Yeah, I'm thinking bay dun as well. Not creamy/light enough to be dunskin, that dorsal is way crisp to be counter-shading, and his color isn't right for bay (too diluted, but not right for buckskin).
Just so you know, identifying a horse as dun or bay dun is actually two names for the same color. If a horse is called dun, it is the same as calling them bay dun. Calling them bay dun is actually naming the base color that the dun dilution gene is altering.
The dam looks to be bay dun or maybe dunskin (dun buckskin). What color is the dam registered as? If they are registered AQHA, they have a lot of inaccuracies in registration color, some in part to the fact that they only allow 1 color option and their color options are very limited. A dunskin is registered as either buckskin or bay dun. A dunalino roan is registered as either red dun or palomino or red roan. There are also many who simply register a horse as a color they are not
as he sheds his baby coat you will be able to tell more. A dun has the dorsal stripe, dark points, and usually zebra stripes. You can see the aqha color chart online .
They have a limited color choice, but you can get a color panel done .
You can check the dun gene , the creme gene, sorrel and black . I think it is about $35 -45 for each color if you are a member and UC Davis also has a program. Depending on his blood lines you may also want to the 5 panel test done for the genetic disease that are passed on by certain lineages. such as herda pssm, hypp
He's definitely dun (bay dun) and so is his mom. You can barely trust papers, and people have a hard time with these colors anyway, so who knows if it was an error from the breeder or the registry. I tried to register my buckskin dun as buckskin (you can't pick buckskin dun, you have to pick one or the other) and they choose to put dun on his papers, I guess we were both right, but seems like my horse my choice.
He is 100% bay based with the dun gene, NO questions there. Doesn't matter how old he is.
Now the question is does he have any other genes like cream (dunskin). I really don't think so, his color is too red for that, dunskins are more washed out looking. If you're concerned you can test, I think it's $25. But I'm guessing the breeders just had no idea/AQHA messed up. As said, you can't trust papers for colors.
Update ............. what do you think? now 9 months old ...could this be a roan ??? daddy was a roan.. or is it normal that babies have this what looks like rabbit fur ..all white underneath
The base of the hair doesn't show true color. This is why body clipped horses have very misleading color appearances, you cannot judge the actual horse color based on what a horse looks like when they have been body clipped.
The horses in my backyard have much lighter bases to their long winter coat. This is normal coloration in wintercoats. And the lighter a horse's natural color is, the lighter the interior of their winter coats will be
oh god...shedding season has only begun....will he please shed already ! I'm so anxious and scared at the same time as I'm seeing more and more white amoung the dorsal stripe ...
Try not to overthink it. Wait until he's done shedding out then see what happens. As said, you have to look at the whole picture. Parting the hairs and seeing they are lighter near the skin genuinely means nothing. I do see a few actual white hairs but one or two hairs really don't mean anything either.
im going to say dun. the "chrome" on the mane and the body color and dorsal stripe are a dead give away. dont think roan, just not finished shedding the guard hairs from winter fuzzies.
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