Anyone good with color? Is this a Silver Grulla or a Dun? New Pics.

[Morganite]

I have updated photos below. Zecora wants nothing to do with the clippers but I have been keeping a steady hand at brushing daily. I have photos at different angles in the light. Maybe they will give you a better look at what is hiding under the fuzz



I couldn't resist the pretty little filly. I bought her two months ago from a woman that owns a livestock sale barn. I don't know anything about her history. Any body guess her color? Dun? Silver Grulla? She was a pickle to get her feet trimmed, but she is getting much better as I handle her feet daily. She is eating safe choice, excellent hay plus alfalfa pellets, pasture, oil mixed with the right Omega 3's and 6's, omega shine and salt/mineral block. She is shedding out beautifully this year, she has solid feet and just received a bill of good health from our vet last month. ***Updated 5/3/2013***

 

[MountainWoman]

I'm not good on colors but your minis are beautiful. I hope you start a thread on the MareStarers board for your mares and soon to be foals. The people on the board are so helpful and friendly and give great advice on foaling. Congratulations on your minis.

 

[chandab]

Hard to tell for sure in the shadowy pics, but definitely dun of some sort. [if you didn't know grullo is black dun.]

 

[Morganite]

Thank you, I have researched Grulla/Grullo for years looking for a Silver Grulla, Quarter Horse Mare. One thing I have noticed there are Champagne Grulla, Silver Grulla, Blue Grulla, Grulla. So many sites to read and so many photos to look at. She is definitely a dun of some sort. I will have to post photos when she loses her winter hair and give her a trim. She needs her bridle path trim and the long facial hair. Maybe I can purchase a test to find out color genetics?

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

She does look silver to me! Now, whether she's dun or grulla depends on her "base" color. When she sheds out, if her head is black, she's grulla. If it's brown, she's dun.

Hard to tell now, she she may be sunbleached. Very pretty either way!

 

[chandab]

Thank you, I have researched Grulla/Grullo for years looking for a Silver Grulla, Quarter Horse Mare. One thing I have noticed there are Champagne Grulla, Silver Grulla, Blue Grulla, Grulla.

All those terms are just descriptions for various shades of the same color, grullo. You might have a hard time finding just the shade you want.

I have a colt that would probably be described as silver grullo by many in the stock horse world based on his shade, but as he has no siver gene, he really isn't silver grullo, just a nice light shade of grullo.

Here's Monte:

 

[Mona]

She looks to be a "frosted" (not silver) grulla. Same color as my mare I had here. The frosting in the mane is not the same a silver.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Actually as I understand it the 'frosting' is one of the dun factor traits and you will see it in most dun horses. I'd guess she is a grulla too but it is hard to confirm in her fuzzy winter coat. Looking forward to your pictures of them all shed out and shiny

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Grulla, not Silver. If it is important you could test her but she is classic Black Dun, no Silver.

 

[Morganite]

Thank you for all of your answers. When I saw her listed on Craigslist, I knew I had to have her site unseen. Sweet, Sweet little horse with great manners. Chanda, Monte is precious. I have always raised horses throughout my life and due to MS a few years ago gave my two Quarter Horse mares to the young girls across the street. They work them daily and I can still visit them. The girls run barrels and are doing very well. Since having MS makes it a little difficult to work with the big ones, I decided to get me littles ones. Even though they are horses, they are so different. In my area it was hard to find a farrier that would work with a squatty body. I have located a good one, however it does cost me extra to have him travel one hour each way to trim. Thank you everyone for being kind and offering your advice. I deeply appreciate it and will take any advice you can send my way. Now that I have found the mini horse talk forum, I will use it regularly with respect. Thanks again everyone, have a great day!

 

[Jill]

She looks to be a "frosted" (not silver) grulla. Same color as my mare I had here. The frosting in the mane is not the same a silver.

That's actually what I was thinking, too. Some kind of appy thing going on from what I can see. She's got real neat looking color, whatever it turns out to be properly called

 

[Mona]

Jill, I didn't mean frosted like an appy, I meant the lighter color on the outsides of the mane...it is referred to as "frosting" and is typical of grulla. (and dun in general)

 

[Jill]

Okay, but still think there's an appy look going on.

 

[Jetiki]

Looks like grulla to me and I have several of them. I have had a silver grulla and his entire mane and tail were white, with the dorsal stripe and all other grulla /dun markings, shoulder stripe, leg stripes, cobwebbing on forhead, His legs/head were more chocolate than black. He was by my grulla stallion and out of a chestnut pinto mare that carries silver.

 

[Jetiki]

Jill, looking at the pics again,if its the spots on the butt you are seeing I think are just where there is a weird shedding pattern going on or maybe some rubbing/itching, my stallion has the same spots on his butt and no appy in pedigree.

 

[rubyviewminis]

I was also going to say that your terms are descriptions of the varying shades of dun. Dun changes the body color. She could have a multitude of dilutions, modifications, and such. In the pictures she does look appy like, or roan. But I bet she is dun, could even be dunskin/dun buckskin because she looks a lot like my filly. Another wrench I would like to throw in is the sooty some call it smutty gene. Sooty will show a dorsal stripe, and a dark mask. I only know this because of my filly.

Her sire is a Smokey Grullo Tobiano. Dam is a Sooty Bay Tobiano Sabino. Now, I know that because her dam's dam was a sooty buckskin and Missy shows dark dorsal shading, dappling, and striping off the dorsal line in summer although it is faint. Jewel was born as buckskin as they come. When she had hr first clip like alot of minis she was a dark grey and showed the strong dorsal line through to her tail. I had her tested which included parentage hair and they said she had no dun markers to indicate she was dun. Here you can see the changes. She never loses the dorsal stripe, it is even there in winter coat.

A few days old



A few months old



Yearling



Two year old

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

she had no dun markers to indicate she was dun.

This dorsal is indicative of countershading which can be quit dark and often leads people to believe their horse is a dun. Even with out testing tho, if the horse has none of the other dun markers (leg/shoulder bars, frosting, dun parent etc) then its a safe bet it is only countershading. Sometimes tho the only way to be sure is to test.

 

[Mona]

Rubyviewminis, I believe your girl is a buckskin with smutty/brown, and don't see her being dun at all. A true dun will be born with a clear, very evident dorsal stripe.

OOPS, edited to add: I see now upon rereading your message, that you did in fact have her tested and she is not dun.

 

[rubyviewminis]

Lol, her sire being dun and producing I think, mostly duns on many mares, I was sure she was dunskin. I am not sure, but I think she is the only one that is not dun. I need to write more clearly. Uhm, dun markers in the dun zygosity testing is what they were looking for. http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/dunhorse.php, not her markings. But you are both correct, most duns exhibit other dun characteristic markings on the body, but they don't have to to be dun. Sooty is what I think of as a sneaky gene lol.

www.mustangs4us.com is one of the best sites I have found to explain and give examples of horse colors.

 

[Mona]

RVM, I believe you are correct about the sooty gene causung the lineback in her case. I had a colt here that I bought, and he was colored nearly identical to your filly, and someone knowing the owner of the stallion he was sired by, swore there were no duns behind him.There was no test available back then. But my boy had the same type of color and markings from the color.