DNA test for the gray gene?

[kdtexas]

[SIZE=14pt]Can you get a DNA test for the grey gene? I have a silver dapple (gray sire and palomino dam) yearling and was just curious after someone else posted about a horse carrying the grey gene. [/SIZE]

Thanks for your response and Happy New Year Everyone.

 

[Meavey]

No there is no test for the gray gene, I would only wish.

The only way to tell is if your silver dapple goes white.

 

[Lewella]

The gray gene was isolated a couple of years ago by researchers in England but no lab is yet offering a gray test to the public.

If your horse is gray it will eventually fade out to white. Gray cannot be "carried" - it is a dominant trait and is always expressed when present.

Edited to add - are you certain the horse is a silver dapple and not a gray? Any pictures?

 

[dmhstacy]

I have a horse who was born white with pink skin.

One parent was a silver dapple

the other a silver dapple gone grey.

By the time she was a yearling her skin was mottled all over and remains that way.

I always suspected she may be grey but was not sure as she had no grey hairs.

This was confirmed when she had her first foal to a solid horse.

A silver dapple that has gone grey.

So turns out she is a grey

 

[Ashley]

YOu dont need a test for gray. IF they have it, they will show it. As LEwella said, it cant be hidden, if its there you will know it.

Alot of times(but not always) they will have raccon eyes. THey will have a white ring around there eye. Dead give away they will be gray. HOwever a gray does have to have a true gray parent.

Alot of silver dapples are registured as "gray".

 

[Becky]

If a horse is grey, it will show. No 'hidden' gene there! Of course, some grey out much faster than others. Some grey out really slow.

Along with silver dapples being registered as grey, I also frequently see grey horses registered as 'blue roan' when nothing could be further than the truth!

 

[Margo_C-T]

Just always remember that TRUE grey, and silver(dapple)are two entirely different things! Silver (dapple)should NOT, IMO, be called or designated as "grey"; to do so is misleading AND confusing to many. TRUE grey is indeed a dominant gene-IF it is present, you WILL see it expressed in the horse-ALWAYS(though as Becky noted, some horses 'grey out' rapidly, others more slowly). It does NOT 'skip' generations, AND, a true grey horse WILL HAVE at least one true grey PARENT. This is true whether the horse is a pinto with grey as the 'base' color, or even in Appys(the true grey gene is 'death' to coloration in Appys; I am continuously amazed at how many miniature breeders don't seem to know this, and use true greys in their outcross color breeding,to the detriment of their visible color patterns-same with pintos, actually.) Becky is correct about the mistaken designation of "roan", too-remember, a TRUE roan(NOT to be confused, as the miniature registries often do, with SABINO roaning!) WILL have at least one true roan parent, much as true greys do-so if your foal 'looks' roan, consider the color/pattern of both parents when submitting what you 'think' its color is....

There is a huge problem with the miniature registries, who historically have misnamed colors of horses on their registration papers(and still do so, in many areas....

!) This makes it next to impossible to really KNOW what was going on, colorwise, with a horse's progenitors. If you want to know about whether a horse is actually a true grey, have a good look at BOTH its parents, as at least ONE of them WILL BE a true grey. Don't rely on what the registration papers may say; SEE them with your own two eyes....

 

[Meavey]

The gray gene was isolated a couple of years ago by researchers in England but no lab is yet offering a gray test to the public. 

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Darn, they could make a fortune if they did!

For example , the appaloosa registry here doesn´t want greys, but is is sometimes very hard to see, on few-spots for example, they would love it.

 

[Lewella]

I have a horse who was born white with pink skin.One parent was a silver dapple

the other a silver dapple gone grey.

By the time she was a yearling her skin was mottled all over and remains that way.

I always suspected she may be grey but was not sure as she had no grey hairs.

This was confirmed when she had her first foal to a solid horse.

A silver dapple that has gone grey.

So turns out she is a grey

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If the foal was born with pink skin that mottled with age something is going on other than just silver and gray. Silver and gray don't cause pink skin.

 

[Lewella]

Darn, they could make a fortune if they did! 

For example , the appaloosa registry here doesn´t want greys, but is is sometimes very hard to see, on few-spots for example, they would love it.

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There are appy breeders in the US that would love the gray test too! Plus double dilute breeders - you would be amazed how often gray cremellos and gray perlinos show up in some of the big horse breeds!

 

[Songcatcher]

Becky is correct about the mistaken designation of "roan", too-remember, a TRUE roan(NOT to be confused, as the miniature registries often do, with SABINO roaning!) WILL have at least one true roan parent, much as true greys do-so if your foal 'looks' roan, consider the color/pattern of both parents when submitting what you 'think' its color is....   There is a huge problem with the miniature registries, who historically have misnamed colors of horses on their registration papers(and still do so, in many areas....

!) This makes it next to impossible to really KNOW what was going on, colorwise, with a horse's progenitors. .......... Don't rely on what the registration papers may say; SEE them with your own two eyes....

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I agree with this TOTALLY! However, the registries have no designation for Sabino and Roan is a better description than Solid. I sent in pictures of my mare who was mistakenly registered as a "Red Dun" and VIVIDLY described her as having Sabino roaning but not a TRUE ROAN and they sent her papers back marked "Red Roan".

 

[bevann]

Now I'm really confused.I bought a colt at an auction who looks to me like he is gray.His papers say red roan and neither parent is gray.Is it possible for him to be gray when clipped and another color when his hair grows in.He looks like a very dark gray.

 

[Becky]

Bevann,

Your colt could be any one of a number of colors. Grey, silver dapple, or a variety of colors. Yes, it is very possible for him to look like one color when clipped and actually be another. For example, bays and blacks clipped in their winter coats always come out to look smokey grey. Do you have a picture you could post?