Red bay?

[miniluver]

[SIZE=12pt]Is there such a thing as a red bay? My bay mare is such a red brown. I was just curious if she could carry a red gene. I realize I could have her tested. If it's not possible then there is no point in doing it.[/SIZE]

 

[Magic]

She *could* be carrying a recessive red gene, but since the red gene is recessive, it wouldn't change the way her color shows. A bay is genetically a black horse with the agouti gene. There are MANY different shades of bay though, and some are really bright. Got a pic? I love bays.

 

[Riverdance]

Do you know what color her parents are? or Grand Parents? If any of the parents are red, she is definatly carrying the red gene. If her grandparents are, it is possible that she is. But, yes, a bay can carry the red gene.

You can breed a bay to a bay and if both are carrying the red gene, you can get a chestnut. It is only if both parents are red, that you can only get red.

 

[Katiean]

I have seen horses discribed as Bay, Black Bay, And Blood Bay. I guess they are all just shades of Bay. They are not registered as Black Bay or Blood Bay just Bay. I think this is like the Chestnut Or Sorrel debate.

 

[love_casper]

Regardless of if she carries the gene, it is recessive and would not change her color one bit. Bays are in all different shades because of what the agouti gene does. there are just two main base colors - black and red. the agouti gene "restricts" the black to the "points" of the horse - mane/tail, legs - therefor leaving the only other color (red) to show where the black isn't. So that's why some bays are really really red, and others not so much. It just depends on the agouti gene. But since she is a black base, and black is dominant over red, she could be carrying one copy of the red gene.