# Coloring? HELP!



## Gypsygirl13 (Jul 25, 2015)

Hi! I was wondering if anyone could tell me what coloring you think my 3 year old filly is. I'm not new to horses but I haven't seen another horse with her coloring. I'm guessing red roan/grullo? My mom and I can't decide what coloring she is. She's a quarter horse/appy as well so that's where her spotting comes from. Thank you! 

:runninghorse2:


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## celestejasper13 (May 16, 2014)

What colour are her parents? Does she have any white hairs on her head and face? She looks to me like she could be greying out


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## kassierae (Jan 1, 2010)

She's either grey or varnish roan, depending on her sire and dams colors. Not a red roan or a grulla, grulla is a black horse with the dun gene. Your mare has no body dilution or dun factor markings.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

She's just turning grey. They do some funky things sometimes.

That shade is usually called "rose grey".

I see one or two spots but am not sure if it's from the appy or just the grey doing strange things. Regardless she will end up "white".


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

^This is what I was going to say. Rose gray <3 /YayMyGeneticKnowledge


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## Gypsygirl13 (Jul 25, 2015)

We bought her from an auction a couple years ago and she was a range horse with no human contact until we got her. No one knows who her parents are unfortunately  

Chances are she'll end up grey just like my other 2 mares, LOL. Great..I didn't want any more greys! Oh well, I love all my girls regardless of color.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Heard an old joke about a man who was looking to buy this beautiful steel grey horse. He knew the horse was young because of the color. Bought the horse and happily rode into the sunset.

Overnight it rained and in the morning he had a pure white horse. Realizing the horse was older than he thought he checked it's mouth and found out he'd bought an old nag.

Or something like that. I don't think many people realize just how "ungrey" grey horses look sometimes!

I also have a grey, and a pinto. I can't imagine 3 all grey!! lol


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

Yogiwick said:


> Heard an old joke about a man who was looking to buy this beautiful steel grey horse. He knew the horse was young because of the color. Bought the horse and happily rode into the sunset.
> 
> Overnight it rained and in the morning he had a pure white horse. Realizing the horse was older than he thought he checked it's mouth and found out he'd bought an old nag.
> 
> ...


There is more to that joke... It actually involved the next step where someone (forgot who) told him how to return the dark dappled look, which he did and sold it on to someone else before it rained again :wink:


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

I wonder if there's a true story somewhere behind there.


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## Shawin (Aug 30, 2015)

Firstly, she is definitely a chestnut based horse as the lower legs aren't black even though her mane & tail give that appearance. She would colour test as chestnut.
Secondly its possible that she has a grey egen present giving the dappling over her body, so she'll probably have that colour stripped soon. If it were appaloosa roan she would show a darker colour over the bony areas and be roaning fairly evenly over the body.


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## Katona (Aug 27, 2015)

It's too hard from the pics to see if she's got the LP striped hooves. I also can't really get a gauge on her coat colour. That back right looks full black on the photo, as do her mane/tail, but I don't trust it. 

Generally, I go to UCDavis for colour testing, but there are alternatives. I'd agree with the rest that she's greying out. As far as dun factor/base colour/LP? I'd like to see it on paper. Too many of them are not what the eye sees. (I know personally of two visual "bays" who were actually not. One was the darkest buckskin I'd ever seen, the other a Smokey black.)


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Shawin said:


> Firstly, she is definitely a chestnut based horse as the lower legs aren't black even though her mane & tail give that appearance. She would colour test as chestnut.
> Secondly its possible that she has a grey egen present giving the dappling over her body, so she'll probably have that colour stripped soon. If it were appaloosa roan she would show a darker colour over the bony areas and be roaning fairly evenly over the body.


Since she is greying her base color has changed and any visual guess is really just that, a guess. There is no way to tell.

The only way to tell beyond "grey" is to test and since her phenotype is (will be? lol) grey the only reason to test would be for the OPs curiosity or for further knowledge if breeding.


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