11) FOAL COLOR AND ADULT COLOR

Of course when you register a foal and they are solid colored at birth, the papers state solid color, in the Miniatures, they don't make color permanent till 5 years of age, and many people don't bother to change color on their papers till then. So this can be very detrimental when trying to determine color of parents prior to 5 years old.

This is very interesting and I think wise of this registry as so many horses are of uncertain color that it takes a while to tell what color they will be. With Arabians there are a few hints (Arab foals should be registered before they are 6 months old or it costs much more, although color changes are possible at any time applications must be accompanied by photos) which can indicate some things about color: 1st no horse can be a grey unless one parent is grey, 2nd chestnuts and bays are sometimes of uncertain color at birth (look to new hair coming in on the muzzle and around the eyes to get an idea of the adult coat), 3rd grey hairs are often first seen above the eyes or on the eyelids when the horse is a few days old, 4th a horse that is born black almost always changes color usually to grey, 5th a horse that will be black is usually born a mousy color and sheds out to black. There are a few more. My filly was born a beautiful blood bay color. We only knew she would be grey because we saw a few microscopic white hairs on her eyelids the next day. Even after she started getting grey in her coat her bright bay color was so overwhelming that even at 8 months old I had people look at her and say "Are you sure she's turning grey?" Now at 16 months her mane has lots of silver hair and they don't ask that question any more.