# What is happening to his color?



## kna1999 (Jan 10, 2013)

I bought this horse in the summer as a 2 year old and he was slick and black. When his winter coat came in it was a weird, yellowish color and he has never gone back to black in the 3 years we have owned him. I thought he was sunburned but it does not make sense that he is darker in the summer when his coat is short. He was moved so for this past year he has been in a barn and out of the sun so I am pretty sure he is not burned. He is on a very good diet and just to make certain he gets cacoliv copper supplement every week. He gets lighter every year with his coat change?I am pretty sure I do not have a black horse since he has not been black since the first summer. The riding pic was taken in February when he was a little fuzzy and the other was taken aug. 3 right in the heat of summer, he is not as dull as he looks it is just very overcast and I take poor pictures, he is actually very shiny.


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## danicelia24 (Jul 16, 2013)

I'm waiting for the color gurus but my vote would be he's a brownskin


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

i would say he is brown, not black. also is there any body clipping on him ?


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Do you know what colors his parents were?

He really looks fading black (not brown IMO...if he was brown, he'd have the cinnamon points associated with brown), but maybe even smokey black, since he's not really going back to true black ever.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I agree about not being brown since there is no light points (muzzle, flanks, elbows, point of buttock, etc) in the February picture. He's definitely a black base, but whether he's just a fading black or is a smoky black, IMHO, only testing can tell.


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## kna1999 (Jan 10, 2013)

No, I have never body clipped him, his mom is a black and white paint but I am not sure of his dad because his mom was a pregnant rescue and we have no background, they did not know she was pregnant. He was born black and stayed black until his first winter with me, he is not in the sun for that to be the cause and he just keeps getting lighter. My daughter thinks it is very cool that he changes his hair color about as often as she does hers, but I am just very curious.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Well, he's definitely black-based.

I'm leaning toward smokey black, but as smrobs said, you'd have to test him to be sure. It's a $25 test from UC Davis and requires just a few hairs sent in with roots attached. Horse Tests

Google smokey black horse and he looks a lot like he could be.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

i see that there is lighter coloring on his flank area, and on his butt and croup. 
Not his muzzle. Be interesting to see what a DNA shows.


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## danicelia24 (Jul 16, 2013)

I know you said you didn't know what dad could be but almost looks kinda like he has a halter horse butt


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## kna1999 (Jan 10, 2013)

He does have quite the booty! Thank you for the link, I will do the DNA test and let you know the results when I get them.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

He's really cool looking. His color looks almost brindle (though I know that's not what's going on here xD)


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## paintmered (Jul 27, 2014)

He looks like he is sun bleached. The reason i say that is because he looks like he is getting lighter on the points that the sun hits the most.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

You don't have to have constant sun on a horse to bleach them out. Sweat will cause that to happen as well. 

Honestly he looks to be a fading black.


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## kna1999 (Jan 10, 2013)

His winter coat will grow in that yellow color as well, this is why I don't really think it is faded. I know he is rinsed after every ride so he does not sit in the sun with sweat ever but I know sunburns on people can happen very quickly so it is a possibility. I would like him to be more brown because the yellow is odd to me but he's my daughters baby and she thinks he is always perfect. The summer we bought him he was very black and he was in a field with almost no shade the entire summer and had not faded a bit, maybe it's an age thing.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

It's probably more the sweat from being worked. How old was he when you got him and was he being worked regularly then? If that's really the only difference, then that is more than likely what is causing it.


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## kna1999 (Jan 10, 2013)

We had sun today so I was able to get a better picture. He was two when I got him but I don't know how much he was being worked. He is with a trainer and is worked almost daily so it could be sweat bleaching him which is what I had thought except that his winter coat comes in this color as well, even lighter last winter. We did pull some mane to send in just for fun. Thank you everyone who has given their thoughts.


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## kna1999 (Jan 10, 2013)

new pic


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## Remali (Jul 22, 2008)

He looks like a sun-bleached black.

With a sun-bleached coat you will still have the sun-bleached look in winter too, at least my horse did. In Spring/early summer when her new hair/coat came in, it was much darker because it hadn't yet gotten sun-bleached.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

One thing to think about. If a horse is worked outside almost daily (or turned out daily), and are prone to fading, the hair will fade almost as quickly as it grows in, so they may never be "black". It's worse if they are in training/work because the sweat makes the fading worse, even if you rinse them off after every ride.


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## Pagancat (Feb 11, 2013)

I could be completely off, here, but I thought I'd share this and see if it applies at all.

My 6 year old, Stormy, is supposed to be a smoky (smokey?) black. His mom was a bay, no idea on Dad.

When I lived in Tennessee, he was pasture kept. His summer coat was horrible, a streaky brown that looked faded. He'd get considerably darker in the winter.









I moved to Phx, Arizona about 3 years ago. Since then, he is in considerably stronger sun, in constant turn out with a shade structure that he uses on and off. What changed dramatically was his diet - he was on a fescue pasture with a general supplement and alfalfa pellets there. Here, he's on alfalfa/ bermuda hay, the same supplement and pellets. He is nearly jet black all year round (taken today, although he's just been put back on a little Alfalfa after losing some poundage and looks just a touch browner than usual)









So, for my smoky black, sun doesn't seem to be the big diff. You may want to try some different feeds, etc. if you want your horse darker. I know that some people use Paprika to deepen the black, but that's not what I'm doing.http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## Pagancat (Feb 11, 2013)

*Oops...*

Sorry about the extra pics, I'm still learning about this forum!


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