COLOR GENETICS

Need Help Determining Your Horse/Foal's Color?

Fill out this form to request our opinion on your horse's color

NOTE:  Because of the high number of requests for assistance and loss of work/family time it causes, I am now charging $3 for this service. In 2007, I had to shut the form down because I couldn't manage all the requests. My choices were to refuse to help anyone, or to charge a little bit so the majority of people would look elsewhere for help. Charging a nominal fee has vastly reduced the number of requests I receive and allows me to help those really wanting assistance. :-)

Are you deworming your young horses every month? Two months? What dewormers are you using? Read this page for a surprising story about how ineffective a deworming program can be, even when dewormer medication is given every 1 to 2 months!

Tips collected in one location to make dealing with your emergency easier!

Having trouble deciding what color your foal is? This page might help!

And, we need YOUR help! If you have a couple nice shots of a foal that might help others learn what their own foals are, please send them to us. We will include many photos on this page that will help educate others in need of assistance with foal colors. Please note that this is not intended to be a free opportunity for you to advertise your breeding operation, and instead is an educational page. We will not use photos with watermarks/writing on them. There are many free advertising sites on the Internet at which you can advertise your farm/ranch/horses.

	Should you breed your mare, or would it be better (financially, for your mare, and for the breed) to buy a foal that is already on the ground?
	Coming soon...a page with items to contemplate before you commit to breeding for your dream foal.

	The easy way to determine your foaling dates...simply fill in the blanks!
	Also included are our averages for a course of over 3 years. If you think your mare is overdue, check out our numbers!

	Explanation of the grullo color
	Includes foal coat color photos and tips for getting grullo color
	It's an "FYI" page, but doesn't go into the genetics of the color much

If you want to learn more about the genetics of the grulla color, but not hash through all the technical jargon, go here.

Shades of Grullo Under Construction 7/22/2005

	Wow, it's getting ridiculous trying to keep track of all the shades of grullo that are being found used in books, on individuals' web sites, etc.
	Check this page out for some examples of differing shades from light to dark.

Request Help Determining Your Horse/Foal's Color

	Fill out this form to request our opinion on your horse's color
	NOTE:  Because of the high number of requests for assistance, I am now charging $3 for this service.

Dun Factor Markings: 

	Contains a table describing markings common to horses with dun factor, and photos of those markings.
	This page might help you determine if your horse is a buckskin or dun, or if it is a grullo or sooty buckskin (common mis-calls by breeders and owners).

Grullo Color Quiz

A quick 10-question quiz about grullo color

Blue Roan Genetics: 

	If you want to learn more about the genetics of the blue roan color, but not hash through all the technical jargon, go here.
	This page also shows the differing shades of roan, and the difference between roan and gray colors.

Request Help Determining Your Horse/Foal's Color

	Fill out this form to request our opinion on your horse's color
	NOTE:  Because of the high number of requests for assistance, I am now charging $3 for this service.

Patterns of White Hairs  Your photos needed!

	Roan
	Sabino
	Rabicano
	Gray
	Appaloosa roaning

	Make sure you know what you are getting when you look for a gray or a roan, in case you specifically want one color and not the other.
	Learn more so you aren't misled by sellers, too...a buckskin breeder in Florida, for example, tells all her customers that roans will eventually turn white so those customers won't buy roans (and so they will buy her buckskins?).  It's not true, but perhaps her serves her purpose.  Know the difference so you aren't pulled in by unscrupulous sellers who purposefully lie.
	And if you love grays, how can you tell what color your gray horse will be in a few years?  Grays change their whole lives until they reach one of two gray types...check out the page to learn more!

A quick 10-question quiz about blue roan color

Request Help Determining Your Horse/Foal's Color

	Fill out this form to request our opinion on your horse's color
	NOTE:  Because of the high number of requests for assistance, I am now charging $3 for this service.

Homozygous for Color: 

	What are the chances that a foal is homozygous for dun factor, roan, or black, for example?
	Discusses ways of determining probability for unborn foals and for foals/horses that we can visually evaluate.

Multiple Color Genes:  

	What do you call a horse that has both the look of a buckskin and the look of a roan?
	Or a palomino that also has the dun gene?
	How about a horse that was born roan but is now getting a gray head because its dam was gray?
	Examples of combined color genes and explanations can be found here.

Tips for Buying Horses Via the Internet:

	Learn from those who have, unfortunately, been there before.
	Tips to help you make a wise and safe choice when buying a horse "sight unseen" due to distance from your home, timing problems, etc.

Mare Gestation Calculator

The easy way to determine your foaling dates...simply fill in the blanks!

	AQHA currently (2006) lists 17 options for colors for foal registration.
	Examples of each of those colors, plus references to other colors that are registerable but not listed.

Raising and Orphan Foal

Tips collected in one location to make dealing with your emergency easier!

This page last updated 05/26/09