Question on the color Grey

[Knighthawke]

I have been looking at some minis recently and keep getting drawn to the color grey. The grey color that will turn white not the silver dapple color.

I am just wondering peoples opionion on the color. I know when breeding pintos and appaloosa it was the color curse because you can loose the horse color with age.

But what is people opinion would you buy a grey horse if the horse was exceptional in all ways but is grey. And would you breed to a grey.

I would love peoples input.

 

[targetsmom]

First of all, gray isn't really a "color" but a modifier. Horses of any color and pattern will turn gray if they also have the gray modifier.

We breed for pintos and our best, or one of our best, mares is gray. So far she has had two specatular pinto foals and each one inherited the modfier. Max died before he turned fully gray but we hope his sister Bunny will turn a lovely silver like her dam. Both foals also inherited the silver gene which tends to make them turn gray faster. Both the gray and the silver are likely to have come from Blue Boy, who managed to do quite well in the show ring.

I really don't understand why many mini people don't like gray because they seem to want "Arabians in miniature" and what looks more Arabian than a lovely gray??? For driving horses, what looks nicer than a matched pair of grays or a four in hand??

Yes, the pinto color will disappear, but the Pinto Association papers won't - it is not like "outgrowing" AMHA papers!! Here is our gray mare with her colt Max who was going to turn gray. Mira has her ROM in halter from the Pinto Association - her gray color didn't hurt her any in halter. We skipped the color class though!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I really like the darker greys, dappled the better. Always wanted one and just bought a 3 year old grey mare this year and I noticed last night that she is getting whiter, I was bummed she was so pretty when I clipped her earlier this year, but once she turns completely white she will look so nice.

I will not hesitate to buy another grey horse nor breed to one. Sadly greys just don't sell very well.

 

[Matt73]

I love a nice grey. I don't have a grey mini, but would buy one in a heartbeat if he or she was what I was looking for personality/conformation-wise...whether I was using them in a breeding program or not. But that's me, and I don't breed anymore or show (even though I do have breeding/show-quality minis

 

[disneyhorse]

A good horse is any color. There are many successful grey lines in the minis from Egyptian King to Michigans.

It's just that so many people want color (pinto and cream dilute are probably the most desirable) that you will turn off some potential buyers if you're looking to make a business, so just something to consider.

 

[Jill]

I love greys! A nice grey is the best eye candy

 

[rabbitsfizz]

The right horse for you cannot be the wrong colour. Having said that I would never have a Grey! To watch a nice colour or pattern disappear is not my idea of fun and having a field full of eventual white animals is not my idea of a colourful field, either, I like variety.

So no, I would never, ever use or have a Grey stallion, no matter how good he was. A Grey mare....maybe, but it is not going to happen with the colours I have, thank goodness, so it is not a problem I have to face.

Just a personal bug bear of mine, I had a Grey Arab mare and, in eight breedings to the same stallion she only ever produced one grey, but looking back, I was really, really lucky on that one. In the days of pre- jumpsuits, keeping her clean for a show was a work of art all by itself!

 

[chandab]

Just a personal bug bear of mine, I had a Grey Arab mare and, in eight breedings to the same stallion she only ever produced one grey, but looking back, I was really, really lucky on that one. In the days of pre- jumpsuits, keeping her clean for a show was a work of art all by itself!

The Arabian Ranch I worked for in college had a snow white National Show Horse Mare (Arab/Saddlebred), and it was definitely a challenge to get her clean for a show, keeping her clean wasn't has hard, as she was a bit of a diva, and didn't like to be dirty. There were several grey Arab stallions, but they hadn't gone white, so not quite as challenging to get and keep clean. But, all were just stunning once clean.

 

[Yankee Doodle Dandy]

I used to have an arabian grey mare, who turned white very slowly. She was a beauty and got me a lot of first places in the show ring. The only problem most people don't like about grays are that when they turn white they are impossible to keep clean, Even when we wrapped her up in everything for shows (slinkys blankets polowraps tailbags) she still had a huge poo stain on her body no matter what we tried. So its a 50/50. If you get one it will have good things about it and horrible, annoying things about it.

Claire

 

[targetsmom]

There is another downside of grays not mentioned - they are more likely than other "colors" to get melanomas (skin cancer). So you need to watch carefully for them, even in odd places like under the tail.

 

[Knighthawke]

I was wondering if a lot of people with grey minis had problema with melanomas

I has a half arab and half welsh and he never had any but now my shayga arabian mare does.

 

[Kaitlyn]

If the horse is exceptional in all ways but happens to be gray? Of course I'd buy it! Color is the least important aspect of a horse, IMO.

I do have a gray arab/welsh (see my av) and I will note that he attracts more flies and ticks in the summer than the other horses.

 

[supaspot]

I wouldnt have a grey stallion as I dont want a field full of greys but I do like the colour and I actually bought a grey mare back in february this year , she is a red and white pinto and she carries silver so she went white very quickly , my stallion is homozygous for silver so any future grey foals she has will also turn white very quickly

 

[barnbum]

I love my gray mare. She's a silver buckskin. The whiter she gets, the more flea bites show--LOVE them. She also has lots of dapples. Someone asked me once how I keep her so clean and I had to admit she's my mud puddle roller but within a few days she's clean with no help from me. Of course after a bath you need sunglasses....

Edited to add she had three foals here and not one got the gray gene.

 

[Riverrose28]

I love the greys, and as far as having a grey stallion, we had one, he has since been sold, but he only sired two grey fillies, and actually one was silver black. All of his foals wer very colorful, he carried the sabino gene, and most of his foals were solid with blazes, socks and sometime color, bays, blacks, and two roans, depending on which mare he was bred to. I like the greys becuase there coloration makes their eyes look huge, especialy black based. also I don't know if you all agree with this or not, but greys seem to be very sensitive and responsive, easy to train.

 

[Matt73]

Deleted because I "got" what was said....finally lol

 

[Sungold]

I personally think grays are pretty, but probably wouldn't buy one due to the prevalence of melanomas. I do have one gray mini mare that developed a melanoma under her tail, so now she can't even be driven any more (it's right where the crupper would go).

 

[Crabby-Chicken]

My stallion is grey. Never liked the color until I met him! He started out as a silver dapple pinto turning grey. I am getting out of breeding and love him so much will geld him to just keep him here.

His first foal is a silver dapple turning grey. And what is so cool about both of them is they have very large black eyes that are accentuated by the grey coloring.

 

[HGFarm]

I love looking at the beautiful gray Arabians that turn white- but yes, a good horse is any color. I do not breed to grays for two reasons- I have Appies and want to retain the color and the melanoma issue.

 

[delia]

I have 3 greys right now and all 3 have melanomas. One is a mini and he got melanomas at 6 yrs of age. The other 2 are Andalusian mares. My daughters old arab gelding also had it. So no you couldn't give me another grey horse. Buddy my mini can't drive because he has it right where his crupper goes. Also, he has them on his neck/shoulder and his harness rubs there too. Here is a picture of him you can see it on his shoulder.