# horse of a different color



## Oxer (Jul 9, 2010)

The bottom picture is approx 4 months ago when i first got my gelding. 
The top picture is of my gelding today. Since it's "winter" he has essentially changed color. 
Is this pretty normal?


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## Cat (Jul 26, 2008)

It could be a change in seasons or a change in diet. I know my haflinger gets darker in the winter and Rascal just can't make up his mind what shade of chestnut he is. He has gone from very pale almost looking like a dun to a dark liver but I think feed has an effect on his color.


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## Oxer (Jul 9, 2010)

i never thought about feed. He's in half training now and gets much more feed, beat pulp, senior, and supplements. when he came to me he was simply someone's backyard lawnmower. haha!


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## SarahAnn (Oct 22, 2011)

My bay QH gelding goes from medium bay in the summer to almost black in the winter. I think it probably has to do with the seasons. If I can find a before and after picture I will post them. Your gelding is VERY handsome!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## EthanQ (Sep 5, 2011)

yes it is normal. My buckskin is buckskin in the summer and gray during the winter haha gorgeous horse ya got here tho


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## Oxer (Jul 9, 2010)

so when the season changes, how does it result in the color change? is it because the winter coat is more dense?


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## Cat (Jul 26, 2008)

Not sure what causes the difference with the season changes, but some go darker and some go lighter. 

Here is another change you can see - which isn't seasonal. I believe its linked to nutrition. Both pics were taken in October - one in 2010 and one in 2011.

Oct 2010:









Oct 2011:


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## SarahAnn (Oct 22, 2011)

Here's Sage this summer:










And Sage a few weeks ago:


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## Oxer (Jul 9, 2010)

ha! that's pretty rad!!!


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Oxer - is you horse clipped in the recent picture as well? Also your guy looks to be a brown who sun fadded really bad and/or is now getting a much better diet that is improving his coat quality and color. 

Cat - Rascal is just plain silly. lol I really do think his color difference _is_ nutrition linked. 

SarahAnn - You guy is also a brown.  Pretty typical for browns to go much darker in the winter.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

What NDAppy said.

No, seriously. My bay is going that funny mushroom colour at the moment. In the middle of clipping. Although I strongly suspect he may be brown, his muzzle is much lighter than the rest of his coat in the winter.

I do think your fellow looks clipped, OP. That's a pretty standard colour for them to go when you clip them. Some bays go mushroom, some go pale gold, still others go orange. My bay went pale when I clipped him in the winter and, in the middle of a tidy-up practice clip, he is now going mushroom in the summer! (he is bright red-bay and he lives on darkening feeds; I did make a change - added sunflower seeds - but some horses just go a different colour every clip)

My buckskin went white in her pale areas and paler in her dark areas. Mum's palomino goes white. Every chestnut I ever saw goes orange OR a really ugly silvery colour. And I have seen blacks clipped, they go a kind of dark grey or they go mushroom. Only greys stay the same colour when you clip them.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Abby's body color turns close to sorrel in the winter. The pictures I have don't show it nearly as different as it is in person because the first is in an arena and the second is in direct sunlight with snow, but you can still see she gets really odd colored.

Normal yellow horse.









The oh-so rare orange buckskin! Even rarer is that she's a Paint/Grizzly Bear cross.


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## Oxer (Jul 9, 2010)

Yes, i believe our groom clipped him this past week. I had assumed that he would be the same color, just less the hair when he was clipped!! although he had also been getting darker as the winter neared. 

Poseidon, your little bear is to die for!!! hahaha!


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## EthanQ (Sep 5, 2011)

well i heard from an old cowboy once that they get darker during the winter to attract the sun to get warmth and lighter during the summmer to do the opposite


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## Cinnys Whinny (Apr 10, 2010)

Quite normal. Cinny is the blackest jet black there is, in the winter. In the summer he sometimes gets as light as a medium bay. I used to give him a supplement to keep him dark (black as knight) that worked pretty well but it can be a little pricey so now I just ad Paprika to his feed, which is what those supplements have to keep them dark


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

SarahAnn said:


> My bay QH gelding goes from medium bay in the summer to almost black in the winter. I think it probably has to do with the seasons.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 my Qh does this too right now hes pretty with a blackish face, and dark with a fuzzy coat!


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## caleybooth (Mar 11, 2011)

Quite the opposite for my grey! She was darker before she got her winter coat. Now that her winter coat has grown in, she is really light.


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## SarahAnn (Oct 22, 2011)

HarleyWood said:


> my Qh does this too right now hes pretty with a blackish face, and dark with a fuzzy coat!


I love the fuzzy coats! They're so soft and snuggly!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

caleybooth said:


> Quite the opposite for my grey! She was darker before she got her winter coat. Now that her winter coat has grown in, she is really light.


Yeah greys do that. They get progressively lighter with each change of coat. If they end up fleabitten they actually can get more spots as they get older but otherwise every grey will eventually end up white.


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

SarahAnn said:


> I love the fuzzy coats! They're so soft and snuggly!
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 i know i hate the winter months (cold, blizzered, sun goes down early) but i love riding bareback and just cuddling to their backs.


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## Oxer (Jul 9, 2010)

HarleyWood said:


> i know i hate the winter months (cold, blizzered, sun goes down early) but i love riding bareback and just cuddling to their backs.


we have to keep our horses shaved in the winter, as they are all in heavy training for the summer show season. Which means... i never get to enjoy my horse when he's a thousand pound ball of fluff!!!


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

why do you shave yours? i never under stood why people do that. i like mine fluffy.


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## Oxer (Jul 9, 2010)

they are worked pretty hard in training... so they get quite sweaty. This means they are wet and cold for hours if they were to have their winter fluff. So they are kept shaved to dry quick and not catch a chill.


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## Arksly (Mar 13, 2010)

It's pretty normal for most horses to change colour. My QH mare was pretty much a Buckskin colour and now she's almost black (She's brown). I'm going to clip her right away so we'll see how she looks! Lol


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## JohnnyNoStars (Nov 4, 2011)

Oxer said:


> they are worked pretty hard in training... so they get quite sweaty. This means they are wet and cold for hours if they were to have their winter fluff. So they are kept shaved to dry quick and not catch a chill.


Hello from Germany! Same here. Ours are shaved too cause of the training. Don't want them to catch a cold when they get all wet and cold. Take care! Feel free to give us a visit on youtube :wink:











Dressurhaflinger's Channel - YouTube

http://www.dressurhaflinger.de


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## crimson88 (Aug 29, 2009)

It's not uncommon for body clipped horses to turn a lighter color. My jet black boy turns light grey when body clipped  And my blood bay boy turns a grulla color (minus the dorsal


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## aspin231 (Mar 20, 2010)

To borrow from google images: ( Redirect Notice ), this shows the different colours a horse can change when clipped. My horse changes in the seasons as well, much duller and darker in winter than in summer.
Seems like a combination of the two for your horse.


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