Dear Prism,
Hello, I bred my buckskin mare to a blue roan stallion. My filly was born Sunday, and no one can figure out what her color is. She looks like a bay roan to me, others say she will gray out. The sire has many foals born roan then gray out, and he was tested and will eventually gray out. I want to know what the chances are that this filly, with bay roan appearance, will turn gray? Thank you! Kelli, submitted via HorseGazette.com
Dear Kelli,
Not knowing the breeds involved (like Appaloosa) if the sire has been tested positive for Gray and not seeing a picture of the filly your chances of the filly turning gray is 50%. Every foal inherits a set of Chromosomes from each parent; horses carry 64 chromosomes with each parent contributing 32 chromosomes. If she is already evidencing Gray I’ll increase the % to 100%. A “quick, down & dirty” guesstimate of adult color would be to look at the eyelashes on a foal – foals are born with eyelashes of their adult color (“Most” of the time). If her eyelashes are light and she looks to be a bay then I’d absolutely say she’ll turn gray. - Prism
Dear Prism,
I have a 16h. red dun paint mare that I am thinking about breeding to a 15.3h. black & white paint stud. What color and size will my foal most likely be? Roxanne, submitted via HorseGazette.com.
Roxanne,
Since “Mother Nature” loves a good joke – I’m not even going to venture a guess on adult height of the coming foal. Sometimes she will reach back generations and those 16hh parents produce a 14hh offspring. As far as color . . . Red Dun is Sorrel plus dun so if you cross a sorrel with a black your probabilities are Sorrel, Black or Bay. If the mare gives her dun genetics you could have a Red Dun, Classic Dun or Grulla foal. - Prism
Dear Prism,
I am considering breeding my sorrel mare with a black/white tobiano stud. What color do you think the foal would be? Thank you. – Julie Smith, submitted via HorseGazette.com
Dear Julie,
If you cross a sorrel with a black your probabilities are Sorrel, Black or Bay. If either parent carries any modifiers those may show up as well. Those modifiers could be Crème/Dilute, Roan, Dun, etc. - Prism
Dear Prism,
I have a palomino mare I would like to breed, her sire was a palomino and her dam was a chestnut. I wish to breed her to a grey stallion. His sire was a bay and his dam was a grey. What are my possibilities for a palomino foal?
Thank you for your time. Cindy, submitted via HorseGazette.com
Dear Cindy,
You would have a 50% chance of the mare giving her Dilute/Crème gene but not knowing what the gray dam of the stallion was born as limits our ability to really make a guess. I’d say the foal will be Sorrel/Chestnut, Palomino, Black, Smokey Black, Bay or Buckskin. Each color will have a 50% chance of the foal turning gray. - Prism