Gray horses - yay or nay? (Buying/Selling)

[Shagyas_Rock]

[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;8722694]
Depends on how many manure stains you have time to wash off before riding. Grey horses (seems to be male horses only) seem to love to wallow in their own manure. BTDT.[/QUOTE]

I never bother washing off stains before I ride. I have two greys - one in particular seems to love being grubby. But if I’m not going to a show, who cares?
I just brush/groom until he’s clean enough to tack up.
I LOVE greys. In my possibly ridiculous opinion, they are so elegant. I also have two bays - they get just as dirty - in their own ways
I’ve never had problems with melanomas with any of the three greys I’ve had.

[Foxtrot_s]

It seems to be my lot in life to have greys and I do love them. The Arab that raised me was a flea bitten grey.

I’m aware of the melanoma issue but often it does not become a problem until late in life. My vet advised me that it would not be something to prevent my purchasing a mare I loved.

My current saddle horse is 17:00 hands of milk white beauty and gets comments every time she goes out on how white she is - with offers as well. Judges spot her, too. In her younger days she was the classic merrygoround horse, dappled and black mane.

I keep her in/out with a turnout paddock that is large, no mud at all, and a large yellow cedar sawdust pile for her to sunbathe and roll in. I feed her an oil rich pellet so her coat is silky, she is rugged most of the time, she never has to lie in a manure pile like a stalled horse. She is easy to fix up any time I need to go anywhere where she will be on show.

There seems to be a never ending stream of grey show jumping stars, mostly with names beginning with a “C”.

[soloudinhere]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8723260]

There seems to be a never ending stream of grey show jumping stars, mostly with names beginning with a “C”.[/QUOTE]

Possibly because there is a prominent Holsteiner line (Cassini/Capitol) that is gray and dates back to before we started importing a lot of showjumpers in the late 80s. Cornet Obolensky is a very popular sire of showjumpers right now and he is that line on the sire side, despite being registered BWP.

Ironically, the much older line of talented showjumpers was also gray, and thoroughbred: Bonne Nuit was gray.

[FatCatFarm]

[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8722853]

(both my horses are buckskin - the ultimate dirt hiding color)[/QUOTE]

Truth about the buckskin color! I have two and they are the easiest coat color ever, and one of the prettiest, IMHO, to keep clean. Mine are big Georgian Grandes and I get comments at their WOW factor all the time. The dapples they sport don’t hurt either.

[soloudinhere]

[QUOTE=FatCatFarm;8723387]
Truth about the buckskin color! I have two and they are the easiest coat color ever, and one of the prettiest, IMHO, to keep clean. Mine are big Georgian Grandes and I get comments at their WOW factor all the time. The dapples they sport don’t hurt either. :)[/QUOTE]

Mine was so dark this spring he looked bay. He is dappling out and fading and I get compliments on his color all the time. All the fun of a dark dapple gray except he’s the same color every year

[Foxtrot_s]

The “c” jumpers may be gray, but dressage horses have had a fashion for blacks for so long, one would be hard pressed not to find a dark horse.

Eventers - well the right horse comes in a variety of colours and prints - the qualities may be performance, but the other attributes also count so much - heart, soundness, desire, speed, etc.

[yellowbritches]

I’ve groomed greys, a buckskin (so handsome), a couple of palominos (I about killed one of our palomino ponies when I he got a big bath and then WORKED to lay in every pile of poo in his stall before a show one night), a pinto or two, my Appy Neigh, and every manner of brown or black. Toby (who is technically a dark brown) is the easiest horse on the planet to groom.

But I admit to getting a bit of a sick thrill out of grooming something more challenging. The before and after, especially with some of the pigs I’ve had to care for, is always sooooo rewarding.

[kcmel]

[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;8722694]
Depends on how many manure stains you have time to wash off before riding. Grey horses (seems to be male horses only) seem to love to wallow in their own manure. BTDT.[/QUOTE]

I love my (mostly white) paint and will never regret buying him, but never again! If I have to leave him in his stall overnight he is just covered in manure. And you have to get if off right away or it stains. And winter really sucks. My hunt is very informal, fortunately, so I’ve showed up pretty dirty on occasion.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

There is almost nothing as lovely for the eye to behold as a dark, dappled grey with either darker or lighter mane and tail. However, whenever I look at a grey as a prospect (kind of irrelevant since I’m not in the market, but I think we all probably window shop a bit), the voice in my head reminds me that he or she will eventually be pure white and the possibility of melanoma does cross my mind.

[Jersey_Fresh]

I can beat everyone’s. I got my horse out of a dark stall and thought “hes so clean!”. Only to get him in the light and find wet, green manure smeared up his face from nose to eyeball. And I did the hunters at the time. And we were heading out to a show.

So I got out the cowboy magic and a rag. But did I mention my horse is extremely annoying and bites? So it was like trying to scrub a poo stain off a large furry alligator.

So needless to say, Ive only been looking at bays when hunting for a baby

[Man_in_Black]

There’s almost nothing more eye catching than a white horse…except a dark dappled bay with four white socks and blaze…

I personally do not have the patience for anything that takes more than a curry, hard brush and some show sheen to keep clean. Especially after having two younger sisters that leased white ponies and ALWAYS managed to get manure stains along their spines when you leave them alone to dry for a half hour in their stalls at shows.

And for a hot second I considered going to look at a couple grey youngsters and it was my non-horsey boyfriend who mentioned that my closet consists entirely of black tee shirts, tank tops, and sweaters.

Pick your poison wisely, but remember a kind eye and a good heart is worth it in any color.

[peedin]

My only horse was a grey. Had him for 27 years and he had a few melanomas, very small (like the size of a pencil eraser). I had to put him down due to complications of old age–the melanomas had nothing to do with it. Needless to say, I am partial to greys and will look at a grey first. I’m primarily dressage, and you don’t see many in the show ring.

[Belmont]

I adore grays. I’m a gelding person, but my best horses have always been gray mares.

I naturally gravitate towards grays, even if they are pigs.

[judybigredpony]

Least favorite color…I am blind when it comes to color as a criteria…my only NO is small chestnut mares, although I have sold several who were exceptional…Never had a grey with melanoma either…I am not sure if the higher price thing is still valid…

[Blugal]

I have had more potential buyers say “no greys” than the opposite. However, the last grey I had for re-sale was actually sold to a no-greys buyer. It was a terrific match and they looked past the colour.

I still have the giant bottle of purple shampoo I bought because of him - it’s a reminder of why I shouldn’t have another grey :lol:

[fordtraktor]

I don’t like grey because of the extra work cleaning them but next time I am horse shopping, if the most talented thing I can find for my budget is grey I’m bringing it home for sure. Dark Bay is my favorite color but I have had grey, black, bay, chestnut and paints. As long as it jumps well and has a good canter I’m happy. This year I bought a cherry bay which is my least favorite shade of bay. It is quickly becoming one of my favoritest shades of bay because the horse is super cool!

[invinoveritas]

[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8723329]
Possibly because there is a prominent Holsteiner line (Cassini/Capitol) that is gray and dates back to before we started importing a lot of showjumpers in the late 80s. Cornet Obolensky is a very popular sire of showjumpers right now and he is that line on the sire side, despite being registered BWP.

Ironically, the much older line of talented showjumpers was also gray, and thoroughbred: Bonne Nuit was gray.[/QUOTE]

Which is interesting since the holsteiner registry is not wild about greys. But then there were some great jumping holsteiners. And since I am not a geneticist, I was amazed years ago to find out that grey is a dominate gene.

[fordtraktor]

You see grey in Holsteiners through Corrado I a lot. Very influential, combined Cor de la Bryere with Capitol. Corrado I gives us Cornet Oblensky through Clinton.

[Sempiternal]

[QUOTE=findeight;8723177]

My favorite colored horse though was a buckskin. They’re pretty too with a whole lot less work, too bad the color doesn’t run in breeds and types suitable for Hunters (except a few Ponies). Palominos too, unless they have high white, that gold coat hides many evils.[/QUOTE]

The cream dilution gene which is responsible for buckskin (bay base) and palomino (red base) exists in Thoroughbreds and warmbloods.

As far as greys go, I personally try to stay away from them because of the higher risk of melanomas. However, if I was looking in the future i wouldn’t pass up the “perfect” horse because if it was grey.

They do seem to “fly off the shelf” faster than other colors. Me, I’m happy with my 15.3h red headed mare.

[Foxtrot_s]

With the right management white horses are easy to keep - but not everyone has the choice if they board. I get comments on my horse even though she mostly is just doing trails and I don’t have her spit and polished as if doing a show.