# Foal/Winter coat



## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

my little colt is CLINGING to his foal and winter coat lol he's 3 months old and still shaggy. and is just not barely starting to shed it off. is there anything i can do to move it along? lol i can still he's hot under al lthe fur because while all the other horses are out grazing (his mom included) he's hiding in the shade under the shed. would a bot block help? or would shaving be our best bet?


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## AnnaLover (Sep 27, 2009)

Our little mini x standard donkey had the same problem, but he was over 6 months old! We ended up having to shave him because it gets into the triple digits here :O


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

well it isn't quiet triple digits but it's 80's and 90's i jsut didn't know if it was ok to shave him as it "should come off when it's ready" but i'm ready for it to be off no! lol plus i'm anxious to see what color he will be lol


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## DressageIsToDance (Jun 10, 2010)

Well, if daily grooming and gentle work with a shedding blade isn't working, I would clip him. He will be much more comfortable!


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

yeah the shading blade barely pulls anything out. plus he's never been desensitized to clippers so that'd also be a bonus lol


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

He's only 3 months, right? In my experience, he won't lose it. He'll stay fluffy coated until fall when he grows in his winter coat. The fluffy foal coat is sun protection, and if clipped doesn't lay flat like an adult horse but is just shorter fuzz. They don't slick up like an adult horse until their spring shed out of their yearling year.


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## ISAgirl (Feb 22, 2010)

Can you post a picture once you know his real colour?
I'm curious to what he'll look like


_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

this was a pointless thread! lol as soon as i posted it the next day he started loosing in like crazy lol he's halfway shed out. and i definitely need pictures lol i'm pretty sure he's a dark bay. because he has the black mane and tail and his legs are comming through black. and his body is soooo dark it looks black. and then he has the lighter brown shades around his eyes and muzzle.


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## DressageIsToDance (Jun 10, 2010)

Almost sounds like seal brown the way you describe it!


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

definitely getting pictures today!!! asi t's nice and sunny out and i bet his shoulders and belly are getting close to being all the way shed out.


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

yay new pictures!! ignore the white blob on his forehead! he was born with some growth looking thing. and i asked all kinds of vets and old cowboys and NO ONE knew what it was even the vet said he was going to be a unicorn lol but they all suggest it could be a wart so i've been putting some Compound W on it and it seems to be slowly layering off. so i guess he was born with a giant wart on his head lol


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## DressageIsToDance (Jun 10, 2010)

I think I see a bit of tanning around the eyes - looks seal brown to me. Either that or a very dark bay. CUTE baby though. Love the "unicorn" horn.


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

ahaha! his color throws me though he has 2 full sisters and a full brother. and none have come out even remotely close to this color! the sisters were both palomino and his brother was black i believe and was roaning out. but i don't really see any appy characteristcs on him at all. he has no white hooves so i can't tell if they are striped and he doesn't have the mottling on his eyes nose or genitals. so i think he went more like his daddy than his momma = / oh well i love him anyway!


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## DressageIsToDance (Jun 10, 2010)

Equine genetics are a funny thing!


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

yeah they are! lol and very confusing! he did take after his mom's head though! as you can tell by that one picture lol their heads are both the same shape lol


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## AnnaLover (Sep 27, 2009)

Wow he's shedding out to be such a handsome boy! I'm thinking the wart could possibly be a sarcoid? My mare has one by her mouth (see scamperwoods vixen in my barn for pics) I heard crest toothepaste works! Hoodathunkit?!


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

i don't think i could really see it in any of the pictures. but i'll post a better one for you to see of sparta's 

first one was from the day he was born
second one was from the day after
third was from when he was 2 months old and you can kind of see it. 

do sarcoids usually have hair growing in them? because his does


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

My filly Lyric had a baby coat that didn't seem to want to go away. She had her foal coat when she was born...and it didn't want to shed off at all, and she went almost straight into her winter coat. (we had a very cool summer last year.) This spring, she's been one of the last to shed her winter coat, so we actually clipped her. When/if she finally sheds out this summer, it will be my first look at her normal coat color.

Last summer:









Here she was last fall:









This spring:









And after I clipped her (only 1/2 of her that day, lol) at the beginning of May:









I should take new pictures to compare since it's been a month.


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Yay, finally getting to see Lyric under all that fuzz! Was it like Finn - she's a baby, then you shave her and poof! she's a horse?


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

Lyric looks so Precious lol i just have a thing for themin their foal fuzzies lol and poor sparta doesn't even look like a baby anymore = / lol


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Ok..updated pictures today. I think she's looking much better now without her fuzzies.

In the sun photos:



























Under clouds:









Ignore the dirt spot on her hip that I couldn't seem to brush off.


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

oh!! WOW!!! she's gorgeous with out the fuzzies!! holy crap! lo lshe went from baby to horse! lol my goodness lol what a darling!


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Aww...thank you!!


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## AnnaLover (Sep 27, 2009)

WOW Lyric is drop dead gorgeous now!!! And I don't think hair grows on sarcoids.. xP I dunno what it could be then!

ETA: who's that pretty little one in your avatar plains drifter?


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

AnnaLover said:


> WOW Lyric is drop dead gorgeous now!!! And I don't think hair grows on sarcoids.. xP I dunno what it could be then!
> 
> ETA: who's that pretty little one in your avatar plains drifter?


Thank you for the comment on Lyric. It's amazing how losing her winter coat has changed her look so much. 

My avatar is my new yearling filly, Evangeline.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

lilkitty90 said:


> oh!! WOW!!! she's gorgeous with out the fuzzies!! holy crap! lo lshe went from baby to horse! lol my goodness lol what a darling!


I can't wait to see what your little one looks like all shed out!!!


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## AnnaLover (Sep 27, 2009)

Plains Drifter said:


> Thank you for the comment on Lyric. It's amazing how losing her winter coat has changed her look so much.
> 
> My avatar is my new yearling filly, Evangeline.


What a pretty girl! I've gotta find the thread about her now xD


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Plains Drifter said:


> Ok..updated pictures today. I think she's looking much better now without her fuzzies.
> 
> In the sun photos:
> 
> ...



Oh my gosh she's the Marilyn Monroe of the horse world! I have such a huge crush :wink: You keep a close eye on her or she might mysteriously teleport to Indiana.... :lol:


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## ThoroughbredXoX (Jun 6, 2010)

Maybe try brushing him for awhile and see if that makes a difference.


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

ooh Evangaline is gorgeous as well!

as for him shedding the shedding blade isn't working but if i just lightly pull on the fluff it will come right out so thats what i've been doing. and he doesn't seem to mind really so i'm basically "pulling his fur out!!" although i'm not sure about his butt lol that just isn't wanting to come out so we'll see how long it takes lol


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## PonderosaMiniatures (Oct 2, 2009)

I have a fuzz, tooo...the 3 month miniature colt, but he is shedding out on butt, and chest and legs..but yes it is a different coat, really coarse and exactly fuzzy...weird...Im not gonna shave..Yes combing daily helps his fall out...


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

yay alright finally an update!! and you guys can see his color now. he has a little patch of fuzz that will NOT come off his rear. and some fuzzies on his legs he is refusing to loose lol but other then that and a small patch on the under side of his head he's lost it all finally! what do you guys think of his color?? seal bay? dark bay? and i promise in the pics of him in the stall that he is NOT that bum high lol he is bum high but not that bad lol there is a slight hole he was standing in = ) and from what you can tell about his confirmation. how well is it? i know he is a tiny bit cow hocked and he toes out a bit in the back. but other then that i can't really see anything but then again i am blinded by love :lol: and don't mind his puff of a belly lol he eats alot apparently and he has developed a bubble butt lol and he has been wormed so i'm thinking it's a bit of a hay belly or something or maybe he's just getting obese lol 

and the pictures of him laying down was after my first attempt to teach him to lay down lol he's a VERY slow learning or so i'm learning = ) or maybe he's just to smart for his own good and see's no use in me telling him when to lay down lol :wink:


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## ilovesonya (Oct 12, 2009)

He looks like he has too much slope in his pasterns, but he might grow out of that. 
His legs look pretty straight other than that.

He is looking more like a horse now instead of a foal! You are lucky to have him! His legs look funny with the whitish hair on the backs of them lol!


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

let's hope he does! he gets that from his mom. and i never seen his sire so i'm not sure what he took from his sire.

and yeah it would be kinda neat if his light fuzzies on the backs of his legs would be natural lol


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

At his age you can't really say for sure, because he might shed out differently on his yearling year (Finn did, he was black his first summer, and liver chestnut this summer) but I'm guessing he'll be a bay. He's got that LP gene though, so he might surprise you at some point down the road and roan out or go spotty-dotty!


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

i was really hoping he stays the color he did or go all crazy with the Lp gene. but would the Lp gene still be there even iff he doesn't show the characteristics for it? he doesn't have the mottling on his eyes, nose/mouth or genitals so it's looking like he took more after his QH daddy.


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

lilkitty90 said:


> i was really hoping he stays the color he did or go all crazy with the Lp gene. but would the Lp gene still be there even iff he doesn't show the characteristics for it? he doesn't have the mottling on his eyes, nose/mouth or genitals so it's looking like he took more after his QH daddy.



I'm not sure how much the mottling plays into it. I know the LP can "lay dormant" for years and not show up until much later in life. I leased a horse for my ex husband years ago that was a solid dark bay, without any markings outside a white star. She was 9 years old when I got her. Over the course of the two years I leased her she completely snowflaked out, and looked like this (this is obviously not a picture of Missy, just a horse that is marked similar)










If I understand/remember how it works correctly, the snowflake is the precursor to varnishing - which is what Sparta's mother is right?


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

yeah Snowflake was a Varnish i assume since she has the Dark points which are Chesnut colored. along with what looks like she may have had a blanket as she has deep colored spots all over her rump.


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## Azale1 (Jul 5, 2010)

I would deffinitely clip him. With having those hot temps it does him more harm than good having that thick baby coat. Shaving will make him MUCH more comfortable.


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