My New Minis

[Laura&HerMinis]

Normally what I've seen when they go grey it's white hairs mixing in with their regular coat until they take over and they are all white. Some take years, some start as yearlings. I think you're going to have to wait and see how he sheds out in the spring.

Weird, yeah I’m thinking so too. I’m very excited to see what happens in the spring!!

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

Doesn't matter what color they start out, eventually they all go white. During the greying process, there may be a shade difference between one that starts black and one that starts palomino; but in the long run both will be just white.

Gotcha, that makes sense!

 

[Kelly]

I was putting pepper on my lunch today and that got me thinking about names….. Salt & Pepper! …or…. Milk & Cookie!!

And then that reminded me of this pic I saw on PINTEREST….

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

I was putting pepper on my lunch today and that got me thinking about names….. Salt & Pepper! …or…. Milk & Cookie!!

And then that reminded me of this pic I saw on PINTEREST….
View attachment 44764

Awww that’s adorable

 

[Cherie Lusk]

Awww that’s adorable

Awww that’s adorable

Awww that’s adorable

I love the name Pepper! I just recently bought a fewspot mare who is white and her registered name was dark star so I changed it to Pearl, I think their names should fit them. She's a granddaughter of Orion Light Van't Huttenest, I wonder if anyone out there has any other offspring of his?

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

I love the name Pepper! I just recently bought a fewspot mare who is white and her registered name was dark star so I changed it to Pearl, I think their names should fit them. She's a granddaughter of Orion Light Van't Huttenest, I wonder if anyone out there has any other offspring of his?

Actually I was thinking about Pearl as well! There are black pearls so I figured maybe it would suit the mare!

 

[Abby P]

Right, so a horse that starts out a light color will never be darker as they are greying/turning white. It's only white hairs replacing the pigmented hairs, I don't think individual hairs are ever anything except the original color, or white. So you only get those gorgeous charcoal dapple greys in horses with black base coats and no dilution genes. And they only stay that way for a few years at most, eventually they all end up white all over. A palomino going grey will probably just get lighter and lighter until the whole coat is white. Sometimes they maintain some original colored hairs at the points for longer.

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

Right, so a horse that starts out a light color will never be darker as they are greying/turning white. It's only white hairs replacing the pigmented hairs, I don't think individual hairs are ever anything except the original color, or white. So you only get those gorgeous charcoal dapple greys in horses with black base coats and no dilution genes. And they only stay that way for a few years at most, eventually they all end up white all over. A palomino going grey will probably just get lighter and lighter until the whole coat is white. Sometimes they maintain some original colored hairs at the points for longer.

Ohhh I gotcha. That answers my question! But I didn’t know if it was a slightly darker grey or white eventually but I guess it does vary

 

[Abby P]

Well, the hairs will just be replaced by white ones (nothing in between) - it's just that the speed that it happens varies. So for some horses, they may be pure white by age 10, for others it may not be until 20 - but the hairs themselves are never "grey" or a lightened version of the base color. Just the overall impression is "grey" or lightened because the base color gets diluted with white as more and more of those hairs come in, which lightens the overall impression of the horse.

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

Well, the hairs will just be replaced by white ones (nothing in between) - it's just that the speed that it happens varies. So for some horses, they may be pure white by age 10, for others it may not be until 20 - but the hairs themselves are never "grey" or a lightened version of the base color. Just the overall impression is "grey" or lightened because the base color gets diluted with white as more and more of those hairs come in, which lightens the overall impression of the horse.

Oh, yeah that’s exactly what I was wondering! Cause grey can be so many different shades I’m just like what grey would a palomino grey out to lol! Thanks for explaining that!

 

[Abby P]

Probably just a lighter and lighter palomino until you would just assume he was white unless you knew he used to be palomino.

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

Probably just a lighter and lighter palomino until you would just assume he was white unless you knew he used to be palomino.

Lol gotcha that makes sense! I feel like he’s not a palomino though, people have been saying silver buckskin cause of the darker rimmed ears and the darker legs so I’m more inclined to think that he’s some sort of buckskin (going grey possibly??) not a palomino but I’m not sure haha

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

Probably just a lighter and lighter palomino until you would just assume he was white unless you knew he used to be palomino.

Also I’ve heard people say that palominos greying out go to a dark steel grey and then go “white” from there

 

[Abby P]

Well...that might happen if their skin shows through for a period of time, since palominos usually have dark skin? I don't have personal experience with greying palominos though, I just know that the way grey works is that more and more white hairs come in over time and replace the pigmented ones. But I also have little experience with dilutions, so as I think Chandab mentioned upthread, "weird things can happen" if dilution genes are combined with grey too.

For whatever reason minis seem to have a plethora of color things going on and sometimes you end up with a silver dapple grey pinto appaloosa kind of situation that is just way too much for my pea brain to digest. Luckily my guy is just a silver bay pinto, that I can wrap my mind around.

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

Well...that might happen if their skin shows through for a period of time, since palominos usually have dark skin? I don't have personal experience with greying palominos though, I just know that the way grey works is that more and more white hairs come in over time and replace the pigmented ones. But I also have little experience with dilutions, so as I think Chandab mentioned upthread, "weird things can happen" if dilution genes are combined with grey too.

For whatever reason minis seem to have a plethora of color things going on and sometimes you end up with a silver dapple grey pinto appaloosa kind of situation that is just way too much for my pea brain to digest. Luckily my guy is just a silver bay pinto, that I can wrap my mind around.

Haha I think I gotcha, yeah minis have such strange (but amazing and fascinating!) colors don’t they? It’s kinda neat if you don’t mind your brain exploding

 

[elizabeth.conder]

It is actually extremely difficult to predict how a horse greys. They will eventually end up white, but may take many different routes. That’s why once a horse starts greying you HAVE to test to know the base color. Some don’t grey till they are older and some are grey by a couple months old. Grey is technically a pigment disease and often causes insane hyperpigmentation before the loss of pigment. I had a red horse going grey that looked almost bay for a while. Many greying palominos actually go through a hyperpigmented stage.,

 

[Laura&HerMinis]

It is actually extremely difficult to predict how a horse greys. They will eventually end up white, but may take many different routes. That’s why once a horse starts greying you HAVE to test to know the base color. Some don’t grey till they are older and some are grey by a couple months old. Grey is technically a pigment disease and often causes insane hyperpigmentation before the loss of pigment. I had a red horse going grey that looked almost bay for a while. Many greying palominos actually go through a hyperpigmented stage.,

Interesting! So how exactly do you test them? Is it the same as testing a horse for breeding purposes to know if they carry certain genes etc? Cause I’d love to do that sometime!!

 

[elizabeth.conder]

Interesting! So how exactly do you test them? Is it the same as testing a horse for breeding purposes to know if they carry certain genes etc? Cause I’d love to do that sometime!!

Yes exactly! UC Davis and Animal Genetics are the two reliable labs. It’s very easy. You pull 15-20 hairs that still have the roots on them and Mail them with the form.

 

[elizabeth.conder]

Here’s some examples of palominos going grey

 

[Abby P]

I wonder though if some of those examples also had "sooty" coloration, in addition to the palomino and grey? Or some other factor? In my experience with "traditional" greys in breeds without dilution genes other than chestnut in the general population (TBs, Arabians), they are born looking their base color - so bay, black, or chestnut - and then white hairs just start arriving, more each year. They never look darker than after they shed their first foal coat. A black-based grey will look almost black as a foal, then progress through charcoal grey, dapple grey, flea-bitten grey, eventually to white - with varying speed depending on the individual but never going darker than they began.

But it's possible that having certain dilutions makes it go all wonky? I find it all really interesting.