when will you know their true color?

So we got a yearling arab/welsh filly and she is greying out but I was wondering how long it takes to grey out and is there a way to find out how light or dark they will be? She has a black mane and tail.She is shedding out.Her neck is solid black but her butt is greying....I'm getting pictures today.

If she's a true grey she'll eventually go completely white, and may or may not be fleabitten.

My Casper is completely white with fleabites at 13 y/o. When I got him as a 5 y/o, he was a dappled steel grey with black legs, mane, and tail.

Most horses who are going to grey out completely generally do it by their 10th year of age.

HOLY CRAP!

That's a long time. Thanks...so a grey horse can have a jet black mane and tail?? She looks kind of silver-y right now but I'm thinking it's because of her black.

Oh, yes, they can have a black mane and tail. We had one here for a while that you would have sworn was a blue roan because his mane, tail, and legs were jet black and his face was significantly darker than his body.

I saw a gray one time that was jet black and the only way you could tell it was gray is because there was a bit of graying in it's tail. Now, that horse was very young (like 2 or 3).

I have noticed that some will maintain some level of dappling for quite some time, then there are ones like Dobe that just turned almost all white over 3 years.

There is no set pattern for greying. Some may get dapples while others don't. Some may get fleabites while others don't. Some go completely grey by 3 and some take what seems like forever.

If you've followed any color thread on this forum you'd know that you'll never know what ANY horse's true color is.....

From everything I've heard or seen grey horses go grey on an individual time table. Like the others said some will go grey quickly, others won't, etc.

Ohhhh okay..so it's a wait and see...dang..wish I would know if she would get fleabitten,plain,or dappled....i also wish I knew who the sire was...I haven't followed any color threads untill posting this one :p I figured why should I since I know Gidget is clearly black and white.

Speaking of Gidget..I THINK she might have rabicano in her because I have noticed some stripes going down her sides..you have to look close as she is white but you can kind of tell. And she has that ticking through the top of her tail..she is what she is though. I do like her roaning.It's especially nice in the summer and I noticed she is getting more white throughout her black within a yr and a couple of months.

Gidget has some very cool coloring, she's a pretty girl.

It'll be interesting to watch your new girl change colors even if you don't know how it'll happen. Like a surprise every season/year! :)

Hahahaa,it will be a surprise :p And thank you. Gidget is my baby. I love her with all my heart.

Here is a nice link that shows examples of slow and fast color changers. I bookmarked it because my foal is a gray too.

The Ever Changing World of Grey