FYI, Here is a well written article written by Denise Parsons that I thought was worth sharing with you: All this discussion about colors, I thought Id toss this out to anyone considering breeding for color. Double dilute horses will always throw color to their babies - this can be considered desirable by some, you can guarantee color the same way a homozygous spotted horse will always produce color. However, if you are breeding to a double dilute stallion, know the mares color genetics as well or you may very well end up with one yourself. A double dilute horse is NOT easy to live with! I know, I own one. I did not buy Rio because of his color - although I was looking for a spotted horse (which he is - look closely - hes loudly spotted actually). I bought Rio because hes got an amazing gait and an fabulous temperament and could do the job I wanted him to do - naturally. And because of these things, Im willing to live with the high maintenance required to own this horse. First, they all have pink skin - this skin is HIGHLY sensitive. He can not be out in the sun when he has his summer coat, he lives his days from May to September in a shaded paddock - he can not be left out in the field or he gets terribly sunburn. I can only let him out at night. At a show, I bring along a white fly sheet and neck cover and a fly mask with nose cover. He stays covered at the trailer and I slather his nose with SPF 70 for when were in the ring. He also wears a Cashel Quiet Ride fly mask with nose on trail rides to both act as sunscreen and sunglasses for him. His skin is extremely sensitive to bug bites - there are several spots on him right now where the hair is permanently raised like a welt from bug bites that happened 2 years ago (the skin under the areas is normal looking and feeling but the hair sticks up). He is also very prone to the hair rubbing off and getting sores - youd better make sure his tack fits right at all times, 5 minutes in an ill-fitting saddle or a girth not adjusted just so will leave sores that will last for weeks. I arrived at a horse show last week with him sporting two huge pink rub marks on his nose - the culprit, a body slinky used to keep him clean and keep his blanket from rubbing - the seam around his nose had rubbed his hair off even though it was lined with fleece. Forget leaving a halter on this horse! And lets talk about the blue eyes. Theres lots of controversy about whether a blue-eyed horse sees as well as a regularly pigmented horse. I dont believe the eye sees any worse than a regularly colored eye, the issue is with glare (although I have no scientific proof to back this statement - just my 40+ years of experience with horses). That light fur and pink skin around the eye reflects sunlight into the eye. Any time there is sun, this horse is squinting - he looks like hes half asleep. Because of this, he doesnt see things that a normal horse might see. This has caused various issues for us. First off, luckily hes an extremely quiet and sensible horse but even with that said, I see him react with a spook and its very obvious that he simply didnt see the item until the last minute, he was not afraid of the item, he simply didnt see it and reacted accordingly. He actually fell up a bridge in a trail obstacle class - why?, he didnt know it was there. One of his worst spooks ever happened when we were riding in an open field on a sunny day and the trail was about to enter the woods. My dog came running out of the woods at that spot and Rio decided it was time to leave town - that same dog had been darting out of things all day without any reaction from Rio - he simply couldnt see the dog, only saw movement that he couldnt recognize. When I ride him, I have learned to watch for things that he might knot see until its time to react and ride him accordingly. He also ends up getting his face injured more than my other horses. Not because hes running around more, but because he simply doesnt see something before he runs into it. So, if youre considering one of these horses, and you think keeping them clean is the biggest factor - think again! Consider the maintenance of this horse and the fact that they are going to be spookier than the same horse of normal color. If you are thinking of being a breeder or breeding your mare - PLEASE do color genetics research on both your mare and the stallion and dont breed for this outcome! It may look amazing, but this offspring is going to have to live with challenges his whole life. Please breed for temperament and gait first and know possible challenging outcomes of color while youre choosing your horses next mate.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 14:24:20 +0000
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