Rollestone Farm Stud & Livery

Probably a question that has been asked a million times, but.... having seen the picture of Bill as a foal, and only having bred solids, I was wondering about the following. When you produce a spotted foal, do you expect the colour to change as it gets older, does it always change and if so, do you have an idea of how it will turn out when it matures? Or, is it totally uncertain and that is half the excitement? Hoping I am not going to open a whole can of worms!

claire333 wrote: Hoping I am not going to open a whole can of worms!

You'll be lucky to make it out alive

*runs for hills*

I m sorry Claire there was a time i d have eagerly have shared all my thoughts & opinions ( as they still remain as strong as ever !)BUT ....i m simply too tired & sick of being hated by everyone for my already over voiced opinions
loads of examples within the threads on this section if you are interested in the subject ........it is a fasinating one but one thats caused alot of unintended bad feeling

Oh dear - sorry - didn't realise it was a sore point. I shall crawl back under my stone!! Last thing I want to do is upset anyone,

don t be daft its not you at all !........sorry if i seemed arsey .....its a really fasinating subject , and one i m always interested ininvestigating & listening to new advances (Dan? )its just maybe i m too passionate about it & of course i m an outsider so i have a different perspective to many ........so i continually got misunderstood as to my motives behind my theories when plain & simply they were all about me trying to understand the extreme reaction i encountered though breeding Bill when i was totally nieve & only wanted to understand but instead of answers i got shouted down & bullied .......so don t let me do the same to you .
Bill s dramatic change in coat appearance / pattern is because he carrys the GREY gene ,........still alot to be discovered over Grey s effect on spotted coat patterns ........as Bill is certainly regaining pigment /Spots which i m assuming is a form of extreme "FLEA BITES" ........his Mum was also getting the same regained pigment /spots before she died

please read the threads if its captured your interest ......fresh eyes are sometimes the key to better understanding & new perspective on things is healthy & helpful .......Sorry again if you felt shot down in flames .......been there & its not nice (not on Sarah s forum ......on Centyfields forum in 2006 when Bill was born )
loads of ideas /thoughts & examples here on these threads .......hope the help you draw your own personal conclusions

http://rollestone.freeforums.org/lp-spo ... -t488.html

http://rollestone.freeforums.org/animal ... -t456.html

and the biggy !

http://rollestone.freeforums.org/greys- ... n-t37.html

Sarah James - didn't think for a minute you were being arsey - promise. I just used the wrong turn of phrase! I shall go back through the topics and catch up on previous debates!

Thank God as a friend very recently pointed out to me i m becomming totally paranoid about upsetting people with what i come out with

Don't worry you're not the only one - I'm reknown for saying what I think. I can see that one has to be very careful about how you words things on a forum. I shall work hard on that and hope to god I don't offend anyone!!!

As a bit of a fluffy answer I would say some do change and some don't - very much depends on the stallion you use. We have one filly who is changing from a blanket spot to a leopard and the speed of the change is amazing, totally fascinating to watch. On the other hand my OH (who is very much a brown TB man) has kept a filly that is bay with just a few white spots on her bum and she is peered at every day to make sure she is still brown - if she colours out he'll be devastated!

I have a 24yo broodmare here that hasn't changed since the day she was born and yet I've seen 2yo's that don't carry grey (tested) go from black to nearly white with varnish marks. Personally I like them to stay the colour they were born with a lot of contrast but the most important thing is that they are nice horses with good conformation and movement then if they turn an odd shade of beige they are still useful!

2yo's that don't carry grey (tested) go from black to nearly white with varnish marks.

WOW !.........really ......I was totally unaware that a horse with such a dramatic loss of pigment had DNA tested negative for Grey ..........well that scuffers my theory then!

BUT however it make eliminating Grey in spotted breeding EXTREMELY difficult (verging on impossible )without across the board routine testing for Grey .........which would do the trick!

Billy has DNA tested Posative for Grey his Granddam was black born & is now advertised as a few spot ..........see how tricky it all is without TESTING ,TESTING , TESTING .......if Grey really is to be totally outlawed otherwise the extreme reaction to Grey is a total FARCE !

the most important thing is that they are nice horses with good conformation and movement then if they turn an odd shade of beige they are still useful!

I couldn t agree more ........i love a flashy coloured or spotty horse ........but what lies beneath the coat colour has to be flashy too , otherwise i ll be more impressed by a quality solid coloured horse ,temprament , confirmation , movement & presence ........colour is a huge bonus for me but i d never dismiss a bay , chestnut , grey .......totally open minded i love horses not colours ..........& want something to compete not to make a rug out of ! ( please say thats not offensive )

Bamber's Legacy Results Summary:
Red Factor: (Ee) - horse is Black based.
+ Agouti (AA) Homozygous - Modified to Bay.
+ Grey Positive
Indicates horse can be considered a Bay, carrying hidden Red Factor. Grey Factor will cause Gradual depigmentation.

I'd love a blanket spotted but it seems to me (inexperienced and totally lacking in spotty horse knowledge) that they change so much from being foals, and it's so hard to know what you're going to get - even harder than with solids, that i would buy one rather than breed for myself!!

Looking at Jacqui's more recent pics of Kharma he hasn't changed much at all in coat pattern. Likewise Elegance remains the same....Although she did change during her 6 months here..when she was born she had a bay head with a star and when she left er head was completely spotted! I haven't seen any recent pictures of Bolero so can't comments there...

It'll be interesting to see how Ghost's babies look when they come out...

Sarah do you an idea if they are going to be like kharma or grey with black spots or could they be any combination starting from a single spot?

All Ghosts little ghoulies are going to be fab.......whatever thier coat patterns .....this is going to be such a special year at Rollestone a thousand times more exciting than any other !