# Do palominos have a "final colour", or does it evolve?



## lblagden (Apr 12, 2011)

Does a palomino's colour stop changing at some age? If so, what age does it typically do that? If there is sooty in there, when would it typically make an appearance?

I'm in the process of buying a 15 month old AQHA filly and I'm just curious what how light or dark she may wind up being, and if the "sooty" appearance on her legs and hips is there to stay or not. I wasn't sure what age (if any) I might be able to safely assume her colour will stop changing (except summer/winter coats, of course). It really doesn't matter either way, I'm just killing time while I wait to go pick her up. 

This is her at 3 days:















And yesterday, just under 15 months:








ETA: Yes, I know she's overweight, and we'll be taking care of that shortly.  Also, she's totally clean in the 15 month photo, no dirt/mud.


----------



## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

With sooty involved a horse's color can change from season to season and year to year.


----------



## lblagden (Apr 12, 2011)

Ok  Any thoughts on whether this horse has sooty? And her base colour should come to a standstill some point, shouldn't it?


----------



## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Well being as she has dark areas when clean I would say there is some expression of sooty there. 

I would say that her color will probably level out in a the next year or two, but it can change slightly with feed, stress, work, etc. Not extreme changes though.


----------



## lblagden (Apr 12, 2011)

Excellent, thank you  Love your new avatar by the way..


----------



## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Glad to be of help! We need more pics of your new girl when you get her home!

I love it too. It made me laugh when I first saw it.


----------



## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

I read that their final color is at age five and they keep getting darker until then. Although Hunter hasn't gotten much darker over the last few years.

This is him at 18 months when I rescued him








This is April 2010








This is last week at almost 4









Not a huge color change


----------



## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

To be honest, she looks like the sort of pally that is going to change from season to season - I bet she will be a pale cream in the winter, so you will have people calling her cremello or grey, and that colour in the summer.


----------



## reiningfan (Jan 7, 2008)

I have a palomino very similar in color to yours OP. During the winter, we have people call her white. That said, they call all very pale horses white, but she definitely has a much lighter winter coat.
Do you plan on showing her? A way to get a deeper palomino color is to feed paprika, but it can test positive if you have drug testing at the shows you go to.


----------



## lblagden (Apr 12, 2011)

I don't plan on showing her, but I'm not at all concerned about deepening her colour, I was just curious what colour she would be. I'll be happy regardless.  Now I'll be interested to see if she looks a lot lighter this winter though!

Hunter65, what a gorgeous boy!


----------



## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

OP...she looks very cute!! Hunter65, I agree with the OP, you have a very nice looking boy there!!

Ive always loved looking at pallys, just never had any good luck with them, lol

Look forward to more pics of your new girl btw


----------



## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

Thanks all he's my handsome brat


----------



## Peppy Barrel Racing (Aug 16, 2011)

My palomino mare changes color depending on the season. This is my golden palomino Joy during the early spring , don't make fun of her belly she was pregnant at the time. During winter and early spring she is light dusty palomino color but has she gets her full summer coat she becomes a true golden palomino.









And this is her currently I took this pic yesterday.


----------



## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

Peppy Barrel Racing said:


> My palomino mare changes color depending on the season. This is my golden palomino Joy during the early spring , don't make fun of her belly she was pregnant at the time. During winter and early spring she is light dusty palomino color but has she gets her full summer coat she becomes a true golden palomino.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think that is pretty common with pally's. Hunter is very light in the spring although he can still be dark with his winter woolies.


----------



## goodhrs (Dec 30, 2009)

Hunter65 said:


> This is him at 18 months when I rescued him


 You need to pat yourself on the back, you did a wonderful job with him. He is a lucky fella to have you. I see you fixed his herinated navel. Those can really cause some serious problems. He sure turned out to be one gorgeous boy. Congrats.


----------



## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

goodhrs said:


> You need to pat yourself on the back, you did a wonderful job with him. He is a lucky fella to have you. I see you fixed his herinated navel. Those can really cause some serious problems. He sure turned out to be one gorgeous boy. Congrats.



Awe thanks, some of my horsey friends shook their heads when I adopted him. I knew he needed surgery and he was a gangly skinny runt, but I thought he was the cutest and I felt so sorry for him. Those same friends now still can't get over how he has turned out. My trainer loves him because he is very smart and very very quick to learn. He is also very crafty though lol.


----------



## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

lblagden said:


> ETA: Yes, I know she's overweight, and we'll be taking care of that shortly.  Also, she's totally clean in the 15 month photo, no dirt/mud.


You haven't purchased her yet?

I have to say the weight is a bit of a red flag. At 15 months she is not showing any muscle tone. Our filly loves to play.


----------



## IvyGirl (Jul 23, 2011)

Your palamino looks a lot like my little mare she changes her color all the time depending on the season.


----------



## lblagden (Apr 12, 2011)

mls said:


> You haven't purchased her yet?
> 
> I have to say the weight is a bit of a red flag. At 15 months she is not showing any muscle tone. Our filly loves to play.


I have purchased her now, we brought her home on Sunday. I've since realized that it was the photos I took that made her look so terrible (I really need to work on my equine photography skills!). When you see her in person, she's really not. She is out of shape though and she's not high energy at all. She will move if you ask her to, but isn't typically playful (so far, it could be because she's in a new environment and nervous - she was more playful at the farm she was raised on). My trainer thinks that it's also partially due to the way she's been fed. We'll adjust things and see how she does.

Here's a photo from the day we brought her home. She looks a lot better in these photos by another boarder at the barn, who happens to be a pro photographer.


----------



## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

She sure is cute and for 15 months I think she looks great, though my only comparison is what Hunter looked like at that age.


----------



## goodhrs (Dec 30, 2009)

Nice, nice filly, congrats.


----------



## 2horses (Oct 11, 2009)

I love the picture after you got her home. She is a very pretty filly.


----------



## lblagden (Apr 12, 2011)

Thanks! I'm really happy. She also has an incredible personality - she's got a little attitude but is very quiet. You can touch anywhere, swing ropes or whatever else over/around her with no problem, and the snorts when she meets new things but just walks right up to them anyway. Last night I introduced her to her first spray bottle (of water) and within a minute she was intentionally moving her head so she'd get sprayed all over her head and ears.. She's a really good girl!


----------



## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

lblagden said:


> Thanks! I'm really happy. She also has an incredible personality - she's got a little attitude but is very quiet. You can touch anywhere, swing ropes or whatever else over/around her with no problem, and the snorts when she meets new things but just walks right up to them anyway. Last night I introduced her to her first spray bottle (of water) and within a minute she was intentionally moving her head so she'd get sprayed all over her head and ears.. She's a really good girl!



Awe thats awesome. A little attitude is fun!


----------

