RabbitMage
01-20-05, 01:39 PM 01-20-05
Prompted by the discussion "dream horse" below...
A grey horse is never born grey. They are born black, chestnut, bay, buckskin, palomino, cremello, silver dapple...any and every color in the equine rainbow. But not grey. Shortly after birth, or as a yearling, two year old...they greying becomes noticable. It usually starts on the face, then the back, and gradually moves over the entire coat. What is happening is light and dark hairs are taking over the horses' original coat color, changing it to a grey.
In genetic terms, grey is a dominant color. In fact, it is the MOST dominant color in horses. Grey can cover every other coat color.
Looking at genes, horses can display one of three things: g/g (not grey), G/g (heterozygous grey) and G/G (homozygous grey). A G/G horse will only throw grey foals when bred, regardless of the coat color of the other parent. A G/g horse, bred to a non grey, will throw 50% grey foals. A g/g horse will not produce a grey foal when bred to a non-grey horse.
Because grey appears gradually, there are different 'shades' of grey. Rose, steel, dapple, fleabitten, and 'white'. Most of the horses people refer to as 'white' are actually light grey horses. The existance of actual 'white' or 'albino' horses is still debated.
From my experience, how long it takes for a grey horse to look 'white' depends on what color the horse really is. A horse born palomino will grey out faster than a horse who was born black.
Just food for thought for the next time you see a 'white' horse somewhere. :D
A grey horse is never born grey. They are born black, chestnut, bay, buckskin, palomino, cremello, silver dapple...any and every color in the equine rainbow. But not grey. Shortly after birth, or as a yearling, two year old...they greying becomes noticable. It usually starts on the face, then the back, and gradually moves over the entire coat. What is happening is light and dark hairs are taking over the horses' original coat color, changing it to a grey.
In genetic terms, grey is a dominant color. In fact, it is the MOST dominant color in horses. Grey can cover every other coat color.
Looking at genes, horses can display one of three things: g/g (not grey), G/g (heterozygous grey) and G/G (homozygous grey). A G/G horse will only throw grey foals when bred, regardless of the coat color of the other parent. A G/g horse, bred to a non grey, will throw 50% grey foals. A g/g horse will not produce a grey foal when bred to a non-grey horse.
Because grey appears gradually, there are different 'shades' of grey. Rose, steel, dapple, fleabitten, and 'white'. Most of the horses people refer to as 'white' are actually light grey horses. The existance of actual 'white' or 'albino' horses is still debated.
From my experience, how long it takes for a grey horse to look 'white' depends on what color the horse really is. A horse born palomino will grey out faster than a horse who was born black.
Just food for thought for the next time you see a 'white' horse somewhere. :D