# Colt



## dawnandduke2002 (Sep 28, 2015)

Hello, this is my new colt. What color do you think he'll grow up to be? I know he'll be a buckskin but will he be lighter, darker, dappled? All I know about his parents is his sire is a bay, i don't know about his dam.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Dappling tends to be an indicator of good health, so it's like a lottery every year - you don't know when you're gonna win [get dapples]. It'll be a surprise for you!

It's hard to tell how light or dark he will be since he appears to be wearing his foal coat and/or winter coat. The best indicator will probably be what color he ends up being this spring after he sheds out.
My guess [totally guess, mind you] is that he might end up being darker. His nose and legs seem pretttty dark for a colt that'll end up being really light. But I could totally be wrong.

How frustrating is that? Just a lot of "you just have to wait" answers. I hate getting those and here that's all I gave you. haha

On the plus side, he is absolutely cute and that little star on his forehead makes him look even more precious!


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Our adult mare would look like that in the winter and almost like a dun in the summer.


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## dawnandduke2002 (Sep 28, 2015)

*Thanks!*



Wallaby said:


> Dappling tends to be an indicator of good health, so it's like a lottery every year - you don't know when you're gonna win [get dapples]. It'll be a surprise for you!
> 
> It's hard to tell how light or dark he will be since he appears to be wearing his foal coat and/or winter coat. The best indicator will probably be what color he ends up being this spring after he sheds out.
> My guess [totally guess, mind you] is that he might end up being darker. His nose and legs seem pretttty dark for a colt that'll end up being really light. But I could totally be wrong.
> ...



Thank you both for your input. He is absolutely adorable, I agree. Lol.  Do you have any suggestions for what color I should use for him? (Like what color his tack will be?) My other horse's colors are patriotic (red, white, and aqua) So those are crossed off, but I may look into a teal/turqoise color.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

I think that would be lovely. You may want to wait until he's a little older before deciding for sure.

Not my horse (google) but similar to her summer color but she was more of a gold/brown and less red:









It was like 2 different horses!


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## dawnandduke2002 (Sep 28, 2015)

That sounds like your horse is beautiful, but of course I think all horses are beautiful .


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

My mare passed away years ago at a ripe old age but she was a pretty girl. I always loved her color and her "teddy bear" winter coat. 6 inches long and super soft and thick and like I said exactly the same as your boy. (I didn't know her as a foal but they really do look similar!) I'm interesting how yours will mature.


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## GracielaGata (Jan 14, 2012)

How old is he? 
My mare is a buttermilk buckskin and was very similarly colored at 6 months-ish of age. She had much stronger points though, so I wonder if he will also be what is considered 'wild type' in bays? Or is it a coat needing to shed issue? Also, do young ones in colder climates automatically have better coats, similar to adults? I see snow on the ground in your photo so assume you have colder weather than when my mare was a baby in SC.

(I attached a pic of her at roughly 6 months of age for comparison. Oh, and she had a cremello mom and a loud leopard bay appy dad.)


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## dawnandduke2002 (Sep 28, 2015)

Yes, I'm here in Nebraska and they do automatically have winter coats like adults.  I'm not sure what age that is, actually, the seller gave the picture to me. His mom is a dark buckskin with a dark brown mane/tail with fiery red on the ends.


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

dawnandduke2002 said:


> Yes, I'm here in Nebraska and they do automatically have winter coats like adults.  I'm not sure what age that is, actually, the seller gave the picture to me. His mom is a dark buckskin with a dark brown mane/tail with fiery red on the ends.


His mom's fiery red ends on her mane/tail is from sun bleaching. Her mane and tail are genetically black but is prone to bleaching, starting at a dark brown looking color as the start of the fading and the ends of manes/tails/forelocks almost always get the worst bleaching. ;-)


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## nicoles (Apr 15, 2013)

You'll probably have to wait for first shed this spring to get a real idea lol. I got my buckskin filly in December 2014 as a 7 month old. I drove myself insane trying to figure out what color she would possibly shed out to. 

I'm attaching some pics of how her color has changed. She doesn't get a light coat during winter, but many buckskins and palominos seem to. I have a friend whose palomino gelding is a white fuzzball all winter and is so dark during summer he looks almost chestnut. I have another friend whose palomino long yearling is white during winter and a light gold color during summer. She's hoping he sheds out darker this year since he was quite sooty as a foal.

I don't know if these pics are helpful or not, but I remember looking up every baby to adult buckskin coat color change photos I could possibly find on the internet last year, so maybe someone will want to see these  

Note: She's outside 24/7/365 and we're in Texas. She refuses her shelter so she is constantly in the sun. I don't know how this affects her color. 

This is Calypso's weanling winter coat in Dec/Jan a year ago:



How she shed out a few months later (ignore her "rider" lol):



In August she suddenly went dark:




And this is her now. Dapples started popping up last month for the first time. Not the best pic to show her color as the sun is setting and giving her a rosy glow, but it's what I have that shows her dapples:


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

Dapples can come and go with health.


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