Dapples

[RugBug]

[QUOTE=thesilverspoon;7659443]
Then again, I just bought this insanely dappled BLM mustang mare, who obviously wasn’t being fed anything fancy when this picture was taken at the holding facility, and isn’t tame so had never been groomed, so go figure haha.
http://amustangnamedfolly.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/4.jpg?w=761[/QUOTE]

There are some horses that will have dapples no matter what. then there are some that need everything to be just right, including the grooming, to be dappled. My first horse would have dapples no matter what, BUT he was infinitely MORE dappled when he was healthy and well groomed.

When I first got him and this is his BAD before picture It was the same day but illustrates what the wrong angles/timing can do.

About 9 months later

Four years later He was actually extremely dappled at this time, covered from head to toe, and I have pictures of them but only this one on this computer. His neck was even dappled.

[lachelle]

[QUOTE=thesilverspoon;7659443]
There are just some horses who, try as we might, don’t dapple. If the horse is being well fed and groomed and it’s still not happening there’s not much that can be done. I find an omega supplement like Omega Horseshine helps to some extent, and have one horse who only dapples when groomed like crazy. Then again, I just bought this insanely dappled BLM mustang mare, who obviously wasn’t being fed anything fancy when this picture was taken at the holding facility, and isn’t tame so had never been groomed, so go figure haha. It’s just ‘good’ genetics for dappling, like the people who can stay effortlessly thin no matter what they eat
http://amustangnamedfolly.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/4.jpg?w=761[/QUOTE]

WOW. She is gorgeous!!!

[HLMom]

Is dappling somehow seasonal? Our bay mare had gorgeous dapples in the spring… now in the heat of summer they seem to have faded.

Or maybe she is bleaching out??

[thesilverspoon]

[QUOTE=lachelle;7659725]
WOW. She is gorgeous!!![/QUOTE]

Thanks! I made a FB page for her (A Mustang Named Folly) for all her fans to drool over her/ laugh at what will probably be pretty hilarious attempts to turn her into an English show pony.

[Soaponarope]

[QUOTE=TBROCKS;7658187]
what a cool page![/QUOTE]

Thank you for this TBrocks! Now I know DD’s first horse was a seal brown:) Fascinating.

[Dewey]

[QUOTE=carroal;7660380]
Thank you for this TBrocks! Now I know DD’s first horse was a seal brown:) Fascinating.[/QUOTE]

Actually, I was the one who posted it. :winkgrin:

Glad you liked it. My mare is brown, too…with dapples.

[lauriep]

[QUOTE=HLMom;7659879]
Is dappling somehow seasonal? Our bay mare had gorgeous dapples in the spring… now in the heat of summer they seem to have faded.

Or maybe she is bleaching out??[/QUOTE]

What you were seeing is what I call “coat change dapples.” Some horses, when shedding out, will appear to dapple. But if you look closely, it is really the unshed (darker) winter hair giving way to the new summer coat. That us why they go away once shedding is done.

[imapepper]

I love dapples. Funny…I finally own a bay (always wanted one) and he is a lighter colored bay and shines like glass and feels like satin…but not a single dapple :nonchalance: I am moving him to night turnout so see if I can avoid having a dark buckskin by the end of the summer…if he can behave himself in group turnout.

[Tarlo_Farm]

I’m so happy to find my new pony, after a couple months of good nutrition is popping dapples! Even with her winter coat, and more ungroomed than not. :lol:

[BroncoMo]

@Appsolute

I disagree with the grooming part. Sure, good grooming can help a coat look its best, and may enhance dapples - but horses can certainly have dapples without good grooming.

There are some horses in our retirement pasture at my barn that just GLEAM, and have amazing dapples - and NEVER get groomed.

I have had two horses with incredible dapples, one was a sooty buckskin, the other was a “dark bay / brown” - essentially a sooty brown.

Yep. I had a sorrel broodmare that never saw a brush in the 5 or 6 years I owned her, let alone a bath; aside from washing legs and belly after foaling. She dappled in the summer even despite being a super hard keeper and never the kind of weight that people associate with “fat, shiny, and dappled”. Nor was she in any type of shape besides pasture shape. Fitness and diet definitely play a big role, but some just have the genetics.

[Gamma]

@TheJenners I can’t see your picture.

I hadn’t considered before now, but it makes sense that dappled grey would have started as dappled (bay/chestnut/etc.) and just become more noticeable on the grey. Since it’s so easy to see on grey, I wonder if there’s any estimate of how many greys are dappled vs steel or flea bitten.

[TheJenners]

@Gamma

@TheJenners I can’t see your picture.

I hadn’t considered before now, but it makes sense that dappled grey would have started as dappled (bay/chestnut/etc.) and just become more noticeable on the grey. Since it’s so easy to see on grey, I wonder if there’s any estimate of how many greys are dappled vs steel or flea bitten.

The post is more than six years old, and links expire, so I’m not surprised. I can try to figure out what picture it was based on the when and the context - looks like it was one of my ex’s horses, and I think he had a bay then? Maybe. I shall investigate and return

ETA: Nope, no clue.

[Ponyplusaninch]

I learned the hard way that not all horses dapple–I vividly remember being told when I was like, twelve, that I had done a good job grooming if the horse’s coat dappled. So the first two horses I rode, I made sure they always had a good dappled coat come summer.

Then I got to my chestnut mare in college. Holy cow, did I ever put so much elbow grease into her grooming. Curried and curried and curried so hard I actually got tennis elbow at one point. And what did her coat do? Not a damn dapple. Brought it up with the trainer because I thought I was failing, and she about laughed herself off the fence that day and informed me how dapples really work. All that said, the good grooming did pay off–horse was absolutely radiant in summer. Had highlights on highlights, and I remember each summer when we’d do the Kentucky shows, she’d get a lot of compliments for her turnout which I guess made up for the tennis elbow.

[Midge]

@TheJenners

I used a shedding blade to get the caked on urine/dirt mixture (aka piss cement) off her for a photo for DH, and this is what is underneath. Hasn’t been brushed in a couple months, get a pound of a ration balancer and free choice grass hay (dirt lot). That’s it.

This is good genetics.

I can’t get the link to work.

[TheJenners]

@Midge yes I understand that. Neither can I. The link has expired because it’s been SIX YEARS since I posted it. Links expire. And I can’t figure out what horse it was because he’s only had roans and one bay, but the bay was already gone by then.

[Midge]

@TheJenners

@Midge yes I understand that. Neither can I. The link has expired because it’s been SIX YEARS since I posted it. Links expire. And I can’t figure out what horse it was because he’s only had roans and one bay, but the bay was already gone by then.

Dammit! Sucked in by a vampire thread! Sorry…

[anon510129]

My favorite spray is the Eqyss Marigold coat conditioning spray. I love all of their products, actually. They’re cruelty free & all natural. The avocado spray works well too. I wouldn’t use either in the mane/tail - it doesn’t really work because it’s specifically for the coat.

I also agree that dapples are genetic. I see many retired pasture pets with lovely dapples and many groomed show horses without, or barely any. It’s nothing to do with your grooming skills, don’t worry!