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Will my black foal turn grey?

If you had asked me 2 days ago what color my filly Arya would end up I’d say 100% without a doubt BLACK! Her dam and sire are both black. Arya’s dam, Winnie, developed some white hairs on her barrel while pregnant but I figured that was similar to our stretch marks! Or, I thought, she may be roaning out as her dam was a black roan. Since then Winnie hasn’t had any additional white show up!
Now back to Arya :slight_smile: She was born black, and had almost a pewter hue to her. I haven’t seen any white eyelashes and then yesterday she wanted her tail scratched and I noticed grey hairs in it. Which now has me questioning will she grey out?! She’s 4 months right now.
Also worth mentioning, she got a cut on her leg and the hair grew in white! Not sure if it’s just a coincidence as that could happen with an adult horse of any color too :cool:

Any guesses or thoughts from the color experts out there?!:smiley:

To be grey, there has to be a grey parent. If neither of your foal’s parents are grey, she won’t grey out.

How old is Winnie and did Winnie have a grey parent? What breed of horses is everyone?

If sire and dam are both black–honest to god black–and the filly isn’t chestnut, then she’s black. Without a grey parent, there is no way for her to be grey.

Sounds like the mare might have some sabino or rabicano roaning, which the filly might have inherited? White hairs at the top of the tail is not uncommon in that sort of roaning. It is different than true roan.

It is not uncommon at all for lacerations to grow back in white, on any color horse.

Most true black horses are born pewter colored - almost silvery. Your foal would need one parent that was gray in order to be gray. No gray parent, not going to be gray.

As others have already mentioned, it is impossible for a foal to turn grey unless one parent is also grey. That being said, breeding mistakes can happen. :wink: Example, mare sent to breeding facility and bred to wrong stallion. Wrong shipped semen sent to Mare Owner…but those are normally rare occurrences. Most black foals are not born jet black, but a mousy brown or a greyish/pewter color. Once they shed out their foal coat, you’ll see the black start to come in.

Hair growing in white after an injury is common among horses of any color. :wink: You mentioned she had white hairs in her tail? Are they just at the top of the tail? If so, that may be an indication of the Rabicano gene. Gulastra plume causes a silver tail…but you’d need to post photos of your filly to verify these types of markings.

Even with one gray parent the following rule usually works: born silvery looking, will stay black. Born looking jet black will turn gray.

My black mare was born a pewter grey.

Royal Diamond was discovered to be a grey only very late - so if one of winnies parents was greay she might be one and hence your foal can be one.

[QUOTE=Beentheredonethat;7830881]
My black mare was born a pewter grey.[/QUOTE]

Many blacks are born a silvery gray or pewter color. That does not make them a temporary “gray.”

As before, one parent or more MUST be gray for a foal to be gray.

I’ve had many black babies…and yes, they have silvery gray “points”…particularly on their legs and muzzle. They shed out to black.

Whether they are a non-fading or fading black you’ll yet to see. Enjoy finding out. :lol:

As the others said, one parent must be a gray to produce a gray offspring.

[QUOTE=camohn;7830664]
Even with one gray parent the following rule usually works: born silvery looking, will stay black. Born looking jet black will turn gray.[/QUOTE]

I’d point out this is a “usually” but not “always” rule (I know you said it, just want people to read the word “usually”). I had a foal born glossy jet black - and she is still glossy jet black. Neither parents had any gray in them. So there are exceptions to those rules.

OTOH - as already said - if there is no gray parent, there is no gray offspring. I love black babies - especially the mousey colored ones, it is one of the cutest baby colors!

[QUOTE=MysticOakRanch;7833077]
I’d point out this is a “usually” but not “always” rule (I know you said it, just want people to read the word “usually”). I had a foal born glossy jet black - and she is still glossy jet black. Neither parents had any gray in them. So there are exceptions to those rules.[/QUOTE]

Over the years I have had two foals born glossy black who stayed that way. And a third, born a strange yellowish color, turned black.

Wowza! Loads of replies while I’ve been MIA lol thanks everyone :slight_smile: I’m pretty confident after reading these posts that she will end up being black. What did throw me for a loop was those darn tail hairs! And I did withhold a little bit of info.
Rewind to breeding my mare. Found the perfect stallion, he sold, followed him to new owner and she was a total flake. Had to repossess my mare was the end of the whole dramatic situation. But, said flake was also standing a grey stud. Due to her actions it wasn’t out of the question my mare could have a different baby daddy. With that said, regardless of her sire and color, she was bred for me as a keeper :slight_smile:
I do have pictures of Winnie and Arya on my Facebook that are public, and am embarrassed to admit I don’t know how to share or link to them!
For those who inquired
Winnie - Sire Dark Bay TB, Dam Black Roan(?) Clydesdale
Arya’s Sire (won’t name him as he’s well known) Black Hanoverian
Arya’s Grandsire - Bay

Thanks again everyone

Well in that situation - why don’t you pull just hair and have it tested.
everything else is guessing and I have no idea how roan is passed down the line.

My horse has two black parents. He has a few white hairs on him. Some are in his tail and some are randomly sprinkled through his coat. They have stayed pretty much the same in the last four years. I think it’s either sabino or rabicino traits. He won’t go gray with two black parents. :smiley:

Perhaps these photos w![](ll illustrate the mousy/grey foal coat and how it changes to black. First photo is of the dams to the colts:[IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/DSC_0957.jpg)

The next 2 photos are of the colt foals in 2009: [IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/P1010116_zps13e73f81.jpg) &[IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/DSC_0176_zpsa5f288b4.jpg)

The next two photos are of the “babies” in 2014 as five year olds: [IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/DSC_0400_zps9330c91f.jpg) &[IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/DSC_0552_zpsec346f26.jpg)

The sire of the full-blaze boy is dark bay, while the sire of the star/snip boy is black. My previous 2 colts were the same color as these boys, but by different sires, and they were both black.

It is encouraging to see just how many people responded to this post with the knowledge that the appearance of grey requires at least one grey parent to produce a grey. This knowledge seems to be shamefully lost on the Shire Horse Society, UK. They have approved a roan stallion as grey, despite the fact that roan is disqualifying in stallions. The aforesaid stallion was produced by a black and a bay sire and dam. The stallion has produced a grey, to a grey mare, so no proof of his color there. He has sired roans, bred to black or bay mares. Sadly, many members in good standing have not renewed their memberships in protest.

[QUOTE=alexandra;7835700]
Well in that situation - why don’t you pull just hair and have it tested.
everything else is guessing and I have no idea how roan is passed down the line.[/QUOTE]

Roan is no different than the grey gene. In order to have a roan foal, one parent MUST be roan. Sounds like she’s got a black rabicano foal. :wink:

I am guessing the roaning you are seeing is sabino coming in from Winnies dam the “black roan” Clydesdale.

[QUOTE=RutlandH2O;7835894]
Perhaps these photos w![](ll illustrate the mousy/grey foal coat and how it changes to black. First photo is of the dams to the colts:[IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/DSC_0957.jpg)

The next 2 photos are of the colt foals in 2009: [IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/P1010116_zps13e73f81.jpg) &[IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/DSC_0176_zpsa5f288b4.jpg)

The next two photos are of the “babies” in 2014 as five year olds: [IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/DSC_0400_zps9330c91f.jpg) &[IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/DSC_0552_zpsec346f26.jpg)

The sire of the full-blaze boy is dark bay, while the sire of the star/snip boy is black. My previous 2 colts were the same color as these boys, but by different sires, and they were both black.

It is encouraging to see just how many people responded to this post with the knowledge that the appearance of grey requires at least one grey parent to produce a grey. This knowledge seems to be shamefully lost on the Shire Horse Society, UK. They have approved a roan stallion as grey, despite the fact that roan is disqualifying in stallions. The aforesaid stallion was produced by a black and a bay sire and dam. The stallion has produced a grey, to a grey mare, so no proof of his color there. He has sired roans, bred to black or bay mares. Sadly, many members in good standing have not renewed their memberships in protest.[/QUOTE]

I hope you continue to protest this issue. In this day an age with inexpensive DNA testing there is NO REASON whatsoever for such confusion.