Blue Roan

[mastercece2b]

Does the color Blue Roan form part of the appaloosa or it is a gene with share?

 

[R3]

A horse of any color can have the roan gene in addition to any other color or pattern genes. It is a separate gene from Appaloosa and any of the Pinto genes.

The term Blue Roan is used for a black horse that also has the 'roan' gene. Physically, the horse will have a black head/face, mane, tail, and legs. The body will be a mixture of black and white hairs fairly evenly dispersed giving it an almost uniform color when viewed from a distance, but you can see the intermingled white and black when you are closer. The roan gene is what creates the mixture of white hairs on the body.

Appy's have a 'roaning' gene that is all their own. It is not the same as 'true' roan. It creates the even intermingling of colored and white hairs, but it is not restriced to just the body area. The head, legs, mane, and tail of a horse with the Appy roaning will also get the white hairs mixed in. If the horse's head/face have white hairs mixed in, it is from Appy roaning (or Gray), not from 'true' roan. The Appy roan gene also tends to develop over time, and the horse gets more and more white, while leaving pigmented hair over the bony areas of the face and leg joints.

A horse can have Appy roaning AND still be a 'true' roan, though IF they carry BOTH genes. But, it would be difficult to tell. To be a 'true' roan, at least one of the parents must be 'true' roan.

One other thing to mention when talking about 'roan' and 'roaning' is that a horse that is going Gray can mimic the 'true' roan and/or Appy roaning. At certain stages of the graying process, it is difficult to distinguish them apart. Many horses have been misidentified on their registrations papers as some color of 'roan' when in fact they are just going gray. A gray starts out as any color then gradualy adds more and more white hairs until they appear white. Some horses gray out very quickly, some take their entire lives.

 

[HGFarm]

I agree with what R3 said. Does the horse have an Appy parent? Or a gray parent?

A true blue roan usually keeps a solid face/head area and has no Appaloosa characteristics like the white sclera, mottled skin, etc.... There are at least three types of roaning with the Appies- varnish, marbled and frost.

Does the horse have roaning in it's face? What's the color on the sire and dam?

 

[Magic]

I have several "true" blue roan appaloosas here. I love roans.

: I also have a bay roan mare that has no appaloosa in her. The roan gene and the appaloosa gene are completely separate, though you *can* get both in the same horse.

I agree that if you want to know for sure if your horse is a roan, find out if either of its parents are roans. I have also run across a lot of greys being advertised as roans, early in their greying process.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

Here's our overoloosa stallion.. He is registered as a blue roan and did look like a true blue when we bought him but over the past two years he has varnished more on his face, it's not as dark as it was, going a roany color with spots now, same with his legs. With the help of people here and his original breeder we've determined he is a black based varnish roan, and the varnishing/roaning is giving him the 'blue' look.. Also more than likely he has some sabino in there too..

This is one of the pics we bought him off of, as you can see his legs and head were dark:

This was the winter after we brought him home:

And now (taken about a month ago)

 

[rabbitsfizz]

The thing you must remember about Roan is that it can be "underneath" the Appy- so , Lucky C, your colt might well be true Roan (although I do not think he is, BTW) and the Varnish is removing all the characteristics.

Unless a horse has the Blanket pattern it unlikely to stay looking Roan of any sort as the Appy spotting will fade the Roan away.

Very few Appies are really Roan, most so called "Blue Roan Appies"-like Orion, for example, have no Roan at all- just Appy roaning.

 

[mastercece2b]

A horse of any color can have the roan gene in addition to any other color or pattern genes. It is a separate gene from Appaloosa and any of the Pinto genes.
The term Blue Roan is used for a black horse that also has the 'roan' gene. Physically, the horse will have a black head/face, mane, tail, and legs. The body will be a mixture of black and white hairs fairly evenly dispersed giving it an almost uniform color when viewed from a distance, but you can see the intermingled white and black when you are closer. The roan gene is what creates the mixture of white hairs on the body.

Appy's have a 'roaning' gene that is all their own. It is not the same as 'true' roan. It creates the even intermingling of colored and white hairs, but it is not restriced to just the body area. The head, legs, mane, and tail of a horse with the Appy roaning will also get the white hairs mixed in. If the horse's head/face have white hairs mixed in, it is from Appy roaning (or Gray), not from 'true' roan. The Appy roan gene also tends to develop over time, and the horse gets more and more white, while leaving pigmented hair over the bony areas of the face and leg joints.

A horse can have Appy roaning AND still be a 'true' roan, though IF they carry BOTH genes. But, it would be difficult to tell. To be a 'true' roan, at least one of the parents must be 'true' roan.

One other thing to mention when talking about 'roan' and 'roaning' is that a horse that is going Gray can mimic the 'true' roan and/or Appy roaning. At certain stages of the graying process, it is difficult to distinguish them apart. Many horses have been misidentified on their registrations papers as some color of 'roan' when in fact they are just going gray. A gray starts out as any color then gradualy adds more and more white hairs until they appear white. Some horses gray out very quickly, some take their entire lives.

Thank you very much for these explanations very precise!

I agree with what R3 said. Does the horse have an Appy parent? Or a gray parent?
A true blue roan usually keeps a solid face/head area and has no Appaloosa characteristics like the white sclera, mottled skin, etc.... There are at least three types of roaning with the Appies- varnish, marbled and frost.

Does the horse have roaning in it's face? What's the color on the sire and dam?

I do not have any horse blue roan it was right to know some more about this color! Here we let us call it "Gris cap de maure " !

We are enough genetic late level of the colors .

Here's our overoloosa stallion.. He is registered as a blue roan and did look like a true blue when we bought him but over the past two years he has varnished more on his face, it's not as dark as it was, going a roany color with spots now, same with his legs. With the help of people here and his original breeder we've determined he is a black based varnish roan, and the varnishing/roaning is giving him the 'blue' look.. Also more than likely he has some sabino in there too..
This is one of the pics we bought him off of, as you can see his legs and head were dark:

This was the winter after we brought him home:

And now (taken about a month ago)

It is really very beautiful! I would really like to have also beautiful! Firstly I love the appaloosa and secondly with the eyes blue I crack!

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Thank's for your info

 

[HGFarm]

Lucky C that is typical with the Appy roaning- it can take quite a bit of time to show up and the real varnish marks, etc.. to come out. My mare Melody was solid smokey black at birth. At two, she had a few white hairs through her rear and flanks. At three she was fairly roaned out all over most of her body, but did not really stop roaning until she was about 7 or 8. She now just has a darker head (with the varnish marks) and dark legs, and other 'points' where they varnish, but is pretty light all over now. Her brother is the same, but with tiny spots all over his body.

Actually all three of my roan Appy mares were born solid. One just has some frost over her back and rear like her dam did and some snowflake spots now. The other was born solid and now has roaning all over her body at age six or seven (mostly developed in the last year), but nothing like Melody's. Her sire is a leopard and her dam a non Appy buckskin!

You can get roan Appaloosas from parents that are not roan Appies. We had a varnish roan born from a QH mare and out of a snowcap stallion. The filly was SOLID red except for about five dime sized spots over her rear end. By the time she was a year, she roaned out with sorrel, chestnut and white spots here and there as well.

The Appies are so interesting in the color variations. That's what makes them so fun!