# Do babies change color?



## PintoTess (Aug 18, 2010)

They sure can! As they loose their foal coat they will start to show their natural color. Greys are born black of dark chocolatey brown. Pintos are ususally born pinto. Bays can change colour as well, some I know have been born black. Your boy, well I think he will be a bay/brown. Hard to tell at this early stage but if he has a black around his eyes, a dorsal stripe and darker legs, he will probably be bay. 

Very nice looking colt though!


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

They can and do, as PintoTess said 

In terms of your foal, again, as PT said, I would stick with dark bay or brown. Black horses are usually born a silvery through to steel grey colour.

It can be as light as this:









Through to this dark:









Foals that are born 'true' black are usually going to turn grey.


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## ThaiDye (Apr 28, 2011)

Okay, so then my neighbor's filly, born 8 days earlier, is actually a grey and will get lighter as she ages, right? Her sire is white (grey) & her dam is a buckskin (I think-she has a dorsal stripe, but no leg stripes like my dun).









My pinto had a baby last April who came out bay. My neighbor says he'll turn black, but I keep telling him he will look just like Dakota (my bay).


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

greys can come out just about any color actually. I've seen RED horses turn out to be greys...

bottom line, yes they change colors. I think Riley was a few months old before I figured out his color. He was born the same time as another baby that turned out to be a really pretty roan...


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## Freda (Jun 26, 2011)

My totally cream foam turned brown with blonde dapples. He sire was a white Andalusian and dam was a Liver Chestnut Perch. She is 3 now and still has some color changing going on, starting to see some gold coming out. So who knows what we'll end up with. Andalusians change color slow, so we think thats going on here.


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## whitewater (Jul 9, 2011)

Yes, they do. Until they totally shed their baby coat you can not tell the real color...


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## Can He Star (Mar 9, 2011)

hmmmmm my grey was born brown and as for your foal i have an idea he will turn bay/brown.... you willl have to wait and see


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## tanya (Mar 30, 2011)

Your foal is beautiful he looks just like our Charlie. He was born on Easter and he is starting to loose some of his foal coat. Around his eyes the hair is getting alot darker. We think he may be a dark bay color. His daddy is a real dark bay and mom is a dark bay, but not as dark as daddy. Congrats on the new baby.


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## pinkswagger26 (Jul 15, 2011)

Wow, that is so neat! My family and I just went to the Kentucky Horse Park this weekend and they had said the same thing. One baby horse was white but had a little brown on the bottom of it's legs and the trainer said when it's coat sheds it will be a palomino.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Here is an example of one of my foals. First picture was not long after she was born. Second picture was at weaning time. Third picture is this year as a yearling.



























_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

OP - yes, that foal is going grey. Aside from the trueness of the colour, you can also see the grey muzzle and grey 'goggles' around the eyes. The second foal will be bay I would assume.

Farmpony, you are correct, greys can be born any colour. However, they are usually born an adult version of that colour, such as black all over, or bay with dark legs already. Most of the time they will also have few white hairs somewhere on their face, eyelashes are the most common place followed by around the eyes.


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## Freda (Jun 26, 2011)

So you seem to know coloring, I have an Andy X Perch, she was born all cream with a white face and a pink muzzle.. She still has a white face and pink muzzle, she has turned a light brown with blonde dapples, she also is starting to show some gold coloring in her sides and on her withers. Andalusians change color over a period of years, I was told it takes them about 7 years altogether, she is also some color I've never seen before around the eyes and on her belly, it's kind of a grey-brown. The4 vet couldn't ID it as a color either. What do you think, wish I had a photo. She is beautiful as most Andys are and is a very tall gal. I got exactly what I wanted when I crossed these two breeds. Wishing now I hadn't gelded the stallion.


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

What colour are the parents? I am assuming at least one is grey, given the breeds, if either parent is grey, what colour were they born?


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## Freda (Jun 26, 2011)

Sorry, lol. The sire is white with grey dapples, he is the Andalusian, The dam is liver chestnut with black mane and tail. He was bay at birth and mom was brown.


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Sorry, I just can't even begin to guess without pictures :-(


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