on the passport after 2yrs when they are white!!!!
So it's all fun when these wierd colours pop out and if you love suprises then appaloosa is definately top of the pile! Lovely palomino by the way has always beed my fav colour since a kid, nearly used a palomino on my mare with the topical name Gay Bars Silver!
I have 3 mares at home this year all with appy foals you could not guess who is who's as they are all with the wrong mum visually!!!
Yes it's possible for a foal that looks chestnut to moult out into roan, they are not all born with roan all over, but a parent would have to be roan to inherit roan.
However that said there are other genes that cause ticking in the coat there is sabino, like in the clydesdales where you get a mottling effect above the sabino leg and belly white that mimic roan.
There is also Rabicano which is seen as various degrees of white hair ticking in the coat that is not always associated with white markings, the tale tale on this is the so called Coon Tail ticking across the top of the tail like this:
http://www.grullablue.com/colors/roancolor/coon_tail.jpg
Like roan rabicano does not fade further with age but appaloosa varnish does, this one is associated with appaloosa charateristics and the horse fades with more white hairs appearing with each coat change, but this does not affect the spots. (confusingly some call this roan)
There are also the mythical Grey Roans - Utter cr*p they are greys that are going grey not Roans at all so wake up Weatherbys they may be grey roan now but it looks silly on the passport after 2yrs when they are white!!!!
So it's all fun when these wierd colours pop out and if you love suprises then appaloosa is definately top of the pile! Lovely palomino by the way has always beed my fav colour since a kid, nearly used a palomino on my mare with the topical name Gay Bars Silver!
I have 3 mares at home this year all with appy foals you could not guess who is who's as they are all with the wrong mum visually!!!
