WHY do alot of grey horses start out bay/black and end up grey in adulthood?

Question

I know alot of horses that are grey weren't born gey...but WHY weren't they born grey? Was it for potection? Like to blend in with a herd or something?

I am very curious to know :) Thanks

Answer 1

They have a greying gene.  You can usually tell if you see the foal newborn if it will be grey.  If it has one white eyelash, or any white hairs on its face it will be grey.  Also sometimes they are born 'bay' but it has a smoky look not the clear reddish brown color of a true bay.  Also bays, chestnuts and blacks are always born with a creamy underside usually belly and legs.. but the ones that turn grey will not have that distinctive cream underside.  

One of the parents MUST BE gray to pass that gene.  It is a dominant gene.  So if you breed a bay to a chestnut you will only get bays and chestnut or sometimes a black as it is a recessive color.

Answer 2

I'm guessing, the sun might bleach them out.

Answer 3

The grey gene affects people, and there is no purpose for it, so I suspect there is no logical purpose for greying in horses, either.

All horses are born with a primary base coat color.  A grey horse always starts as some other color, whether bay, sorrel, black.  The difference is - the grey gene slowly changes that color over in the same way that a person may have started with burnette hair but ends up grey.

Grey seems to have some benefits.  Many Arabs are grey, it is believed the light color keeps them cooler in the hot Arab country.  So survival of the fittest made greys quite dominant.  Is there a logical reason why the foals aren't born grey?  Not that I know of.

In my opinion, many animals are born different colors when young to help them hide and survive.  For example - fawns with their spotted coats.  But as a Christian I believe that God made some animals to be domesticated - I think of dogs, cats and horses.  What other reason is there for horses to be so easy to work with, and a similiar animal, such as a zebra, so miserable?  I think God intended for horses to live with people, and they likely did not require the same natural protection from preditors.  

Answer 4

Gray horses are born dark, and then gray out with age due to the loss of pigmentation in the hair follicle.  This usually happens over a much shorter time period than it does for humans (and why people get gray hair as they grow older)

Answer 5

I have heard that the reason that gray horses like to roll in the mud so much is to blend in better with the herd and be less noticeable. It does make sense that a light colored horse would be more visible to a predator in the dark. Wild horses generally would only live up to about age 10, so gray wild horses might still have some dark color to them before they died.

I don't know if there is a definitive answer, but its an interesting question.    

Answer 6

Hi there!

Well As you have probably noticed as grey horses age they become lighter and lighter.  They are not born grey because they have not shed their hair yet.  Just like a Roan their coats differ by how much sun and what season it is.

Here are some links that may be Helpful:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_(horse...

http://www.equusite.com/articles/basics/...

Hope I Helped and Good Luck!

Grey horses are so CUTE!

Answer 7

They are always born dark...don't know what is behind it.  It is just the way it is.