# Appy Markings, What Color Is She?



## Sinister (Nov 28, 2011)

Just got my new mare home, I'm not really good with Appy coloring names so what is she? I'd call her a varnish with blanket and leopard spots, don't know how well you can see the spots since they're on top of her rump but they are there! 


























More pictures are located here: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-con...py-mare-confo-image-heavy-110383/#post1320798


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## StraitGirl (Jan 22, 2012)

Although I'm not an appy breeder and have limited knowledge on all of their colour genes, I do love the breed and have come across many beautiful horses/colours. My best guess would be a bay roan with a spotted blanket.


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## Faceman (Nov 29, 2007)

As to color, her base color is bay. She has a double pattern - blanket with spots and varnish roan. At age 8, her coloring out is progressing pretty well...


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Brown base, not bay IMO. Color pattern I am 110% in agreement with Face!


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## Faceman (Nov 29, 2007)

NdAppy said:


> Brown base, not bay IMO. Color pattern I am 110% in agreement with Face!


I was wondering about the brown base - mostly from the pictures she posted in her conformation thread - the muzzle sure looks like a brown in those pictures. You are most likely correct...


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Yeah. I was just looking at the confo thread. Really does show there.


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## stacysills02 (Sep 29, 2011)

includeing to the appalossa horse club theyd say its a Bay roan. heres the web page for you so you can see.
Guide to Identifying an Appaloosa 
when i googled bay roan appalossa the pictures above came up . hope this helps


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## Sinister (Nov 28, 2011)

Faceman said:


> As to color, her base color is bay. She has a double pattern - blanket with spots and varnish roan. At age 8, her coloring out is progressing pretty well...


Yeah I knew she was a bay haha, I have another bay that's a varnish roan with a blanket and he's near his 20s and is almost completely roaned out with his blanket.


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## SRCM16 (Oct 7, 2011)

stacysills02 said:


> View attachment 85649
> 
> 
> View attachment 85650


To me the first picture looks like a buckskin Appy, and the second looks like a rabicano (sp) overo paint. :rofl:


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## Sinister (Nov 28, 2011)

stacysills02 said:


> View attachment 85649
> 
> 
> View attachment 85650
> ...


Actually I think the second is a rabicano :lol:


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## stacysills02 (Sep 29, 2011)

lol like i said i google it and thats what came up  got to love google


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## Sinister (Nov 28, 2011)

She is bay, she has the black mane&tail, black points, and in the pictures below you can see her black muzzle better.


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Actually, she is a brown. Brown is a mutation of the bay gene, so it still has the black points - mane and tail, legs, ears and muzzle. The difference is the pale in her 'soft' points - behind the muzzle and in the flank. She is clearly paler in these areas.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Exactly what Chiilaa said. 

It's all an agouti thing. Bay, brown and wild bay are all versions of agouti.


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## BarrelRacer95 (Jan 9, 2012)

Id say either a Bay snow cap or a bay with a leopard blanket...she's beautiful.!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Thyme (Sep 4, 2010)

I was told my mare has a blanket with spots and is varnish and they look very similar to each other (minus base color) so I would say your horse has a blanket with spots and varnish coloring. 
love her btw


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## Thyme (Sep 4, 2010)

might I add a question here?
When appies that have the blanket w/ spots and varnish grey out do they keep the spots? My mare has gotten 3-5 new spots in the 5 months I have had her.


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Spots uncovered by varnish will stay the base colour


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Varnish is not greying. it is a completely different process.


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## hillside farm (Dec 23, 2011)

Bay roan with a spotted blanket......... the horse may roan more with age, I have had apps change colors with the seasons, sorrel with a snowcap blanket that turned almost completely white in the winter...
That is the best part of owning a App ,There is not two the same.........


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## MangoRoX87 (Oct 19, 2009)

She is a brown. Bays and browns have a lot of the same characteristics.
But browns are better.
Why?
Because.
They are Bad ***.


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## crimsonsky (Feb 18, 2011)

NdAppy said:


> Varnish is not greying. it is a completely different process.


so i have a question. what is the difference between a roan and a grey? i was under the impression that roans are born their "roan" color and stay that way where as a grey starts as a solid (or more solid in the case of appaloosas) and grey out as they age. in that case... what happens with the spots?


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## Sinister (Nov 28, 2011)

crimsonsky said:


> so i have a question. what is the difference between a roan and a grey? i was under the impression that roans are born their "roan" color and stay that way where as a grey starts as a solid (or more solid in the case of appaloosas) and grey out as they age. in that case... what happens with the spots?


I don't know much but both greys and roans are born solid.


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## PoofyPony (Sep 15, 2011)

A Blue Roan with dark points










A Red Roan with dark points. Sometimes refered as "Strawberry roans"










A Bay Roan with dark points.


These pictures above are 'true roans'. It is a seperate gene from a varnished roan that Appaloosas tend to carry. Here are some pictures below of some varnished roans.









A Bay Varnished (can also be few spot) roan.









A Chestnut Varnished Roan.










Another Bay Varnished Roan.


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## crimsonsky (Feb 18, 2011)

so a varnish is similar in a way to a grey? as in... they change color over time but leave more of the base color? sorry if these are silly questions. :/


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## PoofyPony (Sep 15, 2011)

Varnish does whiten over time in some horses. I have a Varnished Chestnut Appaloosa, he was born as a solid chestnut with a white blanket over his butt, but when he reached his 2 year old year he varnished out. He has remained that color, and hasn't gotten any whiter as he aged. He is now 21. 

I do not know if you can have a grey gene along with the varnished factor. But, I can't see why not. All the grey gene is, its just a 'cover' factor over whatever base color your horse is.


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## crimsonsky (Feb 18, 2011)

argh!! crazy color genetics. hahaha


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Varnish Roan Progression Slide show. Click it to watch it.


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## Sinister (Nov 28, 2011)

The owner of Annie sent me baby pictures today, and here they are. She was a solid "bay" with the star, snip and a small blanket.

As a new born









At 6 months









And at a year


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## Faceman (Nov 29, 2007)

crimsonsky said:


> so a varnish is similar in a way to a grey? as in... they change color over time but leave more of the base color? sorry if these are silly questions. :/


Sort of similar, but with some differences. Grey normally works with a front to rear trend, while Appy "roaning" (I prefer the term coloring out to avoid confusion with a regular roan) normally works with a rear to front trend. Appy coloring out normally leaves behind "varnish" marks on the hip and shoulder points and the flanks, thus the term varnish roan, and coloring out in an Appy can be present at birth, or not start till they are as old as 5 or 6, can progress at different speeds, and can virtually stop anywhere in the coloring out process.

Sinister, conventional roans are not necessarily born solid - most are not. Appy varnish roans may or may not be born solid, but as with greys there are almost always subtle indicators on "solid" foals that they are actually varnish roans. Of course unless one or both parents are homozygous, there is always a chance a foal may be a true solid...


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## crimsonsky (Feb 18, 2011)

hahaha - i should just give up hope of ever knowing what my boy will end up color wise.


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## Faceman (Nov 29, 2007)

crimsonsky said:


> hahaha - i should just give up hope of ever knowing what my boy will end up color wise.


Might as well give up...most Appys have no "end up" color...:rofl:


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## crimsonsky (Feb 18, 2011)

some part of me wishes he would stay the color he is now with a nice "crisp" blanket and another part of me hopes he roans/varnishes/greys out some. blah..


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## Sinister (Nov 28, 2011)

Faceman said:


> Sinister, conventional roans are not necessarily born solid - most are not. Appy varnish roans may or may not be born solid, but as with greys there are almost always subtle indicators on "solid" foals that they are actually varnish roans. Of course unless one or both parents are homozygous, there is always a chance a foal may be a true solid...


Oh, the two roans I've owned and seen when they were born were both solid except they both had the "skunk" tail so I just figured that was the same with all roans.


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## Faceman (Nov 29, 2007)

A lot of roan foals are born with a foal coat that masks the roan till they shed out the following spring.

I'm not a roan expert, though...have never had one...


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## mudpie (Jul 15, 2011)

Appy's always look so... scrawny, ya know? But they're so pretty!


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## crimsonsky (Feb 18, 2011)

mudpie said:


> Appy's always look so... scrawny, ya know? But they're so pretty!


define "scrawny" in this instance please.


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## trainerunlimited (Jan 26, 2012)

She looks like a bay coat base IMO. My idea of a brown horse is one that looks almost black with the lighter muzzle and lighter flank area.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Browns can and do vary in shade just as much as any other color. They are not limited to mostly black bodies with lightening around the muzzle and flanks...


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## trainerunlimited (Jan 26, 2012)

That is so interesting! Good to know!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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