Tiki and the Technicolored Coat

So, Tiki has become the complete mystery horse as she sheds out. Around her eyes and muzzle is gray skin with some dark reddish/brownish sort of hair. There's a spot on her neck where she got a little hair knocked off weeks ago and it's growing in VERY dark brown. There are spots on her legs where her hair has been knocked off and scratched that ranges from dark gray to dark brown to black. And, the oddest part--her stifles are salt and pepper grayish. The hair growing in at the roots of her mane is dark reddish brown. Her tail has her dorsal stripe down the top of it, then has flaxen blond highlights on each side of her tailhead. The rest is bright red/chestnut. The hints of gray plus the blackish brownish reddish hair in different places is just odd. It's very, very odd. Her sire, Masetto (affectionately known as Eddie) was EaAa. I had him DNA color tested by UC Davis. Eddie's sire Diego is eeaa. Eddie's dam Operista is EEAa. She was genetically bay under a gray coat. This means that Tiki could possibly be genetically chestnut under a coat that turns gray. I have not had Mona color tested.

So, last night Kim and I attacked Tiki's tail at midnight and got hair samples. I'm mailing them off to UC Davis for testing today. It won't tell us what shade of chestnut she'll turn out, but at least it will solve the gray mystery. If she tests positive for any gray, that will mean that she will eventually gray out, no matter what she looks like now (much like her granddam Operista who is a dapple gray on the outside, but genetically bay).

Stay tuned.........