# What's he going to look like when he matures?



## dressagebelle (May 13, 2009)

I've known a few chestnuts mainly that get some or a lot of white flecking but are definitely not roan or varnish appy. His tail though makes me think rabicano. Is it possible he's got appy in him? I know my dad's horse got white from age, but he was a true black horse, not a dark brown or bay, who had just a tiny star on his forehead. By the time we got him, he had quite a few "white" hairs, and by the time we put him down, it looked almost like he had socks, and looked almost roan on his body and face. Your guy is very cute. How old is he?


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Looks like fairly typical chestnut ticking, to me. A lot of chestnut horses have white flecked through their coats and multi-color manes/tails.

If he was roan, you'd have been able to tell from birth (and one parent would have to be roan). If he was grey, he'd have had "googles" when he was a baby and his foal coat color would have looked very adult in tone (not washed out like most foals are before they shed). He'd also have to have one grey parent.

I don't think it's roaning/ticking caused by sabino or rabicano, as it doesn't really have the right look for that (at least not for rabicano, which is concentrated on the barrel).
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

Looks like pretty typical ticking on a red based horse. The tail is 100% normal as well.


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## Cynical25 (Mar 7, 2013)

My 2yo chestnut (chestnut sire & dam) has a lot of similar white ticking, too. As the others said, it's fairly common.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

How old is this horse?

Like others said, it looks like fairly typical white ticking to me as well. It's very common in chestnut horses. Even the mane and tail can suddenly develop a large number of white hairs. It happens and one can never really be sure how far it will go. He could suddenly stop getting more white hairs or he could develop enough to appear roan.

My young chestnut gelding has just recently started to develop a significant amount of white in his mane...even to the point where he's grown a white patch right on top of his poll. He's never had an injury there, it's just a part of his natural color evolution.

6 months ago, I couldn't find a single white hair anywhere on him other than his white markings. Now, his mane looks about like this (though this is an older picture so there's more white hairs now)









And you can see by the picture above that this white spot has shown up just in the last 2 months.


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## Elizabeth Bowers (Jan 26, 2012)

He's 2 1/2 years old. And i'v never seen so much white on a chestnut horse, i had a chestnut morgan years ago, and he only had a white spot from where a saddle didn't fit him right and a small star on his head. I honestly think he's neat looking. I'm unsure of his sire, the farm we got his dam from had 2 stallions there, one was a grey paso fino, and i'm not sure of the other, i think he was an appaloosa, but i can't seem to get into touch with the girl who had them now. I never knew it was normal for a chestnut to have such a colorful tail. I have baby pics if you would like to see them too!! 
Thanks everyone!!!


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## Elizabeth Bowers (Jan 26, 2012)

I also forgot to add he has very slight lacing going up his back legs. And i just noticed i think his one hoof is two toned too!! Boy he's got me puzzled :wink:


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

The degree of ticking will vary from horse to horse. I know some chestnuts that you would almost think were varnish roans, while I've seen others without a lick of ticking. I've seen chestnuts with no variation in color on their manes and tails, and others that look like they've had highlights done. 

Heck, I know full-sibling Arabs that are both chestnut. The mare (the older of the two) is a solid as a chestnut can get with a monochromatic mane and tail. The gelding has quite a bit of ticking and his mane and tail have three different colors of red, white, and black mixed throughout. Other than that, they are pretty much identical (I've mixed them up out in the field as I walked up and I worked with the gelding daily for almost two years).
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## dressagebelle (May 13, 2009)

Baby pictures are very necessary for our health and well being! ;-)


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## Elizabeth Bowers (Jan 26, 2012)

LOL sure thing!!! 
About 4 hours old








Him and Momma Ginger








About 2 months old








Storm at about 4 months


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