# Bay roan or Bay Dun Roan?



## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I am not good at this game by any means, but if I owned him I’d be calling him a blue roan.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Only based off one pic of course but I almost wonder if he is grey?

Strawberry is chestnut + roan I agree that he looks more bay. Dun...maybe, that dorsal isn't convincing though, looks like it peters out near the withers.

Do you know the parents colors? More pictures? Pictures at a younger age would be great too if you have them.


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## Cedar & Salty (Jul 6, 2018)

Yogiwick said:


> Only based off one pic of course but I almost wonder if he is grey?
> 
> Strawberry is chestnut + roan I agree that he looks more bay. Dun...maybe, that dorsal isn't convincing though, looks like it peters out near the withers.
> 
> Do you know the parents colors? More pictures? Pictures at a younger age would be great too if you have them.


I would speculate that he might turn grey as well.


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## StoneH (Aug 4, 2018)

The sire is Grey the Mare is a Bay. Let me see what other pics I can find.


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## StoneH (Aug 4, 2018)

Here are his parents 🙂


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Do you have any current close ups of his face? I really do think he is grey now, especially knowing a parent is grey (at least 50% chance of it)

The first picture just "said that" to me but now clear cut- appears super dark as a foal (non grey foals usually have a more bleached baby color) the light color in his mane tail appears more than just sunbleaching. Also, a roan leaves a dark head and legs and while he is obviously dark...he's not that dark. Looks like he has a good amount of grey up near his ears.

He may also be roan which explains why that first shed was so dramatic, but he may not be. If the sire is grey he would need a roan parent and to have produced roan foals for that to even be an option. While grey is usually less dramatic it isn't unheard of. I don't see any hint of roan on the mare.

100% bay/brown (think just bay) so NOT strawberry roan regardless as NOT chestnut, you're completely right. While I can't see great in those pics, I'm going with "90%" (lol) NOT dun, so he is either bay roan....or bay (maybe roan) going grey. I'd put money on him going grey.


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## StoneH (Aug 4, 2018)

I unfortunately don’t have a close up of his face. It’s hard to tell in the pictures but his face is quite dark and his legs aren’t the Black you’d expect on a foal turning grey. They are a lighter tanish Brown. He doesn’t have any grey around his muzzle or eyes either. The sire in the past has produced roans. I’m hoping for a bay roan if you can’t tell haha. His mom is a straight bay no roan anywhere. I am picking another foal next spring in which the sire is a blue roan from a Grulla mare or a dark bay mare (both) have been bred by the blue roan. So if I don’t get a roan this time the next foal should be. It’s fun trying to figure out their coloring.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

StoneH said:


> I unfortunately don’t have a close up of his face. It’s hard to tell in the pictures but his face is quite dark and his legs aren’t the Black you’d expect on a foal turning grey. They are a lighter tanish Brown. He doesn’t have any grey around his muzzle or eyes either. The sire in the past has produced roans. I’m hoping for a bay roan if you can’t tell haha. His mom is a straight bay no roan anywhere. I am picking another foal next spring in which the sire is a blue roan from a Grulla mare or a dark bay mare (both) have been bred by the blue roan. So if I don’t get a roan this time the next foal should be. It’s fun trying to figure out their coloring.


Actually, I would not expect black on the legs, brown is pretty common as the base coat changes. (VS roan which I would expect "true color" (black) on all points) It looks like in the picture he has a lot of grey above his eyes and around/on his ears is this correct?

If the sire has had roans from non-roans and has a roan parent then I would guess the foal IS roan, but I don't think that rules out grey. It would explain why the body has changed so dramatically while the face/legs have not, but what I'm stuck on is that I DO see changes in the face/legs even if less obvious.

It would be a bummer to get your bay roan and have it turn white! Hopefully if that is the case you do get your bay roan next year, at least no grey there! He's a pretty handsome guy regardless!


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## StoneH (Aug 4, 2018)

He does have some grey on the back of his ears but around his eyes is solid color. I have seen roan (mature) horses have a roan face but around the eye area is strictly solid color. He is beautiful that’s for sure. He’s got one of the sweetest temperaments this far, we will see though when the training starts. 

I’m excited to see what next spring offers. Most people prefer 3 year olds already worked but I enjoy starting from the ground up! 
Thank for ALL your help.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Baby looks to be bay with gray and possibly roan which would be hidden on sire but if there has been roan foals off non roan dams then he would carry that gene as well.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

You can always test for grey if you don't want to wait.

A good horse is any color, right? Glad he is proving himself already


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Unless that stallion is homozygous for roan there is only a 50% chance he will pass it on.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I wonder if the hairs at the base of his tail bone are white? That is where I first saw grey on my colt. Not around his eyes or anywhere else, but the hair in his tail. It was pretty much there from birth, or close to it. 



He does look like he has a lot of white in his tail, but it's hard to tell if it's just frosting on the outer hairs or not.


I would guess grey. Just because he has so many white hairs already. BUT, I have never owned a true roan so I'm not sure how quickly they roan out. It probably varies just like greys can vary. But that's just a total guess, with about 50% odds of being correct! :biggrin:


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

QtrBel said:


> Unless that stallion is homozygous for roan there is only a 50% chance he will pass it on.



Same with grey. Rarely do you have to wonder which one it is. Or maybe even both. :lol:


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

He's definitely not strawberry roan. I would say that he is grey, but definitely born bay not red.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Just to clarify my reply (post 13) is in response to part of post 8 by the OP:


"I am picking another foal next spring in which the sire is a blue roan from a Grulla mare or a dark bay mare (both) have been bred by the blue roan. So if I don’t get a roan this time the next foal should be. It’s fun trying to figure out their coloring."


A roan will have evenly spaced white throughout the coat on the body but not the face and legs. It can be so thick a horse appears gray but there will be no further whitening with age. You could test for both or just wait and see what happens over the next couple of years.


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## StoneH (Aug 4, 2018)

His color is changing drastically.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

That will happen a couple of times a year with a roan.


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