# What is your take on dapples?



## 3rdTimestheCharm (Jan 18, 2015)

Recently, another boarder and I were discussing dapples, and the different theories behind why horses get them. That got me curious about what other people think about why horses get dapples.

From my personal experience, I feel that they are a result of good health because when I got my gelding, he had pretty severe gastric ulcers. After he was treated for them, he started to get dapples, and he since then, he gets them from spring-early fall every year, and every year they become more prominent.

So, what is your opinion on dapples? Health related? Genetics? Something else?


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## LittleBayMare (Jun 2, 2014)

Dapples are a sign of good health and a balanced diet. A horse with a poor diet, ulcers, or a stressful environment will not get dapples. Most colors can produce dapples under the right circumstances, although red based colors are quicker to show dapples.


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## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

Genetics with environment. None of my horses have ever shown dapples and I'd argue they are in pretty good health.


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## GracielaGata (Jan 14, 2012)

I would agree with all of the above: good health, but that not all horses in good health show dapples, for whatever reason. 

We have 3 horses: 
An appy gelding who is solid white due to greying out. Good luck seeing dapples there, we never have. LOL 
He stays on the healthy proper-skinny side as he is older and is low man in the pecking order.

My appy-quarterhorse mare gets fat on air. She is a buttermilk buckskin and shows full body beautiful dapples year round. This time of year is really neat as she also gets really shady like she is sooty, but it is just the coat change affecting the colors as it comes in.

Our 3rd is a BLM wild caught bay gelding mustang. He is also a very, very good air fern. 
He tends towards a really nice red bay color. I saw *very* faint dappling on him once for a week or so, then never again. But I did wonder if my brain imagined it, considering they went away- dapples don't really go away, I didn't think, unless bad health comes into play. 

They all 3 get the same hay and the same multi-vitamin on top of a bit of wetted alfalfa pellets. 
Even when the 2 chunkies are of equal chunk, the paler buckskin always shows dapples while the bay never does. 

And then greys are known for dappling as they process through their shades of grey, right? We bought our boy once he was solid white, so I am not positive on that.


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## SansPeurDansLaSelle (May 6, 2013)

It is ultimately genetic. If your horse has the genes for it good health and grooming will enhance them but you cannot produce them out of thin air. It is an old wives tale that grooming leads to dapples.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I believe it is a combination of good health and good grooming. Of the hundreds and hundreds of horses I've rubbed, all dappled, regardless of breed. Eventually. 

It is a must for me. I must get them to that condition.


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## GracielaGata (Jan 14, 2012)

boots said:


> I believe it is a combination of good health and good grooming. Of the hundreds and hundreds of horses I've rubbed, all dappled, regardless of breed. Eventually.
> 
> It is a must for me. I must get them to that condition.


Good grooming.... that doesn't happen here, ever lol. Still have the one in great dapples. 
I refuse to groom a horse that lives outside 24/7 and is just going to go get dirty and be a horse. I scratch them plenty to get their itchy spots, and they get brushed when ridden, but again, only for blanket placing cleanliness and to get the itchy spots. 

I do bet all that brushing distributes the oils really well though.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

boots said:


> I believe it is a combination of good health and good grooming. *Of the hundreds and hundreds of horses I've rubbed, all dappled, regardless of breed.* Eventually.
> 
> It is a must for me. I must get them to that condition.


What is your grooming regime?

The hardest thing for me is getting this extremely fine desert dust off the horses. Unless I wet a brush and then use it, there is no way that I have found to get it all off without washing the horse.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

horseluvr2524 said:


> What is your grooming regime?
> 
> The hardest thing for me is getting this extremely fine desert dust off the horses. Unless I wet a brush and then use it, there is no way that I have found to get it all off without washing the horse.


I start with a rubber curry. I don't own a metal one. If there are chunks of mud on a horse, I remove those by hand first. All my horses and the horses I take in are outside 24/7.

Then I move on to a stiff body brush. For me the key is having a brush that fits my hand well. I end up with mid-grade brushes, it seems. I follow that with a soft brush and will also do the face and lower legs at this time. I get pretty aggressive on the neck and body with the soft brush, using short strokes and flipping the brush upward at the end of a stroke. Then I go to a rag. I use cloth diapers and smooth down the hair at this time.

I also use a wisp for strapping and follow again with a cloth. 

I hear some grooms talk about having the same wisp for years. I either have poor skills or not a great hay available for making one.

I don't bathe with products, but will hose sweat off on hot days. If a horse sweats on chillier days, I do not rinse.

Here's a link about wisps and strapping: http://www.proequinegrooms.com/index.php/tips/grooming/shine-like-crazy-wicked-shine/

There's quite a bit of info in the 'net about it. I never see it outside of pros anymore. 

As much as I like how I groom, I don't think I'll ever be as good as the STB grooms from Switzerland that I met years ago. Their horses had such a shine, track photographers had to use filters on the cameras to prevent glare. Man. Their horses were slick.


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## Captain Evil (Apr 18, 2012)

I would have said health, oils, grooming and genetics/coat color. Of the five horses I have owned:

-China, a gray, had a mirror shine to her coat, but never had a single dapple.

-Djinn, a darkish bay, was covered in dapples, even though he had periodic issues with his immune system, and was a "carrier" of ascarids no matter what we did.

Pony Macaroni, an adopted Shetland-cross type girl, seemed built for dapples, but never had any. She was a darkish gold/black/brown with a blond mane and tail, no teeth, and she ate 8 coffee cans of grain a day to maintain her skeletal figure.

Ahab, a black Percheron, was a dull black which faded to rusty brown every year, until I really hit the coat supplements: then he stayed jet black year round with tons of dapples. He was very satisfying to brush, too; he tended to stay very clean.

Nemo, a flaxen chestnut... I'm working on it. Last year, I think I may have spotted one or two toward the end of summer... I think with more work, they will come, but he is the mud-lovingist, least easy to groom horse I've ever owned. And he gets fat on air, so I can't really put the oil or flax to him. I think @boots is right; grooming is going to be the key to Nemo ever getting dapples.


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## 3rdTimestheCharm (Jan 18, 2015)

Thanks for the input, everyone! I love these types of discussions.

@*boots* - Thanks for the link! I found the information on wisps interesting.


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