Breeding and the grey gene

[zyndyna]

Would you breed your appaloosa to a grey appaloosa? Does size and confirmation matter? As in if the stud would be shetland or falabella would that make it less of a concern? Or do you just avoid grey in your breeding program altogether?

 

[Margo_C-T]

If color is an important part of your breeding program, I'd say, avoid the grey gene altogether. There are plenty of horses that have conformational quality and proper size that don't carry the grey gene and thus, won't risk the 'loss' of desired patterning. I don't believe that whether the stallion is Shetland or Falabella has a THING to do with it; good conformation, temperament, and appropriate size, in 'size' breeds, are of course the MOST important aspects in breeding, but IF visible color/patterning is something you also strive for, then you probably want to stay away from the greying gene.

 

As an appaloosa breeder, I stay away from the grey gene altogether. Nothing more disappointing than to have a well patterned foal born, that loses it's base color and turns white/grey everywhere, losing it's pattern. I prefer to not add the grey gene to the breeding herd.

As to size for breeding, what is the mare size, and the stallions that you are considering. The difference between a Shetland and a Falabella is quite a lot, generally. Shetlands tend to be taller, while Falabellas tend to be smaller. Not to say there are not some tall Falabellas out there, but generally they are smaller, and some are strong carriers of downsizing any foal they produce. But, of course, the first concern is the starting size of the mare, and the height of her prospective mates, IMHO.

 

[zyndyna]

My mares are between 29 and 36 inches tall. He is a fallabella stud. I am just concerned about getting him because he is a grey appaloosa. I was making reference to the shetland and fallabella to see if breeding triumphed color. I would love to have a fallabella in my herd but I cant decide if that is worth having a grey gene.

 

[Minimor]

I don't understand your question "does size and conformation matter"...conformation matters a huge lot! Doesn't matter what the breeding or size is--if the conformation isn't right then it eliminates the horse from breeding in my opinion.

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

Size and conformation should matter far more than anything else! Size if you are wanting to stay within registry height limits and conformation shouldnt even be a question...unless you simply mean by a certain type, which in that case I would say make sure to have some refinement as a heavier boned sire is likely to produce foals that may or may not be too big for your mares, size does still matter IMO as well as refinement as I would not breed a 36" stallion to a 30" mare for example, I generally only will go with a 2" taller stallion at most so long as the quality I want and the refinement are both there. As for breeding a grey with an appy I would not do it. While I do like greys, I prefer them solid or pinto, it is too hard to get a neatly marked quality appy so when I do I want it to keep its color! I dont mind a little shetland or falabella mixed in once in a while but dont have or need to add any.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Simply put, the stallion should be the whole package. He should have great conformation, good temperament, size and type and also if you are breeding for colour, he should be able to enhance the colour or at least not carry a genetic deficit to the colour of his offspring. Falabella or shetland aside, if he doesn't have everything you want IMO he should be ruled out. There are plenty of stallions to choose from why settle. JMO

 

[targetsmom]

We breed for pintos so I understand your question well. Our top producing mare is a gray pinto but I don't think I would want a gray stallion if I were breeding for pinto or app. But I sure am glad I didn't turn down that Blue Boy and Rowdy bred mare just because she is gray. Both her live foals were also gray pintos.

 

[HGFarm]

NO, NO and NO. With the big Appies, they banned breeding to grays and non Appy roans in the mid 70's because of what it does to the Appaloosa pattern. Because all my horses are Appies and I like to retain the color patterns, I will never breed to either of those. There are plenty of other horses to breed with of quality, that are not gray. The foals are born loud colored and end up basicly white, so if I am breeding for an Appaloosa, that is not going to work.

I must say being involved with the Miniatures, I have seen MANY gray horses that people have tried to pass off as 'fewspots', 'roans' and other various things. I dont think this is fair to an unsuspecting buyer who perhaps isnt familiar enough to differentiate.

 

Are you talking about a horse that is a grey color, or one that had totally "greyed" out because of the greying gene -- and now looks white.

Many people think horses that have a grey color are carrying the "greying" gene, but those with a true "greying" gene ultimately turn white as they mature to the unpracticed eye.

Do you have a picture of the stallion you are referring to that you can PM me or email me at [email protected]? If he's Falabella, I may have some additional information for you about him and/or his production record.

 

[HGFarm]

I have seen silver dapples refered to as 'gray'. They are not gray, nor do they fade out to white.

 

[Debby - LB]

If you hope to have a Appaloosa breeding program, I would recommend you avoid the gray gene. Conformation and size are two of the main considerations when looking for a stallion so search carefully and look at DNA tested horses to be sure.

Gray horses have a abnormally high incidence of developing carcinoma, which is metastatic to the respiratory and nervous systems, so another reason to pass on using a gray stallion. That said just because a horse is visually a gray color does not mean it has the gray gene.

 

[zyndyna]

Thanks guys. I am passing on the colt.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Are you sure it is Grey? Appies are often misnamed in base colours