# what color is she?



## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Yes, blue roans can gray out and she most definitely has. Gray will cover any color.

The only type of roan that will lighten a horse with age is varnish roan in Appaloosas, which does not follow the same limitations (leaving the head and legs solid) as classic roan.


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## jbolt (Jan 1, 2012)

Am I mistaken as to having assumed she was a base blue roan to begin with?


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## jbolt (Jan 1, 2012)

her dam was gray (unknown base) and sire was bay roan.......


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

No, her base color is blue roan, so if she were ever bred, the genes required to produce blue roan could be passed on to a foal as well as the gray gene.


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## trainerunlimited (Jan 26, 2012)

That doesn't even look like the same horse to me. The socks go up to different lengths on the two horses, lol. I wasn't aware that could change with age as well 8P


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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

Looks grey to me in both pictures.


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## trainerunlimited (Jan 26, 2012)

The first pic is definitely a bay roan, there are no white/grey hairs on her face.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Icrazyaboutu (Jul 17, 2009)

trainerunlimited said:


> The first pic is definitely a bay roan, there are no white/grey hairs on her face.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


The OP is asking about the Blue roan in the pic with the bay roan..


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## trainerunlimited (Jan 26, 2012)

Ya, should of read the post a little better lol, sorry! The horse on the right looks like a grey, but doesn't have any socks on its hind feet while the grey in the second pic does.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

Not trying to steal the tread, I promise.

But to trainerunlimited, the horse the OP is reffering to is the gray - on the right in the first picture. (this has been pointed out to you already though)

Also, like you said in another post "...That doesn't even look like the same horse to me. The socks go up to different lengths on the two horses, lol. I wasn't aware that could change with age as well...", yes this can change with age as well.

Take this little guy for example, first pictures are of him as a baby and the last is him a few days ago (just coming 4). As you can notice he WAS NOT a gray baby at all, and he only had three white stockings and on solid leg, now he has four very defined stockings. (although the front right will probably only continue to gray out)
Crazy how they can trick you.
p.s. we did think he would gray out though, because like someone said "Gray will cover any color" (his mother is a flea bitten gray and his father is sorrel)


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## trainerunlimited (Jan 26, 2012)

I see what you mean!!! The only difference you can tell from the greyed out leg vs. the legs with socks is the black foot vs. white feet. Thank you!!! I love learning new things, it certainly broadens my limited horizons!!!!


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## jbolt (Jan 1, 2012)

It is most definitely the same horse, just a 3 yr. span between pics


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

the horse is definitely grey, and his base coat was probably black. the bay is definitely a roan. if they grey were a roan in the first picture he would distinctly have blacker leg points. how old was he in the original picture?


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Sierra, that gelding doesn't have 4 socks now. He still has 3, but since the lower leg is one of the bonier areas on the body, it tends to gray out faster. The skin underneath on that leg is still dark. When he is completely grayed out, his 3 socks will blend in with this legs and will probably only be noticeable when wet when you can see the changes in skin color.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

Poseidon said:


> Sierra, that gelding doesn't have 4 socks now. He still has 3, but since the lower leg is one of the bonier areas on the body, it tends to gray out faster. The skin underneath on that leg is still dark. When he is completely grayed out, his 3 socks will blend in with this legs and will probably only be noticeable when wet when you can see the changes in skin color.


Um he is four, and yes he does have 4 but like I said in my post it wont stay looking like a sock for very long because we think it will just continue up his leg and gray out, I know this because of his 3 white feet and one black.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

I have a now grey gelding, that was a dark red roan up to age 2. He is also a Hancock lineage horse. And the horses pictured are different horses, the one with a rider has socks, and the other horses do not.


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## jbolt (Jan 1, 2012)

stevenson said:


> I have a now grey gelding, that was a dark red roan up to age 2. He is also a Hancock lineage horse. And the horses pictured are different horses, the one with a rider has socks, and the other horses do not.


 @ stevenson, Sir you are mistaken, that horse has been with me daily and she is indeed the same horse. I would know since i've owned her for 5 years and seen her daily....no chance for a switch.....btw she was blue roan in first pic, and her past two winters have seen dramatic change, and her skin is black all the way down to her hooves on both rear legs so they are not socks, and were the first part of her to gray out and it was surprising to us, thus my question.......even AQHA amended her color due to a change, and she is going on 6


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Joblt, do you have any earlier pics of the one that greys? I'm kind of on the fence from that one picture if it is actually roan or not.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

sierrams1123 said:


> Um he is four, and yes he does have 4 but like I said in my post it wont stay looking like a sock for very long because we think it will just continue up his leg and gray out, I know this because of his 3 white feet and one black.


He was born with 3 socks and therefore he has 3 socks. The faux sock he has now should not be referred to as a sock because it isn't. His lower leg has just grayed out faster than the rest of his body, causing it to look like a additional marking; however, it still has black skin under the hair. When he is fully grayed out, none of his markings will be visible unless you are close enough to see the change in skin color.


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## jbolt (Jan 1, 2012)

i will have to dig them up as they are not digitized


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Awesome. Thanks.


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## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

Poseidon said:


> He was born with 3 socks and therefore he has 3 socks. The faux sock he has now should not be referred to as a sock because it isn't. His lower leg has just grayed out faster than the rest of his body, causing it to look like a additional marking; however, it still has black skin under the hair. When he is fully grayed out, none of his markings will be visible unless you are close enough to see the change in skin color.


This I understand, I know the 4th leg is not really a white stocking but it appears to be at the moment. I thought I made that clear in both of my other two post but I guess my wording was misunderstood. 
I only posted the pictures to show one of the posters how much a horse can change over the course of time, not to argue about if it is or is not a permanent marking, thank you for pointing this out for those that did not know, but I am fully aware of what he will look like over time.


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