Breed Information
Colour Coat Genetics - Gray
  

WHAT ARE THE COLOUR GENETICS OF GRAY?
Surprisingly, GRAY will have the same colour genetics of every colour covered thus far, including the ROANS. GRAY colour genetics depend on the colour of the horse before it turned GRAY.

It is important to note that a GRAY foal or horse must always have at least one parent that is GRAY. GRAY will not "crop out" from two non-GRAY parents, regardless of whether or nor GRAY is in the pedigree. GRAY does nor skip generations.

WHAT ODES A GRAY LOOK LIKE?

The appearance of the GRAY depends on the stage of graying and/or the age of the horse. The horse may be an immature gray at any age, meaning that the horse is retaining much or some of its original coat colour but is showing clear signs of turning GRAY. Among others, these signs of graying are most often found around the eyes and muzzle but may also be throughout the face as well as over the entire area of the ears. It is interesting to note that any horse with black points (BLACKS, BROWNS, BAYS, BUCKSKINS, DUNS, GRULLOS, and their ROAN variations) will also show early signs of the graying effect at the end (bottom) of the rail. This will usually appear anywhere from silver to a light brassy colour, and as the horse ages, more of the tail lighten, increasing from the bottom up. The lower legs, which would normally be solid black, will begin to show an increase of GRAY hairs scattered throughout. Some horses showing the early signs of turning gray will also have gray or 'roan-looking' patches of various sizes throughout the body. They may be as small as silver dollars or as large as an adult hand.

Any of the solid colours covered thus far may have white hair scattered throughout the body or have white hair concentrated in specific areas. These areas are usually the flanks, between the fore legs, the root (top) of the tail and sometimes over the barrel, usually in vertical patterns directly over each rib. It is most often confused with ROAN but is neither the result of the ROAN nor GRAY genes. This distinct pattern of white is sometimes called rabicano (pronounced rab ih CON oh), a word of Spanish origin meaning "brush tail," referring to the bands of white hair at the root of the tail. It is also referred to sometimes as "ticking." One way to determine the difference between the 'classic' ROAN and another colour with white hair due to the rabicano or ticking trait is to notice the colour of hair once the 'roan' areas have been scraped or rubbed off. On a 'classic' ROAN, the ROAN hair does not grow back once scraped off-only the base colour of the body will grow back. On the rabicano affected horse, the hair that is scraped off will usually grow back solid white, the same that would happen if the horse was solid coloured.

WHAT IF MY HORSE STILL LOOKS DUN OR BUCKSKIN OR ROAN, OR WHAT IF IT DOESN'T LOOK COMPLETELY GRAY?

It cannot be stressed enough that a GRAY horse will start out as ANY colour other than GRAY. This includes the ROANS, the DUN DILUTION horses (DUNS, RED DUNS, GRULLOS), and the CREAM DILUTION horses (BUCKSKINS and PALOMINOS). This means that, for example, a BLUE ROAN horse turning GRAY may retain black over much of the bead for a while but will still show evident signs of graying in the areas already stated; a DUN DILUTION horse may retain any of the DUN markings-dorsal stripe, zebra stripes on the legs, stripes over the withers, or any marking or colouration associated with DUN-and still be in the process of turning gray; a CREAM DILUTION horse may retain lighter hair in the coat with the mane and tail being seemingly unaffected. In essence, the DILUTION horses may still appear their original colour for an extended period of time-tan or gold body colour, dark or black points on DUNS, BUCKSKINS, GRULLOS, etc. - but will be considered GRAY due to the areas-however subtle-that indicate the signs of graying.

Sometimes a foal is pending registration with AQHA and has a coat that is 'obviously' turning GRAY. This foal may have a parent that is registered its original colour but has turned GRAY or is turning GRAY and yet still retains some of the characteristics as described above, i.e., a dorsal stripe if the parent is a DUN, or darker points if the parent is BLUE ROAN or BUCKSKIN-to give only two examples. This parent will need to have the colour corrected to GRAY before the pending registration can be completed. (In the case of the DUNS-turned-GRAY, the dorsal stripe, zebra stripes on the legs, or the striping over the withers can be described under the markings area of the certificate if those characteristics are still visible on that horse.) Sometimes AQHA will request a foal's pedigree be corrected for several generations in the event the ancestry shows the need for those ancestors to the corrected to GRAY.

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