How many shades of gray?

[Wingless Flight]

Hello everyone. I'm quite fond of gray horses and I've observed many of my Arabians graying, but somehow they always end up with a dark mane almost or as dark as their original coat colour. And the tail always turns pure white. At least that has been my experience.

It drives me a little crazy to see the mane and tail always end up so mismatched by 20 years.

I would appreciate it if anyone could share their experiences with the graying gene and whether they have had a horse whose mane has turned white (or near white) or whether they've had a horse whose mane and tail have remained more or less evenly faded over time.

I've had a little variation in the colour of the mane when the horse has grayed out and was wondering if it would be worth it to try and breed for a lighter mane. Does anyone have any knowledge as to whether there is a 'gene' connected to the mane colour?

[BlackOak2]

Hello everyone. I'm quite fond of gray horses and I've observed many of my Arabians graying, but somehow they always end up with a dark mane almost or as dark as their original coat colour. And the tail always turns pure white. At least that has been my experience.

It drives me a little crazy to see the mane and tail always end up so mismatched by 20 years.

I would appreciate it if anyone could share their experiences with the graying gene and whether they have had a horse whose mane has turned white (or near white) or whether they've had a horse whose mane and tail have remained more or less evenly faded over time.

I've had a little variation in the colour of the mane when the horse has grayed out and was wondering if it would be worth it to try and breed for a lighter mane. Does anyone have any knowledge as to whether there is a 'gene' connected to the mane colour?

There are a LOT of different graying phases. Some have manes and tails that gray out before the body, some with heads that turn gray and the bodies hold color for awhile. Some will fleabite while others won't.
There are a lot of different ways for our horses to gray, but if your horses share similar genetics, or the same genetics, your graying genes will progress very similarly. They also tend to suddenly change, as in the usual graying genes in your herd are suddenly lacking in a foal and also introducing new genes into your herd seem to also disappear. The trick really is to only keep those that you like and heavily cull those that may not be what you want.

Here's a number of different expressions of the graying genes.
Take a look in their galleries and scroll through the image's caught in different years. You should be able to get a few more ideas of the capacity of the gray gene.
By the way, all of these are saved in the favorites topic and offer perhaps slightly more unique versions of the gene. So also take a look in their pedigrees for what they came from.

[BlackOak2]

Which also reminds me. There are those that exist that will gray the mane and tail before, but evidently, I didn't link any...
They do exist, though.

[Wingless Flight]

Which also reminds me. There are those that exist that will gray the mane and tail before, but evidently, I didn't link any...
They do exist, though.

Thank you so much for this information! I'm trying to breed realistic Arabians from adoption center horses, so I'm limited to whatever genetics I find there. This gives me enough hope to start a little side project for getting the grays I want. After I'm done with Arabians I want to get started on Lippizaners, so gray is going to be important.

http://www.horseworldonline.net/horse/profile/1888428

I'm basically looking for this type of gray, but without the flea bitten aspect. I also like when they start out dappled and I want them to grey out as soon as possible. I know the adoption centre sometimes throws grays whose whole body is white at four years old.

I haven't seen AC Arabians whose mane and tail turn white first, although I might have mistaken them for flaxen. I'll check for flaxen that seems a little off.

Thanks again!

[kiarra.davis]

How the * do you change the horses names???????????????????????????????

[kiarra.davis]

where is the random button??

[BlackOak2]

Which also reminds me. There are those that exist that will gray the mane and tail before, but evidently, I didn't link any...
They do exist, though.

Thank you so much for this information! I'm trying to breed realistic Arabians from adoption center horses, so I'm limited to whatever genetics I find there. This gives me enough hope to start a little side project for getting the grays I want. After I'm done with Arabians I want to get started on Lippizaners, so gray is going to be important.

http://www.horseworldonline.net/horse/profile/1888428

I'm basically looking for this type of gray, but without the flea bitten aspect. I also like when they start out dappled and I want them to grey out as soon as possible. I know the adoption centre sometimes throws grays whose whole body is white at four years old.

I haven't seen AC Arabians whose mane and tail turn white first, although I might have mistaken them for flaxen. I'll check for flaxen that seems a little off.

Thanks again!

If you have a bit of trouble with breeding certain aspects, there are ways you can cheat.
A triple dilute will look white and gray out, but it's hard to see color difference on them.
Plus if you breed a minus-blanket Lp, you can get the white mane and tail by a yearling (that's the horse you linked back, he has Lp).

The trick is to keep injecting new blood until you find the barest HINT of what you're looking for, then inbreed those barest hints until they come out. That will help to secure them.

Since you're going for early signs of gray, it should be a much shorter process for you. Keep in mind that fleabites can show up as late as 18 years, or as early as 4 years... I'm sure they could show up outside of these time-frames, if the genes are there, but that's the earliest and latest I've seen in my own herd.

If you need help, or extra eyes, the community can give you a hand. But I'm sure you remember that!

[BlackOak2]

where is the random button??

How the * do you change the horses names???????????????????????????????

You forgot, or missed creating your own topic. Keep this in mind in the future.

So to rename a horse, the button is just next to the name of the horse. You can ONLY change the name of horse's you own and only Living Horses you own.
The button says 'Edit Name'.
Clicking on that brings up a little dialogue style box that you can type in the name you want, or the random button is also right there, right next to the save button.

If you Do Not see these options... you may want to check your browser... it may need an update. The quickest way to diagnose this issue is to try it on a different browser and see if the options are there.

Does this help?