Let's talk color

[wingnut]

Our new weanling came home on Friday. She's settling in really well and the "herd" (the other three girls) are only giving her a minimal hard time. I'm terribly excited that her full sister, our yearling, is who she is already bonding with. They have so many physical characteristics that are practically identical, except for coat/mane color.

For reference, the sire is a buckskin pinto and the dam is a sooty black.

So, here's some photos that I'd like to share and get input on from whoever would like to participate. If you've had a foal with similar coloring in the past, would you tell me or show me a picture of what they looked like clipped either as a foal or as grown horse?

I thought initially that once cleaned up, she'd have white socks at least on the front legs. I scrub them clean a bit today and found that their not really a "sock" in that their not a solid light color but a mixture of cream, silver/gray and chestnut (?). She also has striped hooves:

Here is a closeup of her face...she has darker hairs all around her eyes as well as on her ears:

I thought her mane was "flaxen" the first time I saw her, but now that she's been here the last three days, I realize that while there are "flaxen" hairs there, there's also very light gray with a mixture of darker gray/silver mixed in. When you separate the hairs of her mane and on her body, it's a very dark gray there:

And lastly, here's a full body shot so you can see it all put together:

If I were to have her tested for colors, which colors would you recommend I test her for?

 

[MindyLee]

Silver gene! looks to me she's a silver bay.

 

[Becky]

I'd call her silver bay too, but if you want to be sure, test for silver, red and agouti.

 

[kaykay]

Silver bay

 

[Horse Feathers]

CUTE

 

[wingnut]

Thanks everyone! I'm terribly excited at the idea of having a silver bay!

For comparison, this is our yearling....Missy's full sister. I've thought all summer that her mane "highlights" were a result of sunbleaching only, but I'm wondering what gene may be at play here. These were taken last weekend for her registration papers:

She's the reason we bought Missy. We have loved this girl to pieces from day one and couldn't help but bring home a sibling when the opportunity arose.

 

[Riverdance]

The yearling is a smokey black. She has the cream gene. All of my smokey blacks get the really blond streaked out mane and tail.

The weanling filly is a silver bay, like everyone else says.

 

[wingnut]

The yearling is a smokey black. She has the cream gene. All of my smokey blacks get the really blond streaked out mane and tail.
The weanling filly is a siver bay, like everyone else says.

Thanks Riverdance! I'm sending in everyone's registration this week and knew I would be putting down black for the yearling. Nice to know I'm starting to learn some things for a change

 

[crponies]

I agree with silver bay for the little sister. For the big sister, she could be smoky black, but I suspect she has silver as well. I think she is either a silver smoky black or just a silver black.

 

[kaykay]

The second horse is really hard to tell in full coat. She has black points on the legs so I suspect shes bay and the mane and tail are just sunbleached. I wouldnt assume shes smokey black unless you test her for the cream gene.

 

[Riverdance]

I have owned both silver smokey blacks as well as many smokey blacks. The silver smokey blacks have a whiter mane and tail,and appear a bit more silvery in their coat color. The smokey blacks get all of those blond streaks in their manes and tail.

When a horse is sun bleached, as this one is, even most blacks, unless they are a blue black (meaning unfading black) they are going to get a redish tint to their coats and look like dark bays. This ones head is still black, indicating it is a black. Points will show up on a sunbleached black.

By all means test her for color if you are going to be breeding her, but my bet will be she comes back black based with a creme gene.

 

[Joanne]

The yearling is a smokey black. She has the cream gene. All of my smokey blacks get the really blond streaked out mane and tail.

Thanks for this Riverdance. I am having Animal Genetics test one of mine now that has these blond streaks, no silver in my horse.

I do have smoky blacks here that do not have any blond hairs. I am guessing that they are jet (non fading blacks) which hide the cream gene better than the fading blacks.

 

[~Lisa~]

Actually you can not always tell a smokey black by any streaks in the mane or anything else like that.

I have had 3 born here all out of a cremello mare so no doubt they all carried the creme gene. 2 of the 3 are black as black and look no different then any other non fading black I have ever seen. No light streaks of anything anywhere

The 3rd was a bit bizzare in color and you could see he was a smokey black however his mane and tail remain to this day (as a mature horse) black

Thank goodness for color testing as not everything is easy to tell visually

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Just as with Cremello and Perlino, there is absolutely NO way to tell whether a horse is Smoky Black or not without testing, it is merely and educated guess, and I think this filly is Bay + Pangaré, just for the record!

I have seen Smoky Blacks that get that sunbleached look,and I have seen quite a few Smoky Blacks that show no sign, whatsoever, of having Cream, and if this filly did have Cream and Silver, this would be pretty much the result, visually, but, again, that is just a guess.

The first filly is Silver Bay,doubtless,and I don't really think there is any need to test for it.

The second filly I would test for Agouti and/or Cream and Silver.

 

[wingnut]

Can I just say, again, that I love this forum

The information that is so freely and generously given is a godsend to people like myself.

I appreciate everyone's input!!