If a horse has white hairs throughout their coat, will they go grey?

[Morganite]

Ok, I bought this pretty little girl two years ago. Her papers, and coggins labeled her as black. She can be black or bay depending on the time of year. Today as I was grooming her, I noticed a bunch of white hairs throughout her coat. A few days ago, while reading through a thread, cannot remember which one; I read that a horse can be dark or bay but it they start getting white hairs they will go grey. Is this true? Misty is four this year. I have seen bay Arab foals turn grey.

 

[Carolyn R]

There is only a chance of her greying out if one of her parents were grey. If not, then what you are most likely seeing is sabino. It will can cause white hairs to be evenly dispersed throughout the coat, it gives the coat a muted tone, but the horse does not change its true visual color. Some classes of sabino is more extreme, and will make a horse appear white, but that usually occurs between 1and 2 years old if not earlier.

 

[REO]

SABINO

 

[Morganite]

That makes sense she does have a blue eye and I am not sure what color her parents are. She I have not noticed white hairs in the past but today in the sun I noticed lots of white hairs throughout her barrel and flanks.

 

[REO]

I have a black tobiano mare that has so many sabino hairs throughout her body that she looks blue roan in the winter LOL!

Then she sheds out and is black with the sabino ticking in summer

If she has a blue eye, that is possible Splash as well as the sabino

 

[Morganite]

So much to learn. She is shedding out nicely this year. I am not sure if it was our mild weather or a combination of good, hay, grain, omega-shine and oil. The other I just adopted two months ago is still as hairy as a yak. Thanks for your input.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

If there is any chance of you breeding her then test her for LWO as she has solid legs. Nice mare, not Grey!

 

[REO]

I was thinking maybe LWO too Jane

If you're going to breed her it's always a good idea to test her.

I have a banner link to the GENETICS lab on my home page of my site, if you need it

 

[Gone_Riding]

My pure Arab has some gray hairs. However, she is chestnut. She's not roaning and she's not turning gray, but she did give me a fright when I noticed it! It's been 10 yrs now. The hairs are still there and she's still chestnut.

Could you get a close up so we could see what hers look like?

 

[Morganite]

Friday I will be pulling hairs and sending them off for testing. I would like to know more since I have no clue about her history, color or genetics. Pricing seems very reasonable. Thank you for directing me to the genetics lab Reo. Thank you Rabbitsfizz, I couldn't resist her when I met her. She reminded me of a mini black arab and a mini friesian. I will post results as soon as I get them. Goodnight everyone.

 

[REO]

I'll be looking forward to hearing the lab results

Keep in mind that if you test for Sabino and it comes back neg, that does not mean she isn't Sabino. There are many types of Sabino and their test doesn't cover all of them.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Arabs don't have true Roan, so that was not a possibility! Sabino is the culprit in Arabians.

Ditto the Sabino test- it is actually hardly worth doing, IMO, she has Sabino. If I were going to test I would test for Splash White and LWO