# WHY does this happen to my gray....HELP



## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

EVERY summer my beautiful gray OTTB:










turns UGLY!! I mean seriously ugly. His coat gets these huge patches of brown hairs that come through....so, in large areas, his gray and white coat has a brown tint to it.... then come fall/winter he turns back to his regular color.

Is it the sun bleaching him out? I've tried sprays with sunscreen in them and they don't help....he still turns brownish in the summer.

Is there any way to stop it?

Why does it happen?

My BO had a gray, and hers did the same thing, only he turned really brown.

Black plus white equals gray. WHERE does brown come iN?


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

What do you mean, brown spots? I see a horse graying out in that picture..


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

I should have taken a pic as he is at his height of ugliness right now.

They aren't spots exactly, I should have said huge patches. Usually on his stomach, he gets these HUGE patches where brown hairs show through.....and it gives him a brown tint that is quite unattractive. These brown patches go away in late fall.

I thought it was sun bleaching, but sunscreens haven't helped.:-(


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## christabelle (Feb 13, 2011)

I'm guessing his base coat is brown or bay then, not black? Or he is a black that sun bleaches out. I heard feeding paprika will help with sun fading. Anyhow, the color sounds interesting, hardly ugly... and he will be all white (grey) eventually. maybe just enjoy his kaleidoscope coat until then =)


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

^^I would agree that it is likely his base coat showing through and if that's the case, there isn't much you can do except just deal with it.

Don't feel so bad though. I am stuck with a gray that has a yellow stain on the side of his face. It looks like he slept in a puddle of pee and he'll never be rid of that :lol:.


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

a puddle of pee? LOL. 

I guess nothing can be done about this ugly brownishness then?!:-( Well, luckily he's only ugly for the summer, right?:lol: 

I mean, it's not like he turns really brown, it's more like a brown tint...y'know as if he rolled in mud....it's not a solid color.....


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## nicole25 (Jun 24, 2011)

What color is his skin? that may have a factor in it, like Christabell said, maybe his base coat is bay or brown or chestnut. I think he looks pretty though


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## Eolith (Sep 30, 2007)

If it's sun bleaching, I don't think sunscreen does anything to prevent it... sunscreen protects skin, not hair. If it is sun bleaching, you can try feeding some supplements and/or turn him out in a light fly sheet to keep his body shaded.


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## caleybooth (Mar 11, 2011)

Beauseant said:


> a puddle of pee? LOL.
> 
> I guess nothing can be done about this ugly brownishness then?!:-( Well, luckily he's only ugly for the summer, right?:lol:
> 
> I mean, it's not like he turns really brown, it's more like a brown tint...y'know *as if he rolled in mud*....it's not a solid color.....


OH MY GOSH! I've been scrubbing and scrubbing my dapple grey mare trying to get her clean because she has the SAME muddy tint on her sides! I've been antagonizing her for rolling in the mud and here I find out that it's her base color (chestnut) coming through! WOW, I feel dumb! HAHAHAHA! I'm going to apolozige to her tomorrow. I was just about to spray some clorox on her (joking).


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## caleybooth (Mar 11, 2011)

Here's what my mare was in the spring. Pretty, clean whitish looking sides.












And here's what she looks like this summer!










So I thought she was just dirty and I've been brushing and washing thinking that I was going to need something more heavy duty to clean her! Glad to see that this is fairly common!!!


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

Smrobs' mark that she is talking about is called a Blood shoulder mark and is only seen in greys, it where the pgimentation of the mark never fades and retains the base color. and while it happens and isn't rare it isnt that common either and i'm not sure thats what your mare has, thought she is pretty cute and has some interesting colors.


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## caleybooth (Mar 11, 2011)

Oh. I thought Beauseant was talking about what my mare has... I thought bloody shoulders stayed there permanently and didn't come and go with the seasons...


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Caley, that's correct. The bloody shoulder marks may change shade with the change from winter fuzz to summer slickness, but they are always there.

I would bet dollars to donuts that what is going on with both your and the OP's horses are just their base color showing through and that shading will become more and more faded as they age and disappear completely at some point.

Whereas, my guy's mark gets more obvious as he gets whiter with age and he will carry it until the day that he dies.


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