Roan VS Gray

Roan (left), Gray (right)

I've seen or heard it so many times...a young gray horse being called a roan.  An experienced horse person who has been active in training many competitive young 4-H and FFA horse contest teams even told me once, "You call it by the color it is on THAT day of the contest.  Maybe it will be gray some day, but if it is a mixture of colored and white hairs on contest day, it's a roan." 

No wonder those kids didn't win the contest.

If you want to call a horse a roan, make sure the horse has a dark head that isn't turning gray.  If you want to call a horse a gray, make sure it isn't a roan to be most correct.  Both grays and roans can have a mixture of light and dark hairs in their bodies, but they have some VERY different characteristics that set them apart as totally different colors.  Gray and roan colors are caused by two totally different genes.  This article will hopefully help you easily determine the difference between the two genes.

Gray

Horses carrying one or two copies of the dominant form of the gray gene (G for gray, g for non-gray) may be born any color, but will eventually become white or fleabitten grays.  The pattern of white/gray hairs in their coats may be obvious soon after birth, or may even take a few years to become apparent.  I have seen a couple gray grand-get of Jackie Bee that didn't have a gray hair on them until they were several years old, and then slowly turned white over years.  Most grays turn obviously gray by age 3 to 5, however.  Their first couple years might be described as "beautiful" or "ugly," depending upon the eye of the beholder and the base color. 

For the most part, this description might help: 

Gray foals are born any color (depending upon the genetics of the sire and dam), changing slowly to a rose gray or dapple gray, and then to a white coat or fleabitten gray coat. Dapple grays and rose grays are both intermediate colors that a horse exhibits during it's life while graying (beginning with the foal coat color and ending up white or flea bitten). When the horse has finished the graying process, it will have a white coat or a fleabitten gray coat (a white coat with tiny speckles of sorrel or black dotted randomly on the body). Dapple gray and rose grays only occur in the steps between "dark" and "white." 

WARNING!
If you want a dapple gray horse, and you buy one,
don't expect it to stay that way its whole life.
It will most likely end up white or fleabitten gray.

Photos

Gray foal at birth.  Looks bay, but became gray around eyes and eventually turned gray.
Intermediate gray (will turn white or flea bitten).  Note the graying tail and light face/eye area.
A young gray. Note the light head and the graying at the bottom of the tail.
Mature gray coat color.  Note the white/light face, dark skin, and dark eye color.
Flea-bitten gray.  Click photo to see the "flea bites" on this gray horse.

Mistaking Grays and Roans

In their first couple years, grays are often mistaken for roans.  They shouldn't be, however.  Grays have gray hairs on their faces and heads very early on, and are usually lighter colored on their heads than bodies.  This is the opposite of roans, who have darker heads than bodies.

Roan

Information coming soon...
 

AREA OF NOTE	DESCRIPTION
SKIN	Black/dark skin.*
EYES	Normal eye color (usually brown, unless another color gene causes them to be hazel/light).
FOAL COAT	Can be born any color, and generally sheds off roan by weaning time.
LEGS, FACE, MANE, TAIL	These remain solid colored!  Front legs usually have an upside down "V" that points upward that divides the dark legs from the roan upper leg/body.
LOCATION OF ROAN HAIRS	Hips Barrel Neck Rear Sometimes on jaw and bridge of nose Rarely around eyes, but many white hairs around eyes may also indicate a gray horse
PARENTAGE	Since roan is produced by a dominant gene, at least one parent of a roan horse must be roan. If a roan horse does not have a roan parent, then it should be seriously considered that the expected parentage is incorrect (unless another color gene covers the color).

Photos

Note the dark face, mane, tail, and legs of the roans after shedding foal coats.

Color at Birth/Foal Coat	After Shedding or Maturing
Born sorrel with little roaning on hips	Shed off red roan (sorrel based)
Born grullo...	Shed off grullo roan (blue roan variation)
Born bay	Shed off bay-based roan
Born black	Shed off blue roan (black head)
Born chestnut	Shed off liver-based roan (red roan), which is genetically the same as strawberry/red roan.
Roan "upside down V" on front legs that divides the dark lower leg from the roaned upper leg and body
Blue roan Tennessee Walking Mare	An extremely roaned head.  Notice that the face is roaned, but the eye area is NOT.

Mistaking Grays and Roans

In their first couple years, grays are often mistaken for roans.  They shouldn't be, however.  Grays have gray hairs on their faces and heads very early on, and are usually lighter colored on their heads than bodies.  This is the opposite of roans, who have darker heads than bodies.

Gray AND Roan Both...Yes, it can happen!

The horse that inherits both a roan and a gray gene from its parents
may look roan for its first few years,
but it will look gray for the rest of its life.

Crossing a mare and stallion who carry gray and roan genes is just fine, but can cause a lot of confusion.  Foals may be born looking like they'll be roan, but after a couple years, they may turn gray.  Some breeders believe that the gray and roan genes compliment each other, making for a more roaned roan.  But in actuality, the gray gene will completely mask the roan gene within a few years, leaving only a gray-looking horse. 

This is great for those who love grays.

But...

If a breeder crosses horses that could result in a roan foal that could carry a gray gene as well, we sure hope they will inform the buyer of the foal to avoid potential hard feelings.  If the buyer likes and expects a gray, they will be pleased.  However...If they wanted (and specifically bought and paid the price for) a roan and end up with a gray, they could have very bad feelings about the seller!
 

Born bay, but carries both a gray gene and a roan gene.  Will turn totally gray at maturity of color, and will NOT show roaning due to the graying.	Foal, weanling, 2 y/o (same horse), above Same horse at 4 years of age.  Note that "so far," the legs are fairly dark.  The rest of her is turning gray, and her legs will be gray in a few more years.   Mature Color
Roan+Gray+Probable Dun genes Note the upside-down "V" above the knees, which is a good indication of roaning.  This horse throws roans and grays from sorrel and bay mares.	"Flying X 6" Photo used with permission. Intermediate color phase.  Eventually turned totally gray, including the legs.
Gray+Dun with possible Roan and Cream genes
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Compare Gray and Roan Side By Side

GRAY Light face, light tail, light lower legs	ROAN Dark face, dark mane and tail, dark lower legs
Light tail	Dark Tail
Light head	Dark head
At maturity, light legs	At maturity, dark legs
Gray heads.  Notice the white/gray hairs all the way to the eyes.	An extremely roaned head.  Notice that the face is roaned, but the eye area is NOT.
A young gray horse that will turn white-gray/fleabitten.
A gray weanling. Note the even distribution of gray hairs on the face, which is typical of grays.
GRAY Light face, light tail, light lower legs	ROAN Dark face, dark mane and tail, dark lower legs

*If the skin is pinkish, the horse is probably a cremello or perlino (having two dominant forms of the creme gene). It can also carry a gray gene if a parent was gray, but you might not be able to tell easily due to the double dilution.

Request help determining your horse or foal's color

References

1. http://www.unicornerfarm.com/greyhoss.htm
2. http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Gray-(horse)
3. http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/~lvmillon/coatcolor/coatclr3.html#fig1a

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