[Yogiwick]

Glad I could help!

OK I thought you said it was winter I doubt he is intentionally, though if he's shedding the old hair may be lighter. If it's super warm and he is too hot you may want to clip, though I would be more inclined to wait for him to shed.

If it's been warm and sunny he may be sweating more and having more direct sunlight too.

Do you know exactly what the DNA testing was? A lot of people advertise "homozygous black" and stuff but any black, bay, or brown based horse can be homozygous black.

If you are so inclined, take some GOOD pictures, at different times of years. Overall pictures, close ups, everything, anything that shows his color well. Post them in the colors and genetics thread. There are a lot of good people and several REALLY good people who can help with colors. It's the next best thing to a genetics test and free.

 

[Ninamebo]

I wouldn't worry about it. If he's getting a good ration balancer and hay and seems otherwise healthy then just let him be and see what happens in future months.

 

[Zexious]

This is nothing to worry about. Sunlight can make horse's coats change colors.

That said, it's definitely not intentional xD Horsies aren't chameleons.
He looks like a "brown" (seal bay... whatever you prefer to call) horse to me. No pain involved.

 

[Kaia]

So I found out he is an E/_ and no agouti... and definitely not homozygous black, however he DOES have the red gene (his mother is stark red), so it would make sense that he has those highlights (and that bleaching). Today it was slightly cloudy in the morning, and this afternoon when it was sunny i went out there and he was wayyy darker? :? So i'm assuming it's sun. Before i bought him he was on oat hay and not grass.. Also I live in california for anyone curious. (we've had no rain...) I love him either way <3 I've just been extremely curious!
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[Yogiwick]

E/_ means the horse is black. If his mother was red he is E/e (surprised it doesn't say that). The red gene is recessive so he is black. The red is almost as if it does not exists, it just means if he had offspring they would have a 50% chance of getting e instead of E, it doesn't mean anything to your horse.

No agouti means he is black. So he is obviously a fading black. Nothing else he can be genetically.

There is a theory that E/e blacks are more likely to fade than E/E blacks, but regardless- both are black, some fade, some don't.

Well he won't be any darker at night then he is during the day . Sun bleaching bleaches out the color of his hair, it won't come back. So if he looks darker its just because it's the lighting not him.

Make sure diet is good and sweat is gotten rid of, even then he probably will still bleach. Who knows what his owner did differently. You can try paprika, I've heard lots of good things, but short of keeping him in from the sun or constantly blanketed there isn't anything that will work 100%. He is what he is, and I think he's lovely

 

[Kaia]

Thank you everyone! I'll try the paprika and see if that helps!

 

[Nokotaheaven]

Just out of curiosity, what is paprika supposed to do??

 

[2BigReds]

Just out of curiosity, what is paprika supposed to do??

It's supposed to help keep dark hair from fading in the sun. People at our old barn used to feed black sunflower seeds in the summer and that seemed to help quite a bit, so just one more thing to try. The horses loved them, too!

 

[Kaia]

Oh thats a great idea! Maybe I'll make a trail mix out of it....

 

[Nokotaheaven]

Haha ah okay
Well, I'm not sure how well this works on stopping fading, but we used to put a bit of vegetable oil in their grain every day and it made their coats super shiny
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[Sharpie]

Paprika, BOSS, SmartDark and Handsome all work on the new coat that is growing in. So they won't reverse any sun damage already present, but they can make a big difference in the new coat that grows in! My horse isn't black, but I've got friends that swear by them. I don't know what you do with your horse, but be careful- paprika is banned by some show associations because it cross-reacts with their tests for performance drugs.