I’m not just talking about a shiny, healthy coat, I want the dapples back. My question is how is it that one spring a horse w/ the same feed & supplements can dapple out incredibly and the next spring, same formula, but not a one (but the coat still looks good). Yet I can watch someone else who never grooms, doesn’t give supplements have a horse that dapples through it’s still shedding fur.
Does anyone know what exactly causes them and why they come and go? Are they truly related to feed?
I supplemented my horse with NuImage this spring and he had incredible dapples. I actually didn’t groom him or work as hard shedding him out this spring as I had in previous years (because of time restraints, which is why I started him on the supplement in the first place, because I felt guilty for not putting as much elbow grease into his grooming). I am assuming that the supplement did the trick as he has had a shiney, glossy coat all spring despite the fact that he got very little grooming. 
Well, my mare is a red chestnut who apparantly develops brilliant ones when the mood strikes her, lol. I don’t use strongid c, but I worm regularly. I do remember hearing somewhere that worming & I guess just general health would be a factor. What is weird, though, is like I said, I’m watching horses with no regular worming, supplements (but fed well) develop them. I’m in a state of dapple envy this spring!
Nu Image, Strongid C, and corn oil as far as supplements go will bring out incredible dapples as well as sleek, shiny, easy to shed coats. I use them all together with great results. Of course, hours of grooming help! 
Bud is a redder chestnut, and while turned out the other day I swore I saw dapples. This would be the first year I have noticed them.
He has a diet that resembles a GNC store so, it could be a factor. He gets groomed with one of those soft rubber groomers. It really pulls the scurff up out of their coat.
I too envy lovely dapples, maybe mine will stick around this year.
“The older I get, the better I used to be.”
What colors are dapples possible on? I’ve seen them on dark bays, grays, and palaminos, but never on light/blood bays or chestnuts. Is there a reason for this?
I have heard an old wives tale (from a legitimate old wife (and horsewoman)) that feeding a little yeast will bring out the dapples. (I’d check with your vet on this one before trying it, as yeast expands and we don’t want any colic!)
The 3 year old Haflinger pony I’m training is chestnut (as would be expected!). He definitely has dapples- they’re not too obvious yet, but you can see them out in the sun. With a few more weeks of elbow grease, I think they’ll be really obvious … He just got to the barn last week & he isn’t in the best shape. Maybe this has something to do with his coloring, as he has a flaxen mane & tail? Who knows!
I’ve seen a lot of liver chestnuts with dapples … but not many ‘bright’ chestnuts with dapples.
-Albion
My horse is a fairly dark sorrel (crazy QH people!), and he started sprouting dapples in March. I think it was the Platinum Performance (rice bran, flax, and a multitude of other things), but since a couple people mentioned Strongid C, I wonder if that was what did it.
I think it is in the genes. Case in point, 2 of my 4 horses have the most gorgeous dapples you’ve ever seen. One of them is a sorrel QH, that nasty washed out color that only QHs have. The other is a plain bay TB. They are the 2 that get the least grooming and supps and basically just live in a field and get fed hay and grain. The other mare that lives at home gets weight builder and corn oil and has a beautiful coat but nary a dapple. She is that beautiful bright red that so many Bold Ruler descendants are. Her dam who was liver chestnut did dapple nicely. Same dam as the bay mare’s. The horse that is boarded is a lighter chestnut and he gets groomed everyday plus supps and he also has NO dapples. Shiny coat and looks as good as a lighter chestnut can, but no dapples. This very unscientific survey leads me to believe there’s a lot more to it than feed and grooming.
BTW, my sister’s old blood bay QH used to have the most gorgeous dapples as well.
I’m not just talking about a shiny, healthy coat, I want the dapples back. My question is how is it that one spring a horse w/ the same feed & supplements can dapple out incredibly and the next spring, same formula, but not a one (but the coat still looks good). Yet I can watch someone else who never grooms, doesn’t give supplements have a horse that dapples through it’s still shedding fur.
Does anyone know what exactly causes them and why they come and go? Are they truly related to feed?
My guy is a light/blood bay and he has amazing dapples. His winter coat is a little darker than his summer coat and as it sheds out he gets lots of dapples. He’s almost completely shed out now and the dapples are disappearing, bummer. Oh well on the bright side of loosing the dapples he sure is shedding out well and getting a super shiney almost coppery summer coat!
I used to think it was feed/grooming related, but I don’t any more. I think it’s just the natural shedding pattern of a particular horse. Or the natural hair pattern. In some cases it’s really the actually coloring, with the lighter and darker hairs. My TB dapples incredibly one year, and barely the next, and in between the next. Just be assured that if his coat shines with just regular grooming, he’s healthy.
on the right diet/exercise regime just about bloom with dapples.
My brown horse tends to dapple more when he is on daily strongid-c. Is your horse wormed regularly?
You took the words out of my mouth ETBW. When my mare is pregnant she has the biggest most beautiful dapples you have ever seen!
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