# Much debate over the color of my horse



## chelz (Apr 20, 2010)

Hello everyone. This sounds silly but I have a roan gelding that people have actually debated about what color he is. I've heard blue roan, bay roan, and red roan. I honestly don't know. I lean more towards blue or bay roan because his mane and tail, as well as legs, stay black. His head usually stays a dark brown, but the rest of him changes from silver, to tannish or almost reddish, to really dark in the winter. I'll post a few pictures and I was wondering if you color experts could tell me for sure what color Rhett is. 
His "red" look









Silver look









Gray look









Tan look









Dark look in the winter


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

I'd say either bay or brown roan.
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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Hes brown roan. Very handsome.
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## Jacqua Stud (Feb 8, 2013)

I would go with a Brown Roan, due to the colouring around his nose. His colour changes are pretty cool though!


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Yep, brown roan...and a stunning one at that.

Roans often have different degrees of roaning between the seasons. It can also vary from year to year (one year they'll have a lot of roan, the next year maybe not so much).

The difference between the brown and bay is sometimes subtle because they are caused by variations of the same gene, Agouti.

One of the things that makes a horse brown instead of bay is the sometimes drastic color changes between seasons (dark where they are almost black, to bay, to a lighter tan similar to a buckskin, etc) and the noticeably lighter "soft" areas on the horse.

If you look at your guy, his muzzle, his flanks, behind his elbows, down on his chest, much of his belly, and just below the point of his butt are all lighter than the rest of his body. That's almost always a tell-tale sign that a horse is brown and not bay.


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## Cat (Jul 26, 2008)

Brown roan - gorgeous!


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## KyMoMoF3CuTiEs (Feb 5, 2013)

He is a wizard of oz horse of many colors!! Love him!! Beautiful!
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## EmsTNWalkers (Mar 10, 2013)

Wow I love how he changes! Like a prism


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## chelz (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks for the replies so far. Yes he is like the horse from the Wizard of Oz! Lol it's funny because people always think I got a new horse and I have to explain "Nope, this is him! He just changed colors again!" Lol


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

brown or bay roan. pretty .


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## Peppy Barrel Racing (Aug 16, 2011)

Definitely brown roan and a beautiful one at that!
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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Brown roan! If you haven't already figured that out yet. :lol:


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## AllieJ333 (Nov 2, 2012)

Brown roan. A gorgeous one!


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## chelz (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks everyone! Now I'm confident in saying he's a brown roan!  Also, thanks for all the compliments on him. I'm glad he can't read because he already thinks he's the hottest thing to walk on the Earth. If he knew everyone was saying how handsome he was he'd be even worse! lol Thanks for all the kind words though. I appreciate it.


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## Annanoel (Mar 29, 2011)

WOW, how gorgeous. How do you match tack to him?!  Would drive me nuts, I'd have to agree and say brown roan!


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## LexusK (Jan 18, 2013)

He is definitely a brown roan! If I didn't know any better, I'd just say he was a chameleon


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## fadedbluejean (Sep 22, 2012)

looks like a brown roan. i love it, gorgeous colour.


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## thecolorquest (Nov 30, 2011)

smrobs said:


> Yep, brown roan...and a stunning one at that.
> 
> Roans often have different degrees of roaning between the seasons. It can also vary from year to year (one year they'll have a lot of roan, the next year maybe not so much).
> 
> ...


Bay horses can and often do have pangare - the soft-white points on the muzzle, elbow and flanks. Brown horses will always have some degree, though on a few, it's very difficult to tell. Pangare is not what makes the horse brown or bay, but it may indeed be linked to the At (brown agouti) variation. The research does not go that far yet. 

Leah in TX


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

thecolorquest said:


> Bay horses can and often do have pangare - the soft-white points on the muzzle, elbow and flanks. Brown horses will always have some degree, though on a few, it's very difficult to tell. Pangare is not what makes the horse brown or bay, but it may indeed be linked to the At (brown agouti) variation. The research does not go that far yet.
> 
> Leah in TX


Pangare is a different effect to the mealiness that comes with brown IME. Brown tends to be a much warmer, creamier tone, while pangare tends towards a cold, whiter shade.


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## Peppy Barrel Racing (Aug 16, 2011)

Chiilaa said:


> Pangare is a different effect to the mealiness that comes with brown IME. Brown tends to be a much warmer, creamier tone, while pangare tends towards a cold, whiter shade.


Here is my bay with pangre for an example 
Summer









Winter








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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

^^Exactly, very different from the lighter points of a brown....


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## thecolorquest (Nov 30, 2011)

Chiilaa said:


> Pangare is a different effect to the mealiness that comes with brown IME. Brown tends to be a much warmer, creamier tone, while pangare tends towards a cold, whiter shade.


This too can vary. I have seen animals with extensive WHITE pangare, or very deep tan. In donkeys it is heterozygous, but homozygouts have whiter points than do heterogygouts. 

These are my mares. They are unrelated to one another, and are not even of the same breed. The filly on the left is tested BAY. The mare on the right is tested BROWN. 

Leah in TX


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## dlpark2 (Mar 6, 2013)

would he be considered a horse of a different color? He is stunning...I love those color changes..


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## PreciousPony (Feb 15, 2013)

Bay/brown roan, and wow he REALLY changes color! Very pretty horse!


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