# Glad he's this color but could it change?



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Not that it matters, but my colt is a bay, my favorite, love black legs with no socks. I didn't care one bit what color he was, it was his breeding and the breeders' reputation. Now I am wondering because I know squat about color, how did he get to be this color out of this sire and dam? In his foal picture, I kind of figured bay, then his first yearling pic, definitely bay, then the sire & dam pictures, had me scratching my head. Somewhere, there is bay gene or do these two color make bay? Or could his color change in future years? First two pictures are my colt. The roan? is his dam, the chestnut is the sire and last picture , a roan?, my colts full brother. Does it mean there was a bay somewhere in his heritage?


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

Looks to me like the dam and sibling are grays not roans. It is often mistaken on registration papers. It's hard to tell at this point whether his dam started out as black or bay. So if she is black (can't have agouti or they would be bay) the sire would carry agouti (which doesn't effect red) but if she's bay she definitely carries it and the sire may or may not. Clear as mud? LOL At this point it your colt doesn't look to be showing any of the signs he may be gray but it can happen later. What color are his eyelashes?


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Black eye lashes. I thought Grey when l saw the dam's picture, wasn't sure.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I'd bet on him him remaining bay then.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Thanks, appreciate your expertise!


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Good looking colt, that.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Agree, mom and sibling are grey not roan. See the pigment loss at the bottom of the tail and the grey on the head? Those are signs of grey, not roan (roan happens on the body, generally leaving the head solid).

Your colt did not have black legs as a foal, which would be expected if he was grey as that causes hyperpigmentation at birth. So he is bay without the grey gene.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Bay. No grey. Beautiful boy you have there. Sire is sorrel, chestnut- basically red. May or may not carry dominant agouti. Mare is bay. The ticking pattern is not roan. Gray starts on face and tip of tail then moves to the soft spots and dappled the body before progressing out. That said the mare looks odd but my guess would still be bay going gray. I'd have to look it up but EEAa produces the darker bays if I remember correctly. Fading on a black with nd1 and or cream can cause a black to look bay. 

Your boy is EeA?


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Looking back at the communication I had with the breeder, he called the mare a grey, I missed that. See how much I care about color? He had sent me pictures of the dam & said "grey " mare, not roan.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

There are three base colors. Bay, black and red. There are genes that can modify the color. A gray horse is either bay, black or red with at least one gray gene that causes the horse to go gray as they age. Some faster, some slower. They can have other genes present but the gray will cause loss of pigmentation over time.

I had time to go back and look - most EEAa bays are that darker bay that the mare appears to be. What makes bay is dominant extension (E) + (A) doesn't matter what the paired gene is the horse will be some type of bay. That mare has added G.

Even if she were black and the gray distorting the color or had nd1 that can cause fading as long as the sire has a A to donate you can have a bay foal. You cannot tell agouti status on a red. You would have to test or know that they had a bay when bred to a black(E?aa).


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

I see, kind of makes sense in my brain now.


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