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My black horse is getting a little brown?!

17K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  verona1016 
#1 ·
My horse is black but he is starting to fade some in spots to like a dark brownish color...Now I don't mind the little highlights in his mane and tail but how do I keep him black ? He is outside 24/7 and is only feeding on pasture ...he is a little chuncky and needs to lose some weight!
 

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#2 ·
Its called sun fading and its 100% normal. In fact, most black horses do fade if they're in the sun more than a few hours a day. The only horses that don't turn brown are those that are non-fading black. If he lives outside 24/7, there really isnt anything you can do about it, although there are certain things such as sunflower seed oil and nutmeg (I think? Not sure, we just let ours fade)that you can add to their diets to make them not fade quite as much. Once fall comes around again though, he'll most likely start darkening up on his own though.

Personally, I think the fading blacks are kind of cute xD we have a black miniature gelding who gets BRIGHT red highlights in his ears, back, and mane/tail every year. I think of it as a sign that he's healthy, happy, and in the environment that he was created to be in. Outside!
 
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#3 ·
He looks brown to me, actually. A very dark brown, but a brown nonetheless. The bleaching in his flank area tells me so, as that would be one of the last places for a horse to bleach.
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#7 ·
Horse coloring is a very interesting subject :)

There are a number of colors that look like black (liver chestnut and brown/seal bay/dark bay are the most common), but aren't really, and then there are some black horses that don't look like it because they fade in the sun! Smoky black horses (black + cream gene) can be particularly sensitive to fading in the sun.

How long have you had this horse? Has he ever shown any color variations before? Do you know what color his parents were?
 
#11 ·
I am going to disagree with those that say brown. This is exactly what I mean when I say the coat will bleach very evenly. The best photo to judge his colour from is this one:



Now, he appears redder in these pictures than you would expect, because they are taken so late in the afternoon. However, he is definitely a faded black, and not brown, The colour is just too even.

A true or homozygous black will not fade. If he gets reddish tinges it could be a deficiency in copper. My twh is out as he pleases and is black as coal. Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-col...se-getting-little-brown-127792/#ixzz1yNQiCVOz
Saddlebag - homozygosity has nothing to do with if a black will fade or not. There is probably something genetic going on, but it's not anything to do with the horse's extension status.

OP - you can do some thing to stop him fading. The most simple is to keep him with a sheet on all day. This stops the sun from fading his coat. He would probably end up cooler than he would be without a sheet too, if you got one that was a light colour that could reflect most of the sun's rays. That is the ideal solution. You can also have a good impact on his coat health by making sure he is getting all vitamins and minerals, but that can be slightly more difficult with a horse that you are trying to trim down.
 
#12 ·
I have only had him for little over a month and he used to be darker but keeps on fading ...The farrier just came out , and I asked him about it and he said he was a black horse , just the sun was bleaching him out....I dunno I guess I will find out in the fall and winter how black he really is lol...now I know in his mane and tail he has ,what I call anyways, red highlights ; P I love him either way !
 
#15 ·
I agree that he's definitely black. He doesn't have the characteristics of a brown.

I've heard that adding paprika to the diet or BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds...shells included) will help to prevent a horse from fading.

The only other thing to do is either keep a light sheet on him with UV protection or to keep him in a barn during the day and let him out to pasture at night.

I currently have a liver chestnut mare here and she is so dark in the winter and spring. By summer she is so faded she doesn't even look liver chestnut. Just red. Blah! LoL.
 
#18 ·
I'm going to throw my guess in with those who say "black". I'd expect to see at least some lightening on the muzzle if he were brown.
 
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