# Magic dapples.



## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

Phoenix came to me as a rising four year old, she is now rising seven. Every summer that I have had her I have been sure that her coat has been progressively dappling up. And this year my hopes and dreams have been rewarded. I _love_ dapples, for me personally, they are the most striking feature a horse can have. I have wondered if my love of dapples has made me imagine the hint of them on Phoenix. But this year I have validation! Phoenix has dapples!

Her dapples are magic dapples they appear and disappear, sometimes they are really striking and sometimes they vanish. I love it, it's all part of the Phoenny mystique.

Here are some pics of the fabulous disappearing, reappearing dapples.


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

Did you all see that! See, first pic not even a hint of dapple. Second pic just the slightest hint of dapple. Pic number 3, BOOM, we have achieved dapple!!

Cool hey!


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## apachewhitesox (Dec 9, 2010)

Haha I love dapples too, my horse sammy who I have had for about 1 year now is at the stage shown in your second picture. When I first got him he didnt have any, I hope they become more prominent like yours .


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

Good luck Apache, may your dapple dream come true! Phoenix's dam is a dapple grey so I am thinking maybe they are part of her genetic make up and will get more and more defined over the years (that may be wishful thinking). This is the first year that they have been quite so distinct. Of course they will disappear when her winter coat comes in but hopefully they will make their appearance next year as even more distinctive markings.

Forgot to add that this is also the first time that I have seen dapples appear on her rump so they are definitely becoming a stronger feature.


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## AppaloosaLover88 (Dec 19, 2011)

From what I have heard, dapples appear in horses who are very healthy and have healthy coats. Sounds like your mare is just receiving proper nutrition/grooming and that caused the dappling! 

She is very pretty, you are lucky to have such a beautiful horse!


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

I see the dapples!!!! COOL

When we got our gray 5 yr. old OTTB, he looked almost completely black, like this:









We figured he would lighten up eventually, like when he was 20!! But we did NOT expect what happened in ONLY ONE YEAR.....see pic below.

One year later:




















I could not believe how rapidly he grayed out. I thought the graying process was supposed to be SLOW.... And the dapples just exploded out of nowhere, cause in that first pic he didn't have a single dapple on him. His winter coat has come in.....and those darn dapples are STILL there!!!! And he is still very very gray. He did not darken at all with the winter coat coming in.....

It's weird how he changed so quickly...... wonder what he'll look like NEXT year?!:shock:


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Beau - every horse greys at a different rate. Your guy's dapples are the cause of his grey at it's current stage. He could very well keep his dapples for a while or they can disappear quickly.

OP - I can actually see some dapples in the flank on the first pic. Like Appaloosa lover said, your horse's dapples are more than likely caused due to good health and good feed regimen.


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

NdAppy said:


> Beau - every horse greys at a different rate.


 
So, Technically it is possible he could be snow white in two years????:shock:


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Yep, totally possible.


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

kiwigirl said:


> Did you all see that! See, first pic not even a hint of dapple. Second pic just the slightest hint of dapple. Pic number 3, BOOM, we have achieved dapple!!
> 
> Cool hey!



It may be the camera angle, but you can definetly see dapples towards her flank area, higher up.

Lovely looking mare though.


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

I thought that dapples were more about health too. I am just finding it exciting that every year Phoenny's dapples are becoming more pronounced. I am not doing anything differently this year than I was doing last year. I don't feed supplements at all. She gets no food other than grass and I only groom her when I get her in for a ride. In the pics that I posted I hadn't been near her with a brush for nearly two weeks.

I thought that maybe it was the fact that she has a genetic component ie a dapple grey dam that is the contributing factor to her dapples. 

Here is a pic taken last year I think, as you can see she is shiny but not dappled. Maybe you can see the slightest dappling on her flank but that has been the extent of it up until this year.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

There is something in her food/environment/health that is contributing to her dapples. Having a dapple grey dam has nothing to do with whether a horse has dapples or not. Dapple grey is just one of the many stages that a grey can go through. It has no effect on the offspring.


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

NdAppy said:


> There is something in her food/environment/health that is contributing to her dapples. Having a dapple grey dam has nothing to do with whether a horse has dapples or not. Dapple grey is just one of the many stages that a grey can go through. It has no effect on the offspring.


Thanks NdAppy, it must be the good New Zealand grass we grow lol.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

lol yep. Could just be better grass this year. Dapples are a wonderfully strange thing :lol: My son's palomino mare has reverse dapples. Very cool to see


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

I would like to see pics of reverse dapples. They sound beautiful and I can't quite picture what they would look like.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Reverse on the left, regular dapples on the right - 








Picture belongs to ACC Photography.


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## demonwolfmoon (Oct 31, 2011)

so...how do dapples work? I'm not a big fan, and Kiera's mom was dapple.... 0.o


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

NdAppy said:


> Reverse on the left, regular dapples on the right -
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Oh, how beautiful! Dapples....but in reverse!


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

my gelding is the same way he will have them then he wont hes dark for the winter and light in the summer, hes a weird boy. you can kind of see the dapples in the second picture, and the third is him changing colors and the fourth is him changed for the winter(sorry for the bad picture)


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## weefoal (Apr 4, 2009)

Many different colors get dapples including blacks and bays that have nothing to do with the silver or grey gene. 

Healthy horses get them and some get them during spring and fall (seasonal)


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Abby gets very dappled in the fall and winter, then sheds them out with her winter coat. 

I am not 100% if her summer coat just does not dapple or not. She didn't this summer, but she was also on a crappy pasture with crappy grain. 

Mid-July, no dapples









October, dapples (also a total pudge)


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## apachewhitesox (Dec 9, 2010)

I don't have a picture of my boy at the moment but I do have a picture a palomino mare that I took care of for awhile.


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