Silver dapple...Lost his dapples?

[mydaddysjag]

At the beginning of the season last year, D had big, beautiful dapples all over. We tweaked his feed program around a bit, because when I purchased him one of the foods he was on was something I couldn't get in my area, it was just a 12% sweet feed, which he got with oats, and alfalfa mix hay. We slowly switched him over to Strategy, a small amount of alfalfa pellets (because I couldn't get decent alfalfa mix hay), a coat supplement(equi omega complex), and he got some grass hay for long stem fiber. Slowly, his coat got darker, and he dapples seemed to disappear. I ended up switching his feed again, because I couldn't keep him conditioned on the strategy, simply too much fat for him I think. We switched to equine adult, which is one of purinas complete feeds, but it had a lower fat and protein content, and also fed a coat supplement. I switched his coat supplement to hooflex at the recommendation of a trainer. He was easier to keep conditioned, but his coat never did get his dapples back.

This season I originally wasnt planning for Domingo to be shown, and over the winter we switched him onto gro n win ration balancer, a tiny bit of alfalfa pellets(again couldnt get any alfalfa mix hay, and the grass hay isnt great) and grass hay.

When I first clipped him, it looked like he had dapples coming back, and I was really excited.

Well, late in the spring, we ended up leasing D out to a 4H girl to show. He needed a little extra, so we added crimped oats to the mix, a daily wormer, and a coat supplement. This time we're trying mirra coat, as its what his old owner told me he used on Domingo, and Domingo had beautiful dapples when living there.

So, right now Domingo is getting buckeye gro n win, crimped oats, a very small amount of alfalfa pellets, 1 tbsp mirra coat, daily wormer, and a little grass hay for long stem fiber and something to munch on.

Now, looking at it, my feed program is getting pretty complex. I pre measure all of Domingos food and supplements into baggies, so I know he is getting the right amounts of everything, and honestly it takes me forever. I know many people say dapples come from good nutrition, but ive tried him on every good feed I know of in my area, have tried a few different coat supplements, etc. and still, no dapples. Actually, what dapples he did have after I clipped him seem gone.

Another thing is that his mane seems to be turning darker and darker. Ive seen pictures of him from his old owner where his mane was pure white, last year it was white with some darker grey mixed in, and this year it seems mostly dark gray, with some white mixed in. Really strange.

Other than nutrition (which I think it cant be, since ive tried a few different things) what else can cause his dapples hes had for years to disappear? The only other thing I can possibly think of is that we dont turn him outside in the sun. I thought this could cause it, but others have told me that it has no affect on dapples.

Any ideas on how to get his dapples back? I really dont like having this copmplex feeding routine, and not accomplishing what Im trying to get.

 

[Barbie]

Silver dapples change color during the year - at least mine do. Just depends on the season I think. I have a silver bay pinto who up until a couple of weeks ago looked like a silver dapple pinto - now his bay is coming in.

Never a dull moment!!!

Barbie

 

[rabbitsfizz]

The actual name of the colour is Silver Black, some have dapples, some do not, and some have them and then lose them and then get them back!

That is all that has happened.

 

[mydaddysjag]

I knew silver dapple was actually silver black, just wasnt sure what caused him to lose the dapples he had his entire life, and how to get them back. I always thought if they kept up the good nutrition the dapples would stay, but it doesn't seem the case here,

 

[Minimor]

Good nutrition/good health sometimes brings out dapples on non-silver horses, but a horse without dapples isn't necessarily in poor health or not getting good nutrition. I've found that some years we get dapples, some years we don't--coats are just as shiny each year, but we don't always get the dapples.

The dapples that you see (or don't see) on the silver horses have nothing to do with nutrition. As said, silver horses get dapples and lose dapples at different times of the year. Our senior stallion Ice Man rarely has any dapples--his coat is nearly black in spring & fall, and fades to a steel gray in summer & winter. His daughter Frosty has been very dappled all her life (she is 5 this year) and is normally a lighter color than Ice Man. This year her coat is different--I notice just lately that she's turned very dark, almost as dark as Ice Man, and her dapples are pretty much gone.

The dapples you're seeing--or now not seeing--on Domingo are almost certainly related to his silver gene and have nothing at all to do with nutrition. I can tell you that you don't need to feed a lot of fancy stuff to get dapples on horses--ours rarely get anything more than oats, good hay and a mineral supplement, and we frequently have dapples. Those kind of dapples, though, seem to occur most on our non-silvers--

 

[candycar]

I can only give my experience with the 2 silver blacks I have.

My Jelly Bean (Silver Dapple) used to have a very light flaxen mane also, I have noticed as she is getting older it is getting darker too (bummer). Her coat will get dark and her dapples fade in the late summer and fall. Lexy (silver black varnish roan appy) is always very black, seems to retain her almost white mane & tail and her dapples have come out more as she ages. Go figure!

It doesn't have anything to do with feed/supplements, it's just changing silver black colors. They get the same feed that hasn't changed much in the last 3-5 years- grass hay, some grass, ration balancer, BOSS, and a few ounces of alfalfa pellets.

I look at it this way- every season you get to have a new horse!

 

[Minimor]

I forgot to say--it's quite common for the silver horses' white manes & tails to darken with age. I've noticed this more in the silver bays but the silver blacks sometimes do it too--the nice snowy white manes & tails turn kind of yellow & then more of a brown/gold or dark grey shade.

 

[Matt73]

My mare had dapples when she came as a yearling. She's now 5 I haven't seen dapples on her since. She's very healthy and happy and spoiled. Nothing to sweat about