Due to decreasing use over the years, I have decided to disable the forum functionality of the site.

Forums will still be available to view but new posts are no longer allowed.

Dun or countershading?

Horseridge May 25, 2014 May 25, 2014

Forums

Colt belonging to a friend.

Dam is bay, sire is grey, with no dun in his background. Owner swears baby is dun, "from the dam's background" I tried to tell her if the dam is bay, she is not passing any dun along LOL! She doesn't believe me when I tell her it has to be countershading, not dun, but I have never seen it so strong! What do you think?

JNFerrigno Sun, 05/25/2014 - 14:10

Baby looks like it's going to grey out. I see this a lot in Andalusian horses. I'm trying to remember off the top of my head, but I might have the wording wrong. What happens with grey foals, is grey causes a natural darkening of the coat before the pigment is removed from the hair follicle. This is why that some time when we see horses that are going to grey, their counter shading is SO strong, because of the natural darkening process. 

Daylene Alford Sun, 05/25/2014 - 15:25

What JNFerringo said.  I have seen countershading this strong in gray foals before and while it's not common for it to be this strong, it does happen.   

MitashiaR Wed, 05/28/2014 - 11:30

I imagine the same principle would apply to mule colts? A few years ago a mini mare had a bay mule colt with pretty dark dun-type markings (dorsal stripe, shoulder line, leg bars). I know the sire was gray, but do bay mules/donkeys usually show more countershading anyway than a bay horse?