Hi all you horse people out there! We have a question for you. Our sorrel mare was bred to a Palomino stud and had what we thought was a Palomino colt. He is now 7 weeks old and is losing his baby hair and is looking really dark, almost chocolate! His mane and tail are still white. Does this mean that he will stay this color? We are not familiar with the Palomino coloring so we are not sure what is going on. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

-- Kathi in Mo. (rrubyacres@excite.com), June 13, 2002

Answers

It is most common that a Sorrel(Chestnut) bred to a Palomino will produce either a palomino or a chestnut. There is a rare chance of a red dun according to my Equine genetics book.

The colors created by dominant genes over recessive are confusing. Do you know the colors of the grandparents? I've had a foal change color completely between a foal coat and a yearling coat.

-- Granny Hen (cluckin along@cs.com), June 13, 2002.

Hi Granny Hen. We have two yearling fillies from this same palomino stud. One is a sorrel like her momma and the other, from our other sorrel mare, is a beautiful red dun. We were so suprised to get a palomino colt this time. We really don't care what color he turns out to be and it is really kind of neat to watch this. Since we have no experience with this coloring we were just wondering what was going on. All on mommas side are sorrels. I checked on poppas and there are palominos, sorrels, red duns and one chestnut that I could find. Thanks so much for your input. Now we will just sit back and watch!

-- Kathi in Mo. (rrubyacres@excite.com), June 14, 2002.