Change in buckskin coat colour - any ideas???

[TrueColours]

Jorge - hopefully you may have some thoughts on this as well ...

Here are some pictures I took of Faux Finish at her show 2 days ago:



and:



and:



and then these were taken of her 3 months ago:



and:




Do ALL buckskins go through this huge colour change as the season goes along and will she get darker in the spring again when she sheds out her winter coat? And if I clip her for the Royal Winter Fair in November, will she go a funny grey/beige colour and not even look buckskin at all??? Does anyone know?

Last year she was quite light and then when she shed out this spring she was this gorgeous deep caramel colour which I loved. We have intentionally made it a point of turning her out in the morning only so the sun doesnt bleach her coat out so I dont think its a sun fading issue at all ...

Is this just a "buckskin thing"??? And will I wake up every morning wondering what colour she will be today???

Thanks a bunch everyone!

[KBEquine]

For years I campaigned a buckskin Trakehner/TB/QH in dressage & jumpers. He was 4 when I got him & is 20 now -- and still standing in my pasture.

He changes color seasonally & always has done. In the summer he's a buckskin, in the fall he darkens. In the winter, you'd think he's a light seal brown. Come spring, he sheds by color -- one day I'll have buff-colored hairs in the brush [and he gets darker, having shed the light hairs], then he sheds the mousy color & for about 2 weeks you can see a reddish hint to his coat & he could be a bay. THen his new coat takes over & he's the golden buckskin color that carries him through the summer, again.

So yes -- some of them DO change colors seasonally, although I can't vouch for all of them.

Having said that, we do still have a QH mare registered as buckskin who lightened like your mare. But she never went dark again. Then again, one parent was gray, so I'm reasonably sure she was mis-registered & was really a gray-over-dun. To date, it hasn't meant enough to us to have her checked, though.

KBEquine

[Jorge]

Dear TrueColours,

Thank you so much for sharing with us those wonderful poses of always beautiful FAUX FINISH. Hmmm, I think will first share this with some authoritive enthusiasts.

Blessings

[Jorge]

Dear TrueColours:

I shared this case just as I informed on the previous thread.
The impressions received from the consulted person states that:

01. Season is a factor on some cases.
02. Age is another factor too.
03 Due to these reasons some buckskins can cause confusion.
04. The ones with dark "countershading" tend to be the ones more pronounced.
05. Faux Finish appears to have some of this effect going on.
06. This contributes to the dappling.
07. The extensiveness of white appears compatible with being a sabino.
08. According to the cited opinion most Palominos/Buckskins trace back to a the same source.
09. Considered an interesting color.

The aforementioned 9 abbreviated/paraphrased opinions ARE NOT MINE but from the generous kindness of the consulted friend. Hope this may help.

[apritchard]

You are still bringing her to KY aren't you??? I can't wait to see her in person!

[TrueColours]

Thanks so much Jorge! I think from what I have been hearing, this is a "buckskin thing" and each season, she will go through varying stages of coat colour changes. One lady's mare is 30 now and she said that she will go through 4-5 changes per season where she looks like a completely different horse!

Angela - I am going to take a pass on Kentucky this year. Its definately in the books for next year, but with some things going on here now, I cant get away, especially in the middle of the week for the 3 days ...

[Arctic Cielo]

Heres this colt DNA tested Palomino.
http://www.superiorhorse.net/bali.html

[summerhorse]

Besides dilutes being able to do weird things I think she's just a fader. Buckskins can be faders like other colors. I knew one once (lesson horse) almost the same color, by mid summer he was almost white! (Cool looking!) But in winter he was the dark dappled color.

[TrueColours]

From all of the responses I am getting from people that have owned and bred buckskin's for years, it is that they will go through 4-5 colour changes each season. One lady with her 30 year old mare said that she has been doing so every single year, for 30 years!!!

Arctic Cielo - neat example! Reminds me of one of Sarah Dekker's foals one year by Guaranteed Gold looked EXACTLY like that colt! You'd swear it was chestnut except for the fact that it was by GG and couldnt be chestnut!
Once he shed out as a yearling, he was the most beautiful deep coppery palomino imaginable and of course as time went on his mane and tail went snow white as well...