# Gray covers everything, right?



## MelissaAnn (Aug 26, 2011)

Because I can't help myself, I always look at horse ads on craigslist. I am not in the market for a new horse! 

I found this one of a super cute grulla filly. 

AQHA Grulla 2012 Filly
But her dam is gray. Does that mean she will gray out for sure, or does she only have a 50% chance of graying out because she is getting only one copy of the gray gene? But gray is dominate, so it will cover no matter what, if I am not mistaken...... 
Basically they should always advertise a foal with a gray parent at gray, right? Or maybe they realize this and are calling her grulla because she can ask more. Or maybe they dont realize, or maybe I'm wrong! 
Someone answer who knows better than I do!  

Here's a picture in case the ad expires and because we all like looking at pictures:


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## Nokotaheaven (Apr 11, 2012)

Yes it is most likely she will grey out. She is very cute though


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

IMO no the filly isn't grey. Having a grey sire or dam does not automatically mean the offspring will be grey unless that sire or dam is homozygous for grey. 

There only needs to be one copy of the grey gene present for a horse to be grey as it does cover all colors.


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## Nokotaheaven (Apr 11, 2012)

Yea but sometimes it can take a while for the grey to start showing. It did with my filly


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## MelissaAnn (Aug 26, 2011)

Okay, color me confused now. NDappy, the gray will cover no matter what, or the gray will only cover if it's homozygous? Doesn't that mean two different things? Educate me!


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## Nokotaheaven (Apr 11, 2012)

Just to show what I meant... Here's my horse as a yearling, and as a 3yo. Huge change
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## Nokotaheaven (Apr 11, 2012)

Actually the lying down pic was bad cuz the suns on her sorry


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

A homozygous gray will pass on gray 100% of the time. A heterozygous gray will pass on gray 50% of the time. 

Since we don't know if the dam was homozygous (or if both parents were gray) I would assume that there is a 50/50 chance of the grulla foal turning gray. 

Don't go by the "goggle" thing people always tell you to look for around their eyes either. My foal is turning gray and he never had goggles. Not when he was born and not now as a 2 yr old. 

One thing that IS a good indicator is that if the foal is born with dark legs or an "adult" color when a foal that is normally that color would be born with lighter points. If he looks like a little adult already, that can be a sign they are a gray. For instance, bay foals are usually born with tan legs and my foal was born with dark, almost black legs. That was an indicator he was a gray. I am not familiar with grulla babies though so I don't know what they typically look like.

Ask the seller/breeder. They might know what they are talking about if they are experienced. Or not. But they might be the best source of knowing for sure. Tell them "I noticed his mom is a gray, will he gray out?" and see what they say. See if they seem sure and can tell you why or why not he is a gray. If they just sort of look at you puzzled then you know they are clueless. :lol:


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Homozygous means two genes. Heterozygous means one gene. If a sire/dam is homozygous for grey the foal will always be grey. If the sire/dam is heterozygous for grey there is a 50% chance of grey and a 50% chance of not grey.

A horse only has to have one grey gene to turn grey.

The filly in the OP is _not_ grey nor will she grey out. 

Nokota there are indicators for grey that that filly is lacking. I am 110% sure I could have looked a your filly at the same age and told you she was grey then as well.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

PS. Yes, gray covers EVERYTHING. No matter what color. Think of gray as modifying the existing color of the horse. 

But the foal may not have received a copy of the gray gene since he only had a 50/50 chance.

Actually, his (oohps, her) legs are fairly light in color. I think there is a good chance she is NOT a gray. But I am just a layman and don't know that for sure! I would Google "grulla foals" and compare their legs and color to this foal.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

NdAppy said:


> The filly in the OP is _not_ grey nor will she grey out.
> 
> Nokota there are indicators for grey that that filly is lacking.


How can you tell for sure from one photo? Simply by the leg color? That was my guess, but I wouldn't say for sure because I'm not that confident.


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## Nokotaheaven (Apr 11, 2012)

Oh yeah true. And I'll post one more of mine as a yearling, taken in summer.


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## Nokotaheaven (Apr 11, 2012)

only way I can tell on mine in that pic is the random white hairs around, and not in, her blaze.


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## MelissaAnn (Aug 26, 2011)

Ah, now I understand. Just because the foal has a gray mother, it doesnt mean she was passed a copy of the gray gene. But if she did, it will cover her grullaness. I was confused about the 50/50% and the "gray always covers", but now I know there was a 50/50 change she got it, and if she did, she will be gray! Thanks for your help guys! I kind of thought if there was a gray parent, the baby would be gray, no matter what. 

I am not buying the filly no matter what, I was just curious! You guys are awesome!


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## MelissaAnn (Aug 26, 2011)

P.S., Nakota, your horse is adorable!


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

MelissaAnn said:


> Ah, now I understand. Just because the foal has a gray mother, it doesnt mean she was passed a copy of the gray gene. But if she did, it will cover her grullaness. I was confused about the 50/50% and the "gray always covers", but now I know there was a 50/50 change she got it, and if she did, she will be gray! Thanks for your help guys! I kind of thought if there was a gray parent, the baby would be gray, no matter what.


Yup, that sounds about right!


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Nokotaheaven said:


> only way I can tell on mine in that pic is the random white hairs around, and not in, her blaze.


My guy has funny white hairs on his face too. But mainly just on one side. It's really weird looking because one side of his face has a lot of white and the other doesn't.


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## Nokotaheaven (Apr 11, 2012)

Thank you MelissaAnn 
and Trailhorserider, how old is he?


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Nokotaheaven said:


> Trailhorserider, how old is he?


He's 21 months.


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## Nokotaheaven (Apr 11, 2012)

Trailhorserider, your guy is gorgeous 
And the white in his tail is a giveaway that he will turn grey


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