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faded..ugh!!!!

5K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  stephnpierre 
#1 ·
my horse is extremely sun faded!!!she is black in winter and now she is a light bay with black pionts!how do i get her back to black?is there any product that can darken her?im planning on starting to keep her in the stall at day and let her out at night instad of the all the time pasture.also what kind of sheet should i get so she doesnt fade?i wouldnt mind her being faded is she was one color!shes a bunch of diffrent colors from black to a light light bay throughout her body!any help would be great!!!also this is my first black horse so i havent faced fading problems with my other horses before.
 
#2 ·
Make certain you have a supplement with a good copper content, as black\dark colored horses can be prone to deficiency; extreme deficiency is uncommon, but sometimes a drastic chance in coat can be a sign of a slight deficiency...

Other than that, unless you want to keep her stabled, there's really not a 'whole' lot you can do about some natural fading...you can try a fly sheet, as that will block alot of the harsher rays, and won't add excess heat to her body.
 
#3 ·
When you wash her, use a shampoo called Rio Vista Hi black burgundy and their hi ho silver if she has any white leg markings or mane and tail, as I have no idea if she has them or not. You also might want to consider that she may not be a "true" black horse. Unless she's in the sun 24/7, with no fly sheet, she could brown out because she's really a dark brown or dark bay horse, and she just looks black in the winter. My mare was always quite dark in the winter, but faded out to a light brown with dapples during the summer, whereas my dad's horse was a "true" black morgan, who was always outside, and was only occasionally covered with a fly sheet, yet winter or summer, he was always a rich black color. Even if she's not a true black, using the shampoo with help to bring out even the brown color and make it look shinier and nicer. It would be helpful if you could post a picture of her so I can see what she looks like.
 
#4 ·
Crow's also black in winter and brown with dapples in the summer, it's just his colour :)

Dunno what you can do about it, but there is schampoos and stuff that colours slightly.

Show a picture of her?
 
#6 ·
Its a little labor intensive, but I keep the sweat rinsed off of Vida and that seems to help. I also use Vitrolin Shine which contains a sunscreen on her.
She fades more from sweat than from the sun. If I don't rinse her off after a ride she will be a reddish color just where the saddle sits and the girth line. Pretty weird looking. I rinse her off every time I ride and whenever its really hot and she is sweaty. Then spray more Vitrolin on her. Short of keeping her covered, inside during the day or washing her in a darkening shampoo, thats all I can do.
She is considered a black horse just what is called a "faded black"

Quote from www.ultimatehorsesite.com

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There aren't really 'shades' of black, but there are two types: fading and nonfading. Nonfading black is also called raven or jet black. It does not fade, or it fades only under harsh conditions. Jet black horses are usually born charcoal or smokey colored, but rarely are black at birth. Nonfading horses have a metallic, bluish, or iridescent sheen and are born a bluish-black, charcoal, or black color.


Fading black horses get reddish-tinged hairs or brown burned areas from sweat or sun. They may also fade seasonally or with poor nutrition. To bring out their best color, fading blacks must be kept out of the sun or blanketed so that their hairs are not bleached. These horses are still blacks, even though during certain times they may look dark brown. They are born a smoky color, or sometimes dark bay or brown.

Some horses may not quite fit either description or may be tough to categorize-- such a horse can safely be called just "black".
 
#7 ·
I tried Black as Knight feed through supplement this year. I started giving it to him in March. I thought it was working, but now that it's the peak of summer, he's bleaching out again. Oh well. I don't have any luck with the shampoos. I think next year I'll try a white fly sheet to repel some of the rays along with the BAK.
 
#8 ·
You should try the BAK and a fly sheet thats a uv ray protectent or whatever u call it :lol: and also u could try using um...whats it called....some kind of sunflower sunxcreen spray for horses that keeps them from bleaching. im using all that andso far i think its helping ill have to wait till full results though :)
 
#10 ·
One of my first pony's was a 13.2hh welsh cob and in winter he was pure black with white socks, and in the summer to my astonishment he went completely white all over with black speckles! However, I thought I just had a "special pony" aha, being so young, though he did look very cute!!
 
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