Would you buy a Grey Horse??????

BAILEY67

BAILEY67

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My first horse was a flea bitten grey gelding who passed away due to cancer at the of 26, after him i had an ex race horse which was also grey.

I have been looking for a new horse now for a time and have seen a gorgeous few spot appaloosa, BUT both the grey horses i have owned have had melanoma's, one of which lead to my first horse having to have surgery on his you know what and my second having surgery on his bottom.

i am just wary about buying another Grey, feel as though i have had my fingers burnt.

Does the fact that grey's are more likely to be susceptible to these types of issues (and always seem to have poo stains all over them :)) which maybe other coloured horses may not put you off?

I am in no way colourist :D just wanted to know what people thought?
 
I think greys are stunning until they go white and I cant cope with flea bitten greys. I am colourist.:D

The risk of melanoma would bother me.

Having said that i dont know how much higher the risk is with greys compared to other colours. A high risk could be 10 % but what is the risk for other colours? If it was 8% then it isnt really much higher.

But if it was 10 % in greys but 0.01% in other colours then it is a lot higher.

What if it was 0.001% in greys and 0.0001% in other colours? That would be pretty low for both but still higher for greys. So it couold be said that "greys are more likely to get melanomas" even though the risk is low.



Sorry to waffle on, but in replying I realised I had been swayed in my opininon without knowing the true facts!:)
I wonder what the statistics are? I have always fancied a grey!:)
 
My friends old grey (white) horse had one melanoma but got removed and hasnt developed anymore, hes about 18. Another friends grey (white) very old horse, was well into his 20's had loads of melanoms on his sheath, tail and they were huge, but didnt cause any problems as far as i no! This did put me off buying greys but for some reason I ended up with a dark grey! :rolleyes: I was so determend not to get one haha but i dont like white or fleabitten greys tbh ... I wish mine would stay a dark grey :( ... not saying i wouldnt buy a white or fleabitten like but it would really have to wow me :p
 
I wouuldn't buy one as all the ones I have known have had trouble with melanomas or cancer. I also would have to wash the poor thing daily as don't do poo stains! My boys, chestnut and bay can be covered in poo and I can hardly see it.
I would never say to someone don't buy a grey as they look stunning but I would worry a bit re cancer. That said, any horse could die of anything at any age. If you like something buy it, good luck with whom you buy.
 
Sorry to hear about your horses :( I own one and *touch wood* the only thing that he suffers from is ERU which can happen in any horse. I've been looking around at other horses recently (looking at getting another at the end of the year) and the only ones i've liked the look of have been grey lol.
 
a good horse is never a bad colour... Sunblock is my biggest problem with a grey, plus melanoma risk. Oh and the getting them to look grey! But My most wonderful ISH mare is dapple grey with appaloosa spots (weird huh!) and I wouldn't change her for the world.
 
Yes, of course if it was sound, healthy and wanted to do the job. A lot more things can go wrong with horses than melanomas, why pick that thing to get a bee in your bonnet about and rule out loads of potentially good horses? :confused:
 
My mare is a grey and doesnt have any melanomas atall and shes 15. She was darker 5 yrs ago when I got her but has got lighter and now has chestnut flecks in her coat, her mother was a chestnut. I dont seem to suffer with poo stains too badly, probably because she has quite a deep bed of shavings when shes in. If she was a darker colour then I probably wouldnt know how dirty she really was and I dont mind cleaning her when I have to, we have a horse shower and she looks stunning when newly bathed!
 
I own quite a few grey horses. Grey is my favourite horse colour and I have had grey horses and ponies all of my life. Yes there is the risk of melanomas but that has never put me off buying or breeding more greys. None of mine have died young considering almost all of them have developed melanomas. All have lived good long lives.
 
My grey has one half pea sized melanoma - came when she was 17 and hasn't grown at all. Shes 18 now.

My OH had a 12 yr old bay that died of internal tumors. We have two more bays between us now.

Things can happen to any horse, regardless of colour.
 
Flame_ said:
Yes, of course if it was sound, healthy and wanted to do the job. A lot more things can go wrong with horses than melanomas, why pick that thing to get a bee in your bonnet about and rule out loads of potentially good horses? :confused:
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Hi Flame,

I don't believe i ever said i'd ruled greys out? where have you got that from? :confused:

I did say i was wary but not that i'd ruled them out!

I don't have a bee in my bonnet about anything, i was merely asking for other people's experiences and thoughts on the subject.
 
Out of the 4 ponies/horses that have been mine, 3 have been greys! :o my first been a white little pony :) my second being extremley light palamino/grey and my current one is veryyyy flea bitten grey! :D
Wouldn't have changed any of them as they have all been ace, especially current one. horse of a lifetime.
I have become exceptionally good at getting greys clean and keeping them clean! im slgihtly obsessed by keeping mine clean! :s oh dear.
 
When we were in the market for a horse we weren't particular on colour, we just wanted a horse which had scope as a jumper. The one we found, had the scope we wanted & happened to be a 16h2" dappled rose grey. To be honest grey wasn't a colour we particularly wanted because they're the devil to keep clean & this one uses poo as a pillow! He has no melanomas, if he gets one then we'll deal with it. He's a feisty chap in fact he's quite a handful but he's got a great jump & that was what we were after :)
 
Yes and No.

Yes, if it did the job.

No, because I breed for colour and grey isn't it.;)
 
When we were looking for a horse for my son he firmly stated he didn't want a mare and he definitley didn't want a grey.
What did we get?
you've guessed it---a grey mare.
And she was the best horse we ever had.
 
I didn't want a grey - and somehow I've got a greyed-out Piebald.. so he's pretty much white white!

I did worry about melanoma and sarcoids but there are worse things and his temperment and type were what I wanted so I bought him regardless.

So sorry to hear about your previous horses. I can see how that would influence/worry you.
 
Have to say that it does bother me that melanomas are more common in greys but my girl is 10 now and (touch wood) I've not had any problems with her.

She is the grubbiest horse I've ever owned - a real mud lover! - thankfully clean in her stable though.
 
I would never intentionally look for a grey horse not. Unless it was a very very dark grey and I got a written warranty that it would never ever go white! ha ha ha ha

Seriously though, greys just don't do it for me. I have seen some lovely ones but for some reason I have never fancied a grey myself. I prefer more mud coloured types - maybe I am just lazy and can't be bothered cleaning greys! Funnily enough we bought my sisters horse who was advertised as a blue roan but he is grey although an odd roaney grey with an eel stripe so with any luck he won't go too white although he has lightened up.

However, out of the 2 bays and the dun we have my sister's grey has to be the dirtiest out of the lot. He is a mud magnet and also seems to like to cover his head in poo when he's in the stable! I am sure it's not just beacuse it's easier to see the dirt on him - he just seems to attract it!

I guess the melanoma risk also puts me off somewhat.
 
Swift08 said:
Sorry to hear about your horses :( I own one and *touch wood* the only thing that he suffers from is ERU which can happen in any horse. I've been looking around at other horses recently (looking at getting another at the end of the year) and the only ones i've liked the look of have been grey lol.
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I used to have a grey called pharoah! best pony ever!


I never had any problems with my grey re melanomas etc......but he used to be a nightmare to try and put the factor 50 on his pink nose in the morning, i used to be covered in it more than he was!!!
 
wench said:
I would avoid if at all possible - just based on the fact they are hard to keep clean
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Ditto this! I have got to admit that when looking for a horse for my daughter I kept finding lots of excuses not to go and view the greys! Our horses spend a lot of time in the field and we have no mains water on the yard, so I don't want something that needs lots of washing and bathing. Thankfully, we found a chestnut in the end, but even he has white socks and that is bad enough!

However, if we had found a an amazing grey that truly ticked all the boxes at the right price we would have bought it.
 
We have four, and they're FABULOUS. Yes they take some serious cleaning, but I've got some fantastic tricks to help with that now, yes they get sunburn on their little pink noseys but sudocrem is a god send, and yes they are more prone to melanomas, but that never puts me off. If they're right they're right.
 
Have owned 3 greys and have a 2 yo which i bred which will go grey (eventually)

I can see why you would be worried having had two issues with melonomas and greys. however i have not had a problem with mine 1 did have a melonoma on her tail but didn't cause her any problems. if you find a grey you like then maybe make sure that there are no signs of a melonoma in the 'suspect' areas and ask you vet to also check for this prior to purchase if you are worried. Maybe if it is going to be something which is always on your mind causing you worry then you should avoid purely for your own well being horses cause us enough worry as it is!
 
Swift08 said:
Skychick - wow! I have never heard/met another horse called pharaoh let alone a grey one! :)
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He was a 14.1 arab, went like a rocket! im not sure where he is now. He would be about 25 i think!
Yeah its not a very common name! Brilliant name though, very regal!
 
I'd never have a grey because every grey I've ever ridden has had me off at some point. Fact. The last two threw in dirty great bucks.

I guess it could just be coincidence, but personality-wise I just never seem to click with greys.



...Thinking about it, the last grey I rode didn't buck me off, but she did jog incessantly, and generally drove me potty. So no, greys are not for me!
 
BAILEY67 said:
My first horse was a flea bitten grey gelding who passed away due to cancer at the of 26, after him i had an ex race horse which was also grey.

I have been looking for a new horse now for a time and have seen a gorgeous few spot appaloosa, BUT both the grey horses i have owned have had melanoma's, one of which lead to my first horse having to have surgery on his you know what and my second having surgery on his bottom.

i am just wary about buying another Grey, feel as though i have had my fingers burnt.

Does the fact that grey's are more likely to be susceptible to these types of issues (and always seem to have poo stains all over them :)) which maybe other coloured horses may not put you off?

I am in no way colourist :D just wanted to know what people thought?
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A few spot appaloosa is NOT a grey - all appaloosas have a base colour, what is the colour of the few spots? Some appaloosas carry the grey gene but this can be tested for
with the Animal DNA people, the spots will grey out if they have the grey gene, this is now frowned upon with appy people and breeding horses are being tested. Apps are lovely people, buy it, and stick a fly rug on it to protect from ultra violet as they pink skin may burn, but enjoy it most of all. I am biased, sorry. I have two few spots and bred another which was sold (because she was a girl and I only wanted a boy). Love em.
 
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