Could someone please explain the grey gene to me? Is it just that if a foal recieves the grey gene (which is dominant?)that it will grey with age? Can you tell at birth (or young age) whether or not the foal will grey out?
Some background-- I have a 12 yr old APHA Breeding Stock mare who is grey. She has red flecks throughout her coat...does this mean her base color is of the red variety? Skin underneath is black. Her dam is grey and sire is black/white tovero, or so says her papers. How likely is it that she is homo or hetero for grey? She is pregnant (and due any day now) to a sire that is a black AQHA stallion (grandson of Dash for Perks). I realize that the foal can be almost any color, but I would appreciate any comments anyone may have!
Renae, it sounds like she would be flea bitten grey. you have to have grey to get grey, i do know that. some greys are born solid color and some you can tell right away that they will turn. I have been told even the solid color ones have a few grey hairs ,ya , right ! I had a mare that was king bred, came from the king ranch, was flea bitten grey and bred to a prospector grey stallion. One time we we get a baby that you could tell was going to grey out then the next it was three years old before you could tell. Then there was the ones that you thought might grey out and ended up being roan. I have a bay roan right now. some would think he is grey but you have to watch his shedding pattern. The summer he is as dark as can be , right now he looks grey with all the shedding out he is doing.
I think that the flea bitten greys are pretty. Kim
Gray is dominant so if your foal receives the gray gene, it will gray out eventually. Many foals who are going to turn gray will have gray goggles around the eyes but this is not always the case.
Flea bites do not necessarily indicate the horse's birth color so your mare could have been any color at birth. If her papers are correct, she is heterozygous for gray because in order to be homozygous both her parents would have to be gray.
Grey is a funny thing, from my understanding, and I have bred greys for years with no color in sight,LOL,if 1 parent is grey and the other a color you have a 75% chance of a grey foal,if both parents are grey you have a 99% chance of a grey foal,with the slim change the resulting foal could be a color from somewhere back in the pedigree.As for paints I havent a clue that one has lost me .If a foal is going to grey sooner or later you should be able to tell within the first week or so, they generally but not always start greying around the eyes,you will be able to see tiny white hairs or even eyelashes,some grey around the tail head and some on the muzzle but last year I had one start on her withers,all greys grey at different rates,some snow white sooner than others,some dapple where others do not.Its a mix up for sure.Good luck.
I think what gets confusign and folks dont consider..grey gene with a roan gene..I have seen many horses with both the grey and the roan...and gray can effect ANY color. icluding dun which is really screwy as the foal is born dun and turns grey. Have seen it just a few days ago with a grey mare who was born dun, and had a dun filly..hmmm what color is the foal?? A freind bought a gelding that is a reg. roan..hehe..he is grey too..his head is grey and he has DAPPLES..I dont know about ya'll but I have never seen dapples on a blue roan yet..Just love those color genetics!! I have a colt that everyone wants to cal a grulla or a dun cause he has a dorsal stripe( very defenate, very black and very bold) as well as shoulder shading two o fthem in fact, facial webbing..I call him a black bay or a mahogony bay though. Both his sire and dam have heavy countershading, sire is a chestnut, dam is a bay with a red and black gene and has a dorsel strip and shoulder shading..the closest dun is 5 generations back...I have had to fight AQHA befor. Two years ago this mare had a buckskin filly(the first of the only two foals of 8 with the black and auguti gene)and the filly had a very prominate dorsel stripe...They are still learing a bunch on color genetics..so I will sit back and wait..with my luck I will have two horses that hide the dun gene...yah I wish!!
Gynna, You know...I never thought about it...but I've never seen dapples on a roan! Like I said..never thought about it! I have a friend who has a huge grey gelding...when people see him, they always comment on what a nice looking blue roan he is(??). Impossible, since he is out of The Last Captive, who is grey and the dam is seal brown. He is a deep rose grey with black points. Quite sharp to look at. Also has dapples!
Hey guys! Thanks for the input. I got my mare tested at UC Davis...I just pulled some tail hair, sent a check, and they this I what I was sent. Now, I understand basic and some advanced genetics, so I do at least understand what they are telling me I think...she is bascially a sorrel/chestnut under that grey, right?
Horse: SILVER SOVEREIGN Reg #: 345760 YOB: 94 Breed: PT Color: G Gender: M Report Date: 03/28/2006 Case Number: DT13912 Date Received: 03/21/2006
Color Test Results
Red Factor: e Agouti (Bay/Black): a Cream Dilution: N Lethal White Overo:
Interpretation of Result Code:
Red Factor: Only the red factor detected. Horse can be assumed to be homozygous for red (ee). Basic color is sorrel or chestnut in the absence of other modifying genes.
Agouti (Bay/Black): Only recessive allele detected. Black pigment distributed uniformly. Basic color is black in the absence of other modifying genes.
Cream Dilution: No evidence for the Cream dilution altered sequence detected. Basic color is sorrel or chestnut, bay or black in the absence of other modifying genes.
Sorry I am posting so late: I hope this is helpful! For me, it is easier to think of grey as being neither a color OR pattern, since it is dictated by other genes. Grey is a "color modifier", meaning it can kind of override recessive, or weaker, colors. It is thought to be as strong an influence as most dominant colors, and (I think) because it can co- exist, it is present in the offspring of a lot of grey horses. Think of it this way: your horse has a base coat color, just like you have a hair color. The grey gene that is present is NOT in the exact same place as the "hair color" genes. (The DNA places I visit say they do not have a test yet for the "grey gene" because it is in a different area than color). So, think of it as being different, like what genes dictate when OUR hair turns grey. NOT quite the same as the hair color, but related. Also, the flecks in the horse's hair are not necessarily the base color. My mare is a red base color, but is a flea bitten grey with black flecks. Isn't that crazy? Grey is not truly a dominant color, because it is not a truly a color. However, it can "modify" a lot of colors, and turn them grey. Like my mare, who was born sorrel and turned grey at three years! This site was helpful for me: http://www.equinecolor.com/grey.html
That was a WONDERFUL website! ^^ Thanks so much for posting!
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