what coulour is skittles!?!?!

[TheHoglet]

he was sold as a strawberry roan but he soooooooooooooooo dosnt look like all the other strawberry roans that i've seen!
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e325/cobsrgood/skittsyhetton.jpg

[ambatt]

I would have said strawberry roan too, although his head is not a solid colour. You really need Chev to answer this one.

[PinkGlamourGurl]

oooo hes so pretty. probaly strawberry roan but i'm no expert lol Natxx

[Santi]

Hi,
i would say he was appaloosa or something like it but its really hard to say with appaloosa - they can be very varied, many don't have spots or the spots can fade as the foal grows up. He could well be a strawberry roan but i know what you mean about him looking different!
I had a bay roan pony who was a cross between a leopard spot Appy and a dartmoor (bay?) mare, she didn't have the white sclera or mottled skin round her mouth of an Appy but she must have got the roan gene from him. It made me think that the Appys must have roan genes too. You need Chev to go into that one further!

[LouHarvey]

I'd say bay roan..
'Brown hairs with white'
As he has a black mane and tail. Don't quote me on it, though.

[Cool Rider]

I dont really know anything about this but your horse is lovely and i would say he is a strawberry roan

[chev]

Not strawberry roan (strawberry roan is classic roan on a chestnut base, and Skittles has a bay base).

How old is he, how long have you had him and has he changed at all in the time you've owned him? Any idea what breeding he is?

He looks like a varnish roan. Varnish roan is one of the Appaloosa complex of patterns, and works in a similar way to grey by gradually replacing whatever colour or pattern a horse has to begin with. Appaloosas also have other charcteristics; one is mottled or spotty skin, another is a white sclera around teh eye, and a third is stripey hooves.

Varnish roan is similar to classic roan in some ways, but differs in two important aspects. One is the fact that it is a proccess; the roaning will get more and more obvious every year, while classic roans remain the same all their lives. The other is the areas the roaning covers; in classic roans, the roaning does not affect the head, the legs, mane or tail. In varnish roans, it does extebnd onto parts of the face but tends not to affect bony areas; legs, parts of the head, and the hip. Skittles' dark patch on the hip is typical of varnish roan.

So the answer is yes, he's a type of roan; but not classic (true roan). He's bay with varnish roan.

[TheHoglet]

he's 10 and i've had him for a year he has'nt changed at all in coulour and i think he is TB x clydsdale he has got three striped hoofs and one pink one where he has a sock and he has bay points

[chev]

He's an unusual cross for varnish roan but the stripy hooves suggest he is too. A year isn't very long to see varnish roan patterns do their work; it's over a longer time frame (several years) that you see the roan gradually take over.

Have to admit I can't see much evidence of Clydesdale in there either... I'm sticking to varnish roan!

[The Flying Irishman]

Hi Chev, no way is Skittles a clydesdale x TB, we don't know what he is. I think just one of those "heinz" ponies, he is a very unusual colour though and I find your comments very interesting, I (being ignorant) have never heard of a varnish roan, do you have any piccies of other varnish roans so I can compare.
Kath

another thing - he has blothcy red and brown skin round his eyes (makes him look a bit strange)

[pico]

Mottled skin (like what you describe - around the eyes) and striped hooves are both signs of appaloosa patterning. Add that to the fact his pattern looks like varnish roan, and I think that's the answer.

[chev]

This (http://greenfield.fortunecity.com/dreams/799/hc/appaloosa.htm) page has some varnish roans pictured towards the bottom of the page.

Couple more (http://www.southwestspanishmustangassociation.com/Colorbook3.html)

And here (http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mustangs4us.com/colors/varnish%2520appie%2520on%2520%2520internet%2520adoption%25203-02.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mustangs4us.com/Horse%2520Colors/roan-ish_variations.htm&h=200&w=200&sz=10&tbnid=-Ezafi075XXpfM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=99&hl=en&start=2&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522varnish%2Broan%2522%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DGEUA,GEUA:2005-28,GEUA:en%26sa%3DN)

Can't find any pages that deal with just varnish roans. It's also called Appaloosa roan - the 'varnish' refers to the darker smudges left on the bony parts after the rest of the body is almost white (the hip, legs, parts of the face and so on).

The blotchy skin and striped hooves are definitely Appy characteristics. He's a varnish roan!! :D

[Casey76]

This is BlueGin who *is* a strawberry roan

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/oconnka4/BlueGin.jpg

Poor baby was so confused... She was first named Blue because she was soooo blue, then in the summer she shedded out to a bright sorrel, so her name was changed to Ginger. Then in the winter she became blue again, so eventually her name caught as BlueGin

[TheHoglet]

so is he an appaloussa then chev?:D
and awwww poor bluegin!

[chev]

No - he just carries one of the Appaloosa complex of patterns.

The genes that give the Appaloosa breed its patterns are called 'the Appaloosa complex' of genes. So that type of roan is called Appaloosa roan, because it forms part of that complex (or group) of genes. It doesn't mean a horse carrying those genes is an Appaloosa though - the complex appears in several breeds (like the British Spotted Pony, Pintaloosas, Minature horses and plenty of others) and even more crossbred horses and ponies.

It does mean that he's highly unlikely to be TB x Clydesdale though! Neither of those breeds carry the Appaloosa complex. That's apart from the fact that he really doesn't have any Clydesdale characteristics... ;)

He's certainly not a pure Appaloosa but he could have some in him somewhere.

[TheHoglet]

so would you have any ideas to what breed he minght be?

[kerry1612]

he is lovely :) how old is he

[Jaimee]

Casey 76, your horse is bay roan. Strawberry is reffering to a chestnut roan:D But is is a true roan! lol.

Cobsrgood, I would say your horse is a bay varnish roan. So not a true 'roan' but varnish roan is an appaloosa pattern like Chev says. True roans dont roan on their face, where a varnish roan usually will. Also true roans wont roan on their points and a varnish sometimes has really white bits on their hocks or knees.

[Jaimee]

Sorry Casey, my mistake just had another look at your horse in better light. My computer screen is really dark, lol. Can see your girl is a chestnut base sorry.