# Going grey or not?



## kizmet (Aug 19, 2012)

I have a coming four Arabian filly. The day she was born I had the vet out for retained placenta, and he told me she would be a grey. I jokingly told him I wasn't paying him to tell me things I didn't want to know, and that I knew it anyway.
Almost four years later and she is more Bay than ever. She still has some silver in her tail, and a few white hairs in her mane, and there is not a single white hair any where else. Did I luck out and get a not white horse at last? And at what point do I change her registration?


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## Cat (Jul 26, 2008)

Pictures would be helpful.


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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

If she hasn't greyed out by, she'll stay a bay. They usually start six months to a year where it's really obvious.


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

My Girlfriend had a sooty colored Buckskin overo mare.She sold her overseas as a 3-4 yr old.Her buckskin coloring i'm sure was a big selling point for buyer.My friend later found out when the mare shed out the next spring she was GREY!! She couldn't believe it when she heard & thought Ok maybe just got some white hairs but then saw pics :-( Yep she was no longer buckskin looking but a dapple grey:shock:
Yes Mare had grey in her pedigree but they thought since she never looked grey at that age she wasn't going to be grey.....:lol:


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## riddlemethis (Jun 3, 2008)

If it's the horse in your user picture, it definitely looks to be going gray.


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## kizmet (Aug 19, 2012)

riddlemethis said:


> If it's the horse in your user picture, it definitely looks to be going gray.


No, there is no question about what color Dezie is. Just like his momma he was born beautiful solid colored with a couple of white hairs on his face, but he has faded far beyond all hope for color.
Bug has clean black on her legs now and is medium Bay with no stray white other than the silver in her tail, and a couple of hairs in her mane. I guess the question is can an Arabian with silver in their tail keep their color, or is that the sign of grey?
I am trying to load a couple of pictures of the horse I mentioned for sale. My girl is dirty and covered in her pasture mates hair right now.


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## kizmet (Aug 19, 2012)

Here is a face shot of that horse. Just like my horse, but much better grooming.


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## Tryst (Feb 8, 2012)

The horse in the photos is not gray.


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## riddlemethis (Jun 3, 2008)

She looks like she's not going grey yet, BUT it does take some horses a VERY long time to gray out. I've seen some up to 8ish before they started to noticably gray. Its pretty uncommon but not unheard of.


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

The pic is not of her horse but an example of how her horse is bay with silver/white in tail. To OP I suspect if your horse is not showing grey on body by now that she is probably not going to grey, not saying isn't possible as it is not unheard of them greying at later age but it is rarer . Yes,I have seen a few bay horses have silver/white hairs in there tail,so would not take that as a sign,but more the body greying:wink:.


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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

That just looks like baby hair, to be honest. This is my guy, and he's out of a chestnut and a bay, so chance of grey at all.


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## kizmet (Aug 19, 2012)

WSArabians that is exactly what I am talking about. Maybe I have seen it a hundred times, but I never paid attention. 
My girl had cloudy legs till somewhere around two when she went coal black in the legs. At first she had lots of silver in her mane, but that has faded.
Seeing this other mare listed as Bay really brought the question to a head. I have to make the call someday. Ill wait till her summer coat is in to file it.
I am so happy! At last I have a horse that can hide some dirt.


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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

LOL
I know what you mean! I'm expecting a few foals from my avatar guy, and I'm just hoping I don't get all greys, much as I love him!


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

I know what you mean. I have primarily paint horses & odd QH,so know all about white & being the washrack queen,lol. Well all my years of having horses never had a grey,now my youngest 2 are greys,lol.I like them & love how they look right now,but know I have to look forward to more nearly white horses in my future...:lol:


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## goneriding (Jun 6, 2011)

I always looked for white hairs around the eyes. I had a bay that everyone was telling me she going to go grey because of the white on her dock and a little bit of white on her flanks, I said no even though both parents were grey along with three of the four of her grandparents were grey, Monet El Sharaf was the bay. She never did.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I still think my guy is going gray (his momma is the gray in my avatar) but he's almost 3 now and still mostly bay. I STILL think he's gray, but I don't know....sometimes I have a little doubt. Otherwise he is a funny roan, so he HAS to be gray...........right?

His tail looks strikingly like WS Arabians bay in the photos she posted. 

I am going to have to eat a lot of crow if he doesn't gray out. I've been telling everyone he's gray since he was born. :lol:

He does have white hair in his coat. It just doesn't show in the photos. But I still have friends that say "so he's a bay after all, huh?"


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

THR, Zane is definitely gray, he's just one of those that looks like he'll take forever to go lighter (which is a plus because I'd lay odds that he'll go through a very long, and very _beautiful_, dapple stage).

If the OP's horse in question is showing no signs of graying out such as a "roany" look on the face or sparse white hairs mixed in with body coat, then I'd bet what she has is called a gulastra plume.


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## Heelsdown (Jun 5, 2011)

trailrider, I would guess your horse to be a bay. Though I can see greyish in him. 

It's amazing to me how much horses can change color. It just shows if a person wants to buy a color, it's best to get an older horse!


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

smrobs said:


> THR, Zane is definitely gray, he's just one of those that looks like he'll take forever to go lighter (which is a plus because I'd lay odds that he'll go through a very long, and very beautiful, dapple stage).
> 
> If the OP's horse in question is showing no signs of graying out such as a "roany" look on the face or sparse white hairs mixed in with body coat, then I'd bet what she has is called a gulastra plume.


That's what I was thinking of......the gulastra plume.....but I couldn't think of what it was called. 

Yeah, I hope Zane goes through a lovely, dappled stage. That would be fantastic! That is my all-time favorite color when they are in a beautiful dark dappled gray stage. I've never had one before. I've had two other grays.....his momma and an Arabian gelding, but they were already fleabit when I bought them. 

Of course Zane could be any color and earth and I would still love him. 

Heelsdown, when he was a foal he had those steely gray points that grays have. So I still think he's a gray based on his foal coat and the fact that he has "roaning." It's just that he sure is slow about it! But that's okay. Holding the color longer is a good thing.


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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

I think he'll take longer to grey out, but I'm sure he's a grey. I think he'll go more of that rose coloured grey before dappling out.


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

They certainly can grey at different rates. My youngster looks just as grey as her 1/2 brother that is 3 yrs older:shock:


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