Color Questions

[JennLM]

Delgado is 2 1/2 yrs old now. He was a very light Palomino when he came. Now he is shedding out and much darker in places (legs, ears, face). Some places as Troy noticed between his buttcheeks, looks almost blackish.

Do they keep getting darker each year?

Whn he came to us right before winter hit here he was sooo light and had a summer coat so we figured he would stay that color. We have not added Paprika yet so this darkening is not from that.

Anyone have progressive pics of their Palominos as they aged to share?

[Heidi]

I think the haircolor of brand-new-spring-coat is very saturated with color and as the summer season wears on, and sunlight fades the color a bit, the color will get lighter unless it has some help; stalling, sunscreen or supplements.

Is the black you are seeing between his cheeks hair or skin? I'm betting it is probably bare skin...

[JennLM]

I think it's skin. I just had not seen it there befor. Wondering if I dare stick my head there to see LOL

Ok what you are saying makes sense. Would explain why he was so light at the end of the summer.

[Carol Nelson]

Shoot...my Bunny just keeps getting lighter and lighter... :(

And yes, she is on the paprika...I'm thinking of getting a UV ray blocking sheet for her...but wonder if it's worth it. :roll:

[JennLM]

I'll post some pics of him later today, first day here compared to now.

When my folks go to Costco to pick up my bullysticks for the dogs I'll ask them to pick up that huge container of Paprika for me. How long before it starts to work?

[Heidi]

I'd say just a few weeks and you should be able to see a difference. You'd have had better results having fed it as he was preparing himself to grow his summer hair rather than waiting until they are already shedding...but I still think you'll see results.
Q's dorsal began to come back from fading after just a few weeks on the paprika.
h

[Bonnie M]

How much paprika do you give them?

Legado has lightened up a lot since he is out in the sun. If I kept him in he would darken up, but I hate doing that.

[CarolU]

I have a girlfriend who just sold her chocolate palomino. The girl she bought him from asked her when she got the new horse...he was a light palomino when she owned him. They do change...but I think it is dependent on the horse, which direction their color goes.

[JennLM]

I had to bring this back up since Delgado has some black on him. We thought all his black areas were skin but we have found small black round patches of black hair.. On a Palomino??

Some of the black on his back legs is black. I stuck my nail under the hair to see what color it was. Black. Guess I need a close up of that to show what I mean.

Even the trainer who came today remarked on it. Also said Delgado would get at least 4 inches taller, YEAH! He is going to hop on Delgado for me Wed morning. Can't wait. Carol, this should give Bruiser some tough competition. He is a bit buckey and I did not want to get hurt. Better topay someone to get their butt bruised. I want to tape it LOL but only have about 100 seconds on my camera.

Anyhow he gave me some ideas to work on building more muscle on him and says he looks really good. Not too happy with his feet. Said the shoer should have worked with him longer to get him to be more calm. I may have the trainer (who also trims) do his trims because soon enough (Wed Wed Wed) he will be getting some respect out of him. He said as cute as it is the way I have Delgado trained, Del thinks he is still a small horse and not challenging me. Maybe a bit pushy, but wants to make sure he is under control while still in that mindset.

Oh yeah sorry, back to the coloring.. I took some pics of his back legs to show all the black, you can't see the spots of black on his body compared to the legs in pics I took. They are round black spots of hair like nickle and quarter sized sporatically placed on his body. What's the deal? Do we have a freak colored boy?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/JennLM/Delgado/42307/042307027.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/JennLM/Delgado/42307/042307026.jpg

And if anyone cares to see all the pics of him from today compared to when we got him so few months ago:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v92/JennLM/Delgado/42307/

compared to when he came skinny and so light:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/JennLM/Delgado/Delgado001.jpg

[lisa l aka marci]

Jenn - that may be a temporary color change....I was out pulling handfuls of hair from her today, and the hair that was staying was black. Now, Lucy is a honey-colored buckskin....but every year when she sheds out she keeps the dark hair for a bit, then sheds that out a little later.

[PattiB]

Most palominos are born light and get darker. We had a filly that was almost white (like the paly colt) but now she is golden as a two year old. Have to get Lynn to post pics of her. Her name as a baby was Snow and now she is Sunny.
This is Apache de Ventura, he was born almost white. This was taken as a five year old
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i86/pblichmann/apacostume.gif

[Heidi]

The dark marks/spots on your pally (red based horses) are called Bend Or spots and they are fairly common. Sort of like 'beauty marks' for horses.
My chestnut mare had a large one on her hip.
Heidi

[pasohappy]

I never heard of feeding paprika, how much do you feed,???Please tell.

[JennLM]

Delgado has like 4 or 5 of them. Just was kinda weird since they were not there before. They showed up when the black on his back legs showed up.

Here is the link to one of the discussions:

http://www.americanpasofinos.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12663

I would still love to see progressive pics of these guys as they got darker or lighter. It's kinda neat.

Delgado turns 3 in a few weeks. Wonder how dark he will end up?

[Bonnie M]

Jenn, I don't have any great shots, but I will post a few that I have of Legado growing up.

He started out really light, thought he was a cremello when he was born, even had blue eyes.

This was taken about a week after he was born:
http://www.haciendadelasestrellas.com/foal41803.JPG

Here he is at 3 months old:
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/bonniepaso/Legado/Legado72403copy.jpg

This was taken when he was 16 months old:
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/bonniepaso/Legado/DSC00578.jpg

He is a lot darker in this following pic because he had been kept inside during the day, he is 28 months here.
http://www.haciendadelasestrellas.com/Extravaganza/Legado-Mom-resize.jpg

Legado has some of the dark/black marks similar to what your boy has. He is pretty light right now since he goes outside during the day and his winter coat is light.

[JennLM]

Too freaky, Delgado, your is Legado, Del was registered Cremello too. LMAO.

I see the black marks on Legado, wow how interesting..

So would that be smut genes showing up?

[shadowsfire]

I second the Bend Or spots. Plus higher protein can cause them to darken up. Sure are pretty horses no matter what color.:D
Marci

[Bonnie M]

LOL, I had thought the same thing about the names when you first posted about him!

Legado has a lot of dark/black mixed in, mostly on his legs. I would think it is the smut gene, but that is my guess.

His mom definately has to have the smut gene, she's got a lot of black mixed in with her color (she is buckskin).

Legado also has a small black spot on his right hip that won't go away, used to think it was dirt but couldn't get it clean :lol:

The owner of his dad told me she has had some other offspring w/ the same black spot in the same place.

[PasoJoy]

Beeeeuuuuuuutiful horses!! Delgado is turning into a hunk!!!! :love