>>> I have attached one but Stella is 24 now and has Cushings so gets a huge coat. It bleaches out unlike it used to. She has golden eyes which I do not think would happen in a black horse without the cream gene. When she was younger, she stayed black in the summer like her head is now.
She's still very pretty, Ann, and good for you for taking care of a Cushing's horse with so much attention. I'm sure you've heard me talk about my beloved Sundance. You brought up another good point about judging color from pics - fading, aging, bleaching... I now believe that bleaching, etc., is very much affected by the individual climate. Renee had Eitill for 11 years, and told me he is a true, non-fading black. I guess he was...in Michigan. But, he's faded every summer since he came here. Maja fades more here than I suspect she did in BC. Holly was born in this county, so I have no idea what she would do somewhere else, but she sheds jet black in the spring...but it doesn't take long for her to start fading. Why? Our longer daylight hours, because we are closer to the equator than some? Our long stretch of sunny summer days? The sweating they do for longer periods in the summer? I believe I've read that salt can affect bleaching. I wonder if that's part of the issue with Janice's Nasi as far as people not believing his color. (That, and she's not a member of the Secret Color Society....) She also lives in a hotter climate with more and longer sunny days than much of the country. I suspect that Nasi's coat varies more through the year than it would if he lived, say in Michigan or in the Pacific Northwest or in the Rockies. I really only judge my horse's true colors by looking at them in late April-early June - at whatever point they complete their shedding, but before they've gotten into their summer fading. One other interesting thing I've noted that I can't exactly explain. Many, maybe most, of the horses who have moved here have grown noticeably longer, fuller manes/tails than they had previously. I don't know why - we don't groom them lavishly or anything. And I know that most of the horses we've gotten here have had good nutrition and worming prior to coming here. Could it be some mineral in our soil or in some native plant? Or a deficit in some other parts of the continent? We only feed basic grass hay or let them graze on native grass pasture, with only minimal supplementing of horses as needed with a vitamin/mineral supplement and/or a little pelleted feed - not every horse even gets that year round. It hasn't happened to all of them, but it has to the majority. Another reason not to ignore regional climate and terrain differences pertaining to the appearance of your horses. (And never ignore the negative effect of a mini-mule hairdresser wannabe...) Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.5/826 - Release Date: 5/31/2007 4:51 PM
