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white mane on bay horse

I saw this quite interesting mare in a sales ad. It's a Swedish Warmblood, so there aren't that many "exotic" genes in the gene pool. Looks like a standard bay to me, but with a really lovely grey mane. I have no idea what might be causing this. I just found her quite interesting and thought that I'd at least post the link! I'd love to hear what your thoughts about her are! [url]http://hastmarknad.hastnet.se/sok/annons.php?aid=572667[/url]

Itz Wed, 01/18/2012 - 07:46

I feel that silver is one of those things that doesn't seem likely in this case. Mostly due to the breed and the pedigree, since silver doesn't exist in Swedish Warmbloods. I've found the names of the Sire and the sire of her dam, and they definitely aren't silver. Silver is a color mostly found in icelandic horses around here, but is aside from those very rare. It doesn't feel like something that is likely to end up in the armblood breeding program. She doens't looks very much like a silver to me to be honest.

Third Peppermint Wed, 01/18/2012 - 08:14

Actually, Swedish Warmbloods do have silver: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article… and since silver can be super sneaky and hard to see sometimes I wouldn't completely rule it out.

I agree that she's not the "classic" looking silver bay and could very well be something else (sabino? random mutation?), but I also can't bring myself to say she's 100% for sure NOT silver.

Itz Wed, 01/18/2012 - 09:16

In reply to by Daylene Alford

That's interrsting! I've never heard of silver in the SW before. Do you know any names or have any info about where it can be found. I also read in the link you provided that they claim that there are silver in arabian. Now, that's something i feel very sceptical towards. I know some breeders who've claimed to have silver arabians, bit this has always turned out to be false. I'd however love to hear where the true silver arabians can be found, if anyone knows!

Daylene Alford Wed, 01/18/2012 - 10:00

I wouldn't rule out silver either. Her pheonotype is somewhat similar to some QH's who minimally express silver. It would be very interesting to see a test on her.

rabbitsfizz Wed, 01/18/2012 - 13:11

No Silver in Arabs, though.....nowhere for it to have come from.
I am surprised that there is Silver in this breed- I am assuming it is tested and proven on DNA tested animals?
It looks like the reverse of "silver tail" which is caused by Rabicano or Sabino (?)
However, Thorwood has animals that are tested and look bay, or even black, with Silver.
The only thing I would query is why just the mane?

Threnody Wed, 01/18/2012 - 13:48

The Silver Dapple Morgans Project has some animals that look similar to her. Seems like aged silver is possible since silver traits can darken and even disappear with age on certain individuals. Both of these horses in the links looked like normal silvers before going dark. So the mare may be going through a transitional phase of the color.

http://www.silverdapplemorgansproject.c…
http://www.silverdapplemorgansproject.c…

Third Peppermint Wed, 01/18/2012 - 14:01

I've seen a few of these Arabs that LOOK silver, but test not to be. Maybe that's what people are seeing?

Silver was already found in horses from Siberia from around 800-600 B.C. and there are some old breeds with silver in France. Seems like silver would have had to come through prime Arabian horse territory to get there. I'd be suspicious of the all-grey or all-chestnut lines, if there are any. A little bit of silver might have snuck in through there, not that I've ever seen a silver Arab...

I do agree that it does kinda look like reverse-gulastra plume.

Itz Wed, 01/18/2012 - 14:10

I myself feel quite sceptic when it comes to arabians and silver. Sure, some lines contain a lot of grey and a lot of chestnuts, but I feel that somehere along the way there should have been a bay/black horse to display the silver.
I have seen photos of some nice, discrete silver horses, so I know that it's fully possible for them to almost "hide" by looking like plain bay/brown ones or even as chestnuts.
I did have a look around, and actually did find a few silver SW. However, most of them were bred in the states, by adding a new breed that carried silver. They could still be registrated as SW's, but the color itself didn't come from the SW side of the family.
Here in Sweden, the breeds that actually carry silver are pretty limited. Most of them are icelandics, or some imported american breeds. But to me as a Swede it just doesn't seem that likely that anyone would be adding any of those freeds in the WB breeding program, which is the reason to why I'm still a bit sceptical. I could of course be wrong, and there's no info about the dam of the dam and that side of the pedigree. But the company that owns the mare does import horses from other parts of Europe, so I suppose that it's possible that silver is more common in other parts of the continent!

Daylene Alford Wed, 01/18/2012 - 16:50

I think it does affect the tail btw. If you look very at the top edge of the tail it appears as if there is some frosting there. Just not as extensive as the mane.

rabbitsfizz Thu, 01/19/2012 - 13:55

I think you could send them a polite e-mail- just state the question and say you will understand if they do not have time to reply....

I would be highly sceptical of any Arab that suddenly displayed Silver- in the same way that I was sceptical of the "Pinto" mare that truned out to be a part bred.

Danni Tue, 01/31/2012 - 15:00

That looks really cool! And very similar to the one you posted Dogrose. Neither look silver to me, but it's certainly a cool effect with the white through the mane!