# My dark palomino went light in winter-- normal?



## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

Most likely he will be darker in the summer. Mine did the same thing (I got her last May). When he sheds his winter coat he should go back to what he was (or something close to it). How old is he? I've heard that they tend to get darker with age, but I've also heard that they are all different and some get lighter from year to year and some get darker. So who knows?

Of course keeping his sun exposure minimized in the summer will keep him darker (mine's not a show horse so I don't care) and you can also try supplementing with paprika or "Gold as the Sun" (I think that's the name) which is mostly paprika, but a lot more expensive. Supposedly that will help them shed out darker. Good Luck!


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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

Most palimonos that are relatively dark grow a lighter winter coat. They shed it back off in the spring and go back to being a darker horse once again.


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## EveningShadows (May 18, 2009)

No worries...I have 2 pals and they both do this. I thought it funny the first year but they've always shed out a nice golden color come spring. Bleach over the summer, almost an off-white/pale yellow in winter. 

Example - Dove in summer... (ignore my leaning on her neck please!)









And in winter...


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

Yeah, I actually posted something on here about how mine has black hairs on her muzzle in the summer, but they are gone in the winter. She lightened up so much in the winter that I noticed that she has a small snip, it wasn't visible under the black hairs in the summer. 

It's kinda like getting a new horse twice a year ;-)


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## CloudsMystique (Mar 3, 2009)

Definitely normal. Every palomino I know gets lighter in the winter... some more than others.


Here's my palomino in the summer:










And here he is in the winter:


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## haviris (Sep 16, 2009)

He should shed back into his nice dark color.

This is our palomino from Summer,








And Winter,








We don't have bad Winters here, so he doesn't get as fluffy as some, if he did I would expect him to lighten more then he does, but he doesn't really lighten all the much. Now my first palomino was a pale yellow in the summer, and in the winter it use to bug the crap out of me for people to refer to her as the white horse.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Like everyone else who owns a palomino said, Hollywood was a nice golden color in the summer when I got him and is now a light, very dappled color.


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