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Heidi Magnuson
Member
Username: Heidim
Post Number: 101
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 10:25 am: |   |
I had a nice surprise in the pasture last week. My yearling, solid red bay all last summer, is shedding out to be a chocolate bay roan like his dam. Here's my question: do roans grow lighter with age like grays? I owned the dame only two years and she appeared to stay the same color. Every site I've found that discusses color goes into gene makeup that's way over my head. Anyone got a straight yes-or-no answer? I'm also wondering how to tell if he's a true roan vs. a gray. |
Ann
Member
Username: Dres
Post Number: 784
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 11:18 am: | |
yes, and no maybe your answer.. sorry... first do you know if there are any grays in his bloodlines.. that will help you tons if he is to gray or not.. Most roans will darken in the winter coat and lighten in the summer coat.. hard to tell how much tho.. each year could be different..
sorry..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them spots.. |
Lori
Member
Username: Maggienm
Post Number: 149
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 10:39 pm: | |
In order to be a gray one of the parents have to be gray.
A gray will have a face the same color or with lighter gray areas(around the eyes and muzzle) as the body.
A roan has a solid color face.
Roans do not lighten with age like a gray does. They may get somewhat lighter but not like a gray that progressively lightens each year until it is nearly white.
I wil try to post a picture of my bay roan mare.
She is not fat, very pregnant. |
Angie
Member
Username: Ajudson1
Post Number: 466
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 8:28 am: | |
I have a Registered Paint, the papers say he's a blue roan. Everyone thinks he's grey. According to Lori's post, he must be grey as his face is lighter. He is dappled in the spring, but over summer the dapples fade, and you can see brown in his coat. His mane and tail are mostly black.
Grey then is his color?
I can never get pictures to post on here, but if any of you can post yours so we can see the colors, that would be great! |
Ann
Member
Username: Dres
Post Number: 786
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 10:26 am: | |
Angie, i am not gray expert, but it seems that a gray will not have a a colored tail.. that will gray as well.. does he have dark points.. ? knees , cheek bones, ears >>?? Roans will have dark points.. now they don't have to be solid dark points.. some will be dark with roan hairs mixed thru.. but you can see the points.. where as a gray turns gray all over...
Again this is just what i have seen and some of what i have read..
Can you send a picture to someone to down size for us.. ?
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots.. |
Lori
Member
Username: Maggienm
Post Number: 150
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 1:18 am: | |
Ann, good point about the tail. A gray's tail will be lighter at the bottom than at the top, but depending on how 'gray' the horse has turned his m tail may be quite dark.
I would say as a gray lightens his knees, hocks, will be darker and can certainly have dapples.
A bay roan will look like a bay except his body, neck and parts of the upper legs will have a fairly even white-colored ratio.
When I ride I feel His pleasure. |
Lori
Member
Username: Maggienm
Post Number: 151
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 1:46 am: | |
This is a 4yr old gray. |
Lori
Member
Username: Maggienm
Post Number: 152
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 2:59 am: | |
Having trouble getting roan pic uploaded. Will try again in the morning. |
Angie
Member
Username: Ajudson1
Post Number: 467
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 9:37 am: | |
 |
Angie
Member
Username: Ajudson1
Post Number: 468
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 9:41 am: | |
OMG!!! OMG!!!! It worked!!!! Now if only I can remember how I did it!
The picture above is Cody, last fall. Registered Paint, blue roan?? From what you are all saying, I am guessing this is grey! With brown hair mixed in...or is that sun burn? |
Ann
Member
Username: Dres
Post Number: 787
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 9:53 am: | |
Is there such a color called Steel Gray.. ?
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots.. |
Angie
Member
Username: Ajudson1
Post Number: 469
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 9:54 am: | |
Cody, face color (hey, have to post another picture just to prove to myself I can do this!) |
Angie
Member
Username: Ajudson1
Post Number: 470
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 10:01 am: | |
Ann,
There are many kinds on greys with the Arab Registery, I don't know about other breeds. Maybe Sarah knows.....I've heard of Rose Greys, Flea bitten greys, steel greys, etc.
BTW, I just looked up the word "grey" in the dictionary, and it says "grey" is a variant of "gray"....just to add to the confusion. Apparently both spellings are correct. Don't know how we can come to agreement on the color when we can't agree on the spelling!!! Geesh!! |
Heidi Magnuson
Member
Username: Heidim
Post Number: 102
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 10:02 am: | |
I'm feeling a little foolish here, as I remembered that my yearling gets his coloring from his dam, and she is half Appaloosa. Her roaning is related to her breed. She and the yearling have white hairs mixed through out their body, including their heads and legs. After doing more research, I found a Web site that said true roans have dark heads and legs but white hairs mixed in throughout their bodies. They do not change color with age (except for the winter/summer hair thing). Appaloosa roans often do change over the years. |
Corinne Meadows
Member
Username: Corinne
Post Number: 353
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 10:10 am: | |
Cody's face is magnificent! And I love the dark main in contrast...Heidi would love pics if you can upload!
Have a great day everyone! |
Ann
Member
Username: Dres
Post Number: 789
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 12:56 pm: | |
Heidi, that is absolutely right... a true roan's head will not lighten.. where as a grey will.. I have a 60% blanketed Appy gelding that roaned out by 2.. .. at birth he was a blood bay with blanket/ 4 white socks and only a star... now at 7 he looks like a silver color and his face has 'silvered' out so that you can't really see his star.. ! BUT the bony parts are still dark.. cheek bones, eye brows.. knees,.. hips.. bony points.. .. His white blanket is still truly white.. he does darken in the winter and lighten in the summer...
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots.. |
Sara Wolff
Member
Username: Mrose
Post Number: 1363
Registered: 1-2000
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 4:00 pm: | |
Yes, a steel gray is a "black/blue gray" Very dark gray with a sliver mane and tail. Rose gray can be a dark "chestnutty" gray to a almost "peachy" gray. With Arabs, at least, they will all turn solid "white" (still a gray) with age. Some stay in their gray stage a long time; some turn white by the time they are 3 or so. Our one stallion used to look like Silver, the Lone Ranger's horse, but as he has gotten older (16) he is developing a lot of chestnut "freckles" on his coat. We have one mare who almost looks like a red roan, but who is a gray and will eventually be white. Another older mare we have is very freckled and has a "bloody shoulder," With Arabs, these are all gray. The various spotting comes from ancestors who were bay or chestnut. |
Susan Bilsky
Member
Username: Suzeb
Post Number: 588
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 4:16 pm: | |
Gray is a color (American)
Grey is a colour (British)
I am watching this phenomenon unfold on my own hair colour/color  . |
Imogen Bertin
Member
Username: Imogen
Post Number: 785
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 4:59 pm: | |
If the horse has a parent with the double grey gene it will go grey no matter what colour its face... This one is just over a year, she will go grey. Imogen
 |
Angie
Member
Username: Ajudson1
Post Number: 471
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 5:01 pm: | |
Guess that means I am turning "Gray".....(thank God for Loreal,  ) and Cody will eventually be white! Got it!!
Corrine, thanks for compliment, he's a sweetheart to boot, and has an unique personality too. |
Erika L
Member
Username: Erika
Post Number: 174
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006 - 8:00 pm: | |
BTW, a roan can go gray, too. Any color can. Gray is dominant, so no matter what the base color, if the horse got the gray gene, it will eventually go gray. |
Sara Wolff
Member
Username: Mrose
Post Number: 1365
Registered: 1-2000
| | Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 - 12:05 am: | |
Susan...you aren't the only one! Angie, I'm lucky as one of my best friends is a hairdresser.
Guess I didn't realize (or remember) that gray is dominant in all breeds. I was thinking of just Arabians. |
Heidi Magnuson
Member
Username: Heidim
Post Number: 103
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 - 11:53 am: | |
It's nice to finally have the scoop on colors. Great pics from everyone. Once my little guy sheds out (it takes a little longer here in Minnesota), I'll post his photo. |
Heidi Magnuson
Member
Username: Heidim
Post Number: 104
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 - 11:59 am: | |
Incidentally, I, too, share the gray "gene" and frankly I like it. You're welcome to the L'Oreal, but as for me, I'm going to pass. |
diane sibley
Member
Username: Dsibley
Post Number: 59
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 - 12:22 pm: | |
So now I am really confused. My yearling, StormN, had a gray/grey mother and a grulla father. He started out as almost a palomino, then shed to a hershey-chocolate brown with black points. I have always wondered if he's going to gray/grulla eventually, as his butt-cheeks are a dark gray. If gray is dominant, isn't it very likely that he'll turn again? Poor little guy was really homely before he started shedding this spring... |
Erika L
Member
Username: Erika
Post Number: 176
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 - 4:09 pm: | |
Diane, yes, gray is dominant, but the gray parent may have only one gray gene. It may or may not have been passed on to your horse. If so, then yes, your horse will go gray, but if he got the other non-gray gene, then he will not go gray. Funny how they change colors, though, huh?
Maybe you should change his name to kaleidescope! |
diane sibley
Member
Username: Dsibley
Post Number: 60
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 - 4:39 pm: | |
I have StormN and his half-brother, a big frosted buckskin named Sarge. The farrier calls them Beavis and Butthead...(interchangeable, of course!!!) |
Mandy
Member
Username: Bucky
Post Number: 153
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 - 6:13 pm: | |
Here is my roan. 2 Weeks ago she was almost completely white. She is really a chameleon.
Couple more pictures at http://mcarthur.smugmug.com
I find that she lightens and darkens with the seasons, not age!
 |
Erika L
Member
Username: Erika
Post Number: 178
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 - 9:16 pm: | |
What great looking horses you all have. Very nice pictures. It's fun to get to know all the horses that belong to the site. If I can ever figure out how to reduce the size of the photo files, I'll show you all mine someday!! |
Lori
Member
Username: Maggienm
Post Number: 153
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 12:37 am: | |
Angie, your horse is my favorite shade of gray,
Mandy, how old is your mare? She looks like a textbook gray.
Steel, fleabitten, rose are all terms used to describe different shades/stages of gray.
I too would like to know how to make a picture have less pixels, if I knew how to do that I could load a picture of my roan mare, |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 15657
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 7:25 am: | |
You will find information on posting images including adjusting the size of the image file and the size of the image as it is displayed at, News & Help ยป Uploading Images and Files Into a Posting.
DrO |
Angie
Member
Username: Ajudson1
Post Number: 473
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 9:27 am: | |
Mandy,
Our Cody was the same color as your "roan" a few years ago. (I've had him 3 years, he's 7 now) Sorry, but I think your roan is grey like our roan.
There is a picture of Cody on his Reg. papers, maybe I'll try to get that on here to show the color change since he was foaled.
Picture Posting:
It's taken me a year of trying to downsize pictures using Picasso to get it to work! So don't give up, it can be done.
I wish more people would post under News & Help>>Uploading Images and explain what worked for them. I just know we'd get more pictures on here then! |
Shawna
Member
Username: Qh4me
Post Number: 133
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 10:17 am: | |
Hi all,
I am no expert about greys and roans, but I thought I would post this picture of a blue roan. I think this guy is absolutely gorgeous. I
 |
Mandy
Member
Username: Bucky
Post Number: 154
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 10:42 am: | |
All right, she's a gray. My vet says she is gray also.  I still call her a roan out of bad habit I guess. Angie- she is 7 this spring.
How about this guy (neighbors horse)...he is for sale for a mere $22,000(need a surprise smiley here) and trained in the vaquero style of cowboying.
Uploading with Picassa,
1. Select Picture
2. Click on file, export to folder and put in a folder name you will remember. Resize from 400 to 600 pixels for size and take JPEG Quality down to about 80 percent, but you can knock both of these down more if you need to.
3. Go to horse advice thread you want to post to, click upload attachment at bottom and navigate to folder you saved picture in, double click upload and after a bit-shazamm-there it is(hopefully).
 |
Mandy
Member
Username: Bucky
Post Number: 155
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 10:55 am: | |
If you are really stuck e-mail me your roan picture and I will resize and upload for you:
haystackmail-1@yahoo.com |
Lori
Member
Username: Maggienm
Post Number: 154
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 2:55 pm: | |
Thanks Mandy, no need for me to post my roan now, she is very similar ( almost identical except for the black spots above the hip)) to the bay roan above.
I think the black roan is gorgeous also. |
Heidi Magnuson
Member
Username: Heidim
Post Number: 109
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 - 12:36 pm: | |
My yearling keeps surprising me. He is indeed a bay roan, but it appears he is now getting a blanket! His roaning is much "whiter" than his dam's, and she had no blanket at all. Here's the clinker: Coyote is only 1/4 Appaloosa. He's really taking his time shedding out, and his rump is the last to go. I think he's doing that just to keep me in suspense (it's working). I'll be sure and post a photo when he gets ride of what's left.
Ann, I can imagine from your sign off that you are very happy for me. |
