Part 1 of 2: Equine Color Genetics Exposed: Separating Fact from Fiction on the Gray Gene

Part 1 of 2: THE GRAY GENE, misconceptions cleared up!
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In 2010, before I knew anything about the gray gene I purchased a weanling filly who appeared to be a blue roan. A few years later, I discovered that a heterozygous gray parent can pass their gray gene onto offspring 50% of the time. If the gray gene does pass, that horse will turn gray! I tested my filly, CLEO because her dam was gray, she carried one copy. At the age of 2, she began to loose her base coat color. So, basically I experienced her turning gray first hand. CLEO was my ground floor inspiration to educate others about the gray gene.
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1.) A gray horse MUST have a gray parent! Since it is the breeders responsibility to choose the foals color and the horse owners responsibility to correct color through AQHA, the color on a certificate may clearly be wrong at any given time in the horses life.
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2.) Gray does not skip a generation! When researching using Allbreed as a reference, generally, you will see gray in the pedigree somewhere in the first 5 generations. It may appear to skip a generation but actually doesn’t, you must consider some horses are not updated. Also, Allbreed is only a reference, anybody can add/edit a horses info., do not assume because you see a color or bloodline listed in Allbreed, it is correct.
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3.) A heterozygous gray will pass their gray gene 50% of the time and that is per each breeding, not overall! A homozygous gray will pass their gray gene 100% of the time.
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4.) A horse can carry the gray gene and a roan gene both, which enables them to pass either/neither or both genes. I call CLEO a gray roan, which is not an incorrect representation of her because both are apart of her genetic makeup.
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5.) Regarding Facial Characteristics: A roan horse may express roaning on their face. A roan horse that has the gray gene will start to display signs around the eyes of graying early on. Just be aware that it takes someone who has experience in a graying horse to know the difference in a horse with actual roaning vs one turning gray.
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6.) There are 2 labs I am recommending (links below) that can test for the gray gene (Animal Genetics and UcDavis, you can order thru AQHA for a discount they use UCD), the cost is $25.00. When in doubt, test! It is your responsibility to educate yourself. Many people out there will represent a horse incorrectly. Do your research, look at pedigrees, look at parent pics, look for color signs or spend the $25 and test!
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7.) One of the 1st signs of a horse turning gray is the bottom of the tail starts to turn pee stained yellow. You can check a foals eyelashes for gray ones, but this is not foolproof! At some point, the hair line above the cornet band will start to turn gray. Each horses transformation is different. Process may start early on or later in life. End results may take years, even a decade. IMO, the yearly changes are beautiful, ultimate results will be a white horse.
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8.) I am often asked, will all roan horses eventually turn gray. Only if they carry a gray gene. 🤣
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9.) Goggles around the eyes is not always a true sign that a foal will turn gray. I have had many foals with no gray parents get the goggles. I kept this in mind when my gray mare foaled and gave us a blue roan colt who had goggles. As always, everyone was quick to jump to the conclusion that he had the gray gene. I always test, the results came back NN for gray!
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10.) Please be very careful posting your horse out in public and asking if it will turn gray! I have seen this happen so many times it actually irritates me now and that is another reason I created this presentation. WHY? Even if your horse has no visual signs yet, more then not peoplel will tell you your horse will turn gray. I do not know what it is about that question that sparks some to be so certain with a horse with no visual signs (for example a foal), but that is the way it always falls. Most common reason I expect is facial roaning, foal goggles, what is refereed to as hyper pigmentation or past personal trauma? I like to refer to them as “GRAY NAZI’s”! I have given you the tools above to identify the gray gene in a older horse (foals are so hard to determine), when in doubt spend the $25 and test!
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Want to see what Raisin Roans Ranch Quarter Horses currently has available(foal crop)? Would you be interested in joining our exclusive FB group where I post daily Ranch experiences? Everything R3 has going can be found by clicking the below link 👇
https://linktr.ee/raisinroansranch

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Equine Genetic Testing for Color and Disorders:
https://animalgenetics.com/
https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/
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All Breed Database:
https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/
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