# Greying Out?? Will he be fleabitten or dappled??



## NdAppy

There is no way to tell where your horse's greying process will go as it varies from horse to horse.

If he is heterzygous (one grey gene) he will more than likely end up felabitten, if he is homozygous (two grey genes) he will more than likely just end up white...


----------



## nvr2many

I think he is gorgeous!!!


----------



## Wallaby

I don't think there's anyway to know. In that last picture he kinda looks like he's getting a few fleabites on his cheek and shoulder but that could be part of the graying out process.

On the plus side, there is fleabitten gray and then there's fleabitten gray. I've seen them where they're crazy fleabitten and it just looks...eh and then there are horses, like my mare, who are very lightly fleabitten and it looks really good. My mare isn't fleabitten in the winter (her winter hair comes in all white) so it's really fun to watch her flea bites come in in the summer, some years they're darker and other years she barely has any. She likes to keep it fun. :wink: 

Personally, I think a few fleabites look really classy, especially when they're dark. they can also camouflage some dirt which is always a plus with gray horses! 

And you know Robbie, he'll be able to pull it off, fleabites or no. 

ETA- Once a horse is fully gray/"white" and they aren't fleabitten, there are no dapples at all. They're just white. It's either fleabites or nothing.


----------



## Speed Racer

Wallaby said:


> Once a horse is fully gray/"white" and they aren't fleabitten, there are no dapples at all. They're just white. It's either fleabites or nothing.


Exactly right, Wallaby. I have an Arabian gelding who was a lovely, dappled steel gray with black legs/mane/tail when I got him. He's now a fleabitten white.


----------



## Wallaby

Casper is so cute!

Just for comparison to SR's boy, this is Lacey at the absolute darkest fleabite-wise that I've seen her:











And she was 25 then.
There is quite the range in the quantity of fleabites between fleabitten horses.


----------



## Speed Racer

I tell people that Casper knows I'm not a fan of gray horses, so is trying his darndest to get more and more fleabitten until he's full chestnut! :lol:


----------



## smrobs

LOL. As Dobe gets more white, he is developing more and more buckskin colored fleabites. I think that is rather rare as I've never seen or heard of a horse with yellow fleabites. They are almost impossible to see in the winter but are relatively clear in the summer.

His fleabites didn't start showing up until after his dapples disappeared, though. I don't know if that's just because they are so light that they are hard to see or if that is how it's supposed to go with the graying process.

This was a couple of years ago and he had zero fleabites but a few dapples.









And this was last year, his dapples are almost completely gone but his fleabites are coming in. (plus, his big yellow blood mark on his face that looks like he laid in a puddle of pee LOL)


----------



## attackships

my horse went from dapples to white and finally this year she has gotten some flea bite markings. You cant see them from the picture since she doesn't have many yet and I'm guessing they won't be too overbearing on her coat. But who knows! the process takes awhile. She is 13 years old and her mom is a chestnut, dad is grey.


----------



## SunnyDraco

The base coat before the greying process begins does not determine if the are flea bitten or not. I was raised with many grey foals. Only one of them was really flea bitten, and she was showing her flea bites before she got to a light grey. 

For example, here is a gelding that was born dark chestnut, no flea bites 








He is a heterozygous grey, one grey (non flea bitten) parent
Here is his full sister (born chestnut):








She had a very few, scattered flea bitten spots that were hard to find. 
Their little half sister (also born chestnut) who had a very flea bitten heterozygous grey sire:








She had her flea bitten marks showing up by the time she was three years old. 

It is a case by case basis if they are flea bitten or not. I haven't seen any greys that have solid black base coat get flea bitten, but have seen some chestnut and bay based greys end up being flea bitten. But not all chestnut and bay based greys end up being flea bitten. I would consider it more likely to occur if the grey parent is flea bitten


----------



## trailhorserider

My 18 yr old mare has both dapples and flea bites at the same time, although I imagine the dapples are slowly vanishing. I think her base color is black (due to the black spot on her forehead). 

Her coming 2 yr old baby is dark bay going gray. I am hoping he will look like your guy in the coming years! Right now he just has white on his face, in his tail, and sprinkled in his coat. And a couple funny light spots on his butt like your horse. 

I think they all gray out at different speeds, some sooner than others. I think my baby will be a later grayer like his mom, since she is 18 and is still holding onto a few dapples.


----------



## MangoRoX87

Your horse looked just like mine when I first got her. Dark steel grey, really loved her color but wasn't bummed too much when she started to change. She is 11 now, half fleabitten and half dapple. As her dapples go, her fleabites come in.

Loping with the baseball | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2011 Tuttle Round-up Club Royalty - CRT Photography - Shootin' people since August 2007.


----------



## nvr2many

smrobs said:


> LOL. As Dobe gets more white, he is developing more and more buckskin colored fleabites. I think that is rather rare as I've never seen or heard of a horse with yellow fleabites.


My boy is now white with the yellow flea bites. Tiny ones all over in the summer. I will try to get a picture.


----------



## caseymyhorserocks

Grays do tend to get lighter as they get older also.


----------



## blush

Thanks for all the replies guys! 
I know that every horse greys out differently, but it is awesome seeing your unique horses as they are all gorgeous greys! I absolutely *love* seeing pics of your greys as they go from dark to light! Keep 'em comming!

It's really good to know that base color has little impact on if a horse will grey out fleabitten or not.  I reallllllllly hope Robbie will just be "white", I don't think he would suit the fleabitten look haha. 

Also, a lot of people have told me that grey Arabs *only* get fleabitten, they don't turn "white". Not quite sure if that's true or not, all the grey Arabs I've seen are fleabitten haha. 

I'm definitely more optimistic now that it was suggested that the way the sire greyed out is a pretty good indicator.  Robbie's dad is Redford and he looks like this:


















...so is it more probable that my guy could be without the spots haha?


----------



## SunnyDraco

blush said:


> Also, a lot of people have told me that grey Arabs *only* get fleabitten, they don't turn "white". Not quite sure if that's true or not, all the grey Arabs I've seen are fleabitten haha.


Tell that to this straight Egyptian Arabian: Our Stallion The Mohave
:lol:

There are plenty of Arabians out there that aren't flea bitten, but quite a few that are. The grey mare that I had mentioned before that had three grey foals, she has no flea bites and is an Arabian. Born light chestnut and had turned a snowy white by the time she was 5 years old. 

And as an extra bonus, this is my cousin's purebred Arabian mare. She is a heterozygous grey and her base color is bay


----------



## Speed Racer

A lot of Arabs fleabite, but there are just as many who don't.


----------



## nvr2many

smrobs said:


> I think that is rather rare as I've never seen or heard of a horse with yellow fleabites.


Ok, I finally took pictures. Here are my boys yellow fleabites. Hope they show up.


----------



## smrobs

Sweet! I can tell Dobe that he's not such an oddball now .


----------



## nvr2many

smrobs said:


> Sweet! I can tell Dobe that he's not such an oddball now .


LOL! Its really hard to see in the photos but isn't it really pretty??? I am sure you are enjoying it!!


----------



## GreySorrel

What a great thread! I have a Percheron mare who was born black, as she matured was a beautiful dapple grey, now in her old age, is more flea bitten grey, which I find very pretty on her. Her team mate went the same way but by the age of 12, started to turn white, and at 15 is now completely white.


----------



## chanel and tripoli

*a horse of many greys*

this is my 10 year old. hes a steel, dappled, red flea bitten grey. black mane and black and white tail... it seems hes having some issues with the greying process! hahaha but it makes things rather interesting. when i got him he was a steel grey/dapple grey. I heard usually flea bites dont take over this strongly until they have completely greyed out? but the black mane has me totally thrown off. this year (age 11) hes lost even more dapples and has even more red flea bites but is keepin the black mane. 

2011
http://i45.tinypic.com/29z1xyb.jpg
and
http://i53.tinypic.com/30sx4es.jpg


----------

