My bay is now a buckskin/dun ???

[Cayuse]

My bright bay mini is slowly changing color since we got him last year. He has gone from bright bay to almost a dun/buckskin color. He had very light shoulder markings last year but that has darkened and he has a broken dorsal stripe and masking on his face. He also has dark shading along his crest and faint gold dapples. His body color is less red than it was and more red/gold and lighter. I would not say he was a definite dun or buckskin, but he is not bay either.

What color do you think he really is? I am stumped.

 

[chandab]

Post pictures of both color phases if you can.

Nutrition, climate, sun exposure and other factors can influence coat color appearance.

 

[Cayuse]

I was wondering if it might be the vitamin supp I am feeding him. I will try and get a picture of him.

Two weeks ago he still looked pretty much bay, but he had unusual orange/chestnut spots like reverse dappling. I took him to a show and we got to talking about his color then, and no one really seemed to have seen spots like that before.

Since then I clipped him and ended up with what I have now. I don't mind the changes, I love him despite his chameleon tendencies ?.

 

[Miniv]

How old? Maturity and time of year can also be a factor.

 

[Cayuse]

He is between 5 and 7 as far as we know and the vet can tell. I did take a couple of pictures that I will post later.

 

[Cayuse]

Here are the pictures. They are pretty accurate. I would say the dark over his shoulder and along his crest is slightly darker in person, not much, but a little. The dark areas seem to vary in intensity depending on the angle you look at him from.

 

[Mona]

Looks to carry the "smutty" gene. He still looks very bay to me. I don't see buckskin or dun at all.

 

[chandab]

Bay with countershading or maybe smutty.

Looks like he's getting good nutrition, dapples are usually a sign of good nutrition.

 

[Cayuse]

Thank you guys! The smutty/countershading explainations solves the puzzle for me. I knew I was seeing something, but not sure what.

He has been on "SHOW GLOW" vitamin supp for about six months. It did not put a super shine on his coat as I had hoped, but I bet that's where the dapples came from as this time last year he was just bay, redder with no daps and faint shading.

I do think I liked the redder bay better but maybe I'm just used to seeing him that way. I'll adjust ?

 

[madmax]

My true bay mare showed dapples after being conditioned for showing. I call them health dapples, it is interesting how they pop up!

I think your horse is bay as well, very nice.

 

[Cayuse]

Madmax, those dapples do looks familiar! Your mare is lovely. I can only hope that someday he looks as sleek and fit a she does. We are working on it. Does she have any of the countershading on her back?

My welsh gelding is loaded with dapples too, but they are the dapples that seem to be from texture and not color as the center of the dapples are "hollow". My husband says he looks like a golf ball! Some years he has them and some years not.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I saw some shadowy dapples on Dapper Dan earlier this year and it really surprised me. He has never shown dapples before. He is very dark this year; would it be the BOSS? He has the agouti gene.

 

[chandab]

I saw some shadowy dapples on Dapper Dan earlier this year and it really surprised me. He has never shown dapples before. He is very dark this year; would it be the BOSS? He has the agouti gene.

I saw some shadowy dapples on Dapper Dan earlier this year and it really surprised me. He has never shown dapples before. He is very dark this year; would it be the BOSS? He has the agouti gene.

BOSS can affect color and give dapples.

 

[madmax]

Cayuse, she does not have countershading. She does have some shading at the top of the shoulder. Her dam was a palomino. I sold her a few years ago. She was an excellent liberty horse, she liked to show off and when the music stopped she would come and stand in front of me as if to say okay we are done now.!