[TheJenners]

I registered him as a bay, because in his sunbleached state last year, he looked bay.

But this year, with a combination of old winter coat and new summer coat coming in...Not so sure. Also, a COTHer here who saw him last spring when he was two, before it bleached, said he was a "lovely seal brown."

I can try to get a good picture today of what I'm talking about, but basically he looks bay. With a brown nose. And red hair on his legs at the knees and pasterns, which are otherwise dark. I've been a lucky grey and no-question chestnut owner my WHOLE life.

Last Sept
A couple weeks ago.
A couple days before that

Other than those long red guard hairs that will NOT let go, he is coming in that dark seal color. And the red/blonde on his nose appears to be shedding off.

Brown v bay? Also, oddly enough, he is coming in with quite a few white hairs on his rump... And has roaning on one back foot.

[solara]

Do you know what colors his sire and dam are? That would give us a better chance of getting it right (barring just testing him, which would give a definite answer - I think UC Berkeley does equine coat color tests, not sure on the time it takes to process).

For what it's worth, he could be either brown or bay to me, from those pictures - there are bays with brown muzzles, and browns with black points. If you can get an un-sunbleached photo where he doesn't have his winter coat (that changes his apparent color too) that'll help, too.

[vtdobes]

Without testing he could go either way. I have two homozygous browns and part of the year they look brown and part of the year they look bay.

Pet DNA Services of AZ is the only lab that offers the brown test.

[TheJenners]

His dam is about the same, more "bay-ish," if you will. I was able to snap a candid of her last year with the same sunbleached coat (they had been out together...for a while...). She had the more typical black muzzle, darker around the eyes and ears.

Sire is what I consider a brown. I can only find four pictures of him online, none real great for showing color. Here is one and the other.

Good news, I'm going for a lesson today at the same farm where the dam is, so maybe I can snap something better than the quickie I got last year.

He is NOT shedding those long hairs, not sure why so I'm body clipping in a couple weeks. Which will really throw off the color, at least for a while.

[alto]

He is NOT shedding those long hairs, not sure why so I'm body clipping in a couple weeks. Which will really throw off the color, at least for a while.

FP got clipped & he still managed to sneak in a bunch of those long guard hairs - I kept accusing the kid of having missed with the clippers

If he's slow to shed out, look at the protein in his diet (I prefer to feed a higher protein hay to young growing horses).

It's so superficial but I love the brown polos on Dad!

[JB]

The dam looks bay in that picture (doesn't mean she IS, just looks very much that ) and your guy looks very much brown.

The sire is absolutely brown - seal brown

[HyperionStudLLC]

Sorry if this is a repeat but didn't see my post.

Most studbooks want to know what the color of the foal is when they are born, not what color you think they will be. Hope that helps.
Cheers

[TheJenners]

I didn't have him then, and his "breeder" didn't bother with it, so I got to do when he was 2.5 ($$).

[HyperionStudLLC]

Let the horse shed out but looks like a dark bay to me.

[JB]

The thing is, nearly every "dark bay" horse is really brown

[springer]

dark bay

[TheJenners]

Here is yesterday's picture, please ignore the tail...I got a little overzealous with the scissors. He is getting more red hairs on his knees and ankles I think?

[JB]

That is SUCH a brown horse

[coloredcowhorse]

I was told yesterday that PetDNAServices is no longer doing ANY horse testing....have not had time to verify. IF that is inaccurate they are the only place doing testing for the "At" form of the agouti which makes brown rather than bay as the "A" form does.

[JB]

I know they are not doing any horse testing *except for* brown - could that be what you heard?

I hope so, as I really want to get my mare tested for brown, she's a very, very odd one that might help many of us look at others differently.

[JB]

I went back to the Pet DNA site and as of Jan '12, the update is that they were bought by Diomics Corporation, but right below it still has the info on them being the only place that does brown testing.

[TheJenners]

JB, what color is your mystery brown mare? Pic?

[JB]

She's got a few of us wishy-washy back and forth LOL

Summer coat

Fall of that same year

A few weeks ago - she's on the right, a definite brown in the middle, and her definitely brown yearling on the left

[TheJenners]

She sure looks brown to me. Does her mane ever turn black? In the summer pic, it looked chocolately.