Inquire About Your Horse or Foal's Color

Effective April 10, 2008, I will be charging $3 to evaluate your horse or foal's color. This is because I am being swamped daily with requests for help, and answering all of them is causing me to lose a great deal of income (because I don't get paid when I'm not working).

Please read the following before you fill in the form. These bits of knowledge can solve many questions:

A foal can not be grullo or dun if one of the parents did not carry the dun factor gene. So for example, a foal from a bay mare and a black stallion can not be a grullo.

A foal can not be roan if one of the parents did not carry the roan gene. So for example, a foal from a bay mare and a black stallion can not be a blue roan.

Buckskin and black foals often look grullo at birth. I can tell you my opinion on your foal's color. Please be objective. :-)
We have had many grullo foals, and can "usually" spot grullos and look-alikes if given good photos.

If you think your horse is grullo, try taking the short quiz here (opens in a new window).

If you think your horse is blue roan, try taking the short quiz here (opens in a new window).

Special requests/notes:

Please check this page (opens in a new window) before requesting help. Possibly, one of these foal photos will help you determine your foal's color. Especially in the spring, I often spend an hour to two hours per day helping people determine their colors. Don't hesitate to request help if you need it, but try that page first.

I will need to look at photos. The views listed below are the best to help us evaluate, but others will often work.

Please don't call on the phone and request a call back. Photos via e-mail are usually essential anyway, so e-mail or use of this form is the best method for us to communicate anyway. And, we get too many requests for me to return every phone call.

Note that my replies might be lengthy or very brief, depending upon how easy it is to tell the color. :-)

Donate

For years, I have enjoyed seeing pictures of the beautiful and uniquely-colored horses people have sent me through this page. However, I now find that I am literally swamped with requests to guess horse colors, and my attempts to answer those have cost me a great deal of time and money (because I work from home, so don't earn money when helping others). In 2007, I had to shut the form down because I couldn't manage all the requests. By charging a little bit, I can still help those really wanting help, and I won't feel like I'm cheating my family of time and money by assisting people I don't even know, and without some repayment. :-)

I am now limiting my assistance to those that will donate $3 for my time and effort. At this time of year, I just can't abandon my job to assist people with their new foal colors without compensation, and I find that is what is happening. Hopefully later in the year, after foals have shed and I am less busy, I can remove this request.

I'd say that 95% of the time, I can pretty clearly see the color of the foals/horses people send pictures to me of. I offer no guarantees, but will say that I'm not often wrong. One of the benefits of helping so many people has been a good eye for color. :-)

Genetic Testing: Note that genetic testing is the best way to be sure of some colors. We can evaluate colors on a horse's pedigree and photos, but some horses are tricky and genetic testing (especially for Agouti) are often the only way to be sure. Tests usually run $25 to $50 each. www.petdnaservicesaz.com http://www.horsetesting.com/index.htm www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/service/horse/coatcolor.html

Please fill in as much of this form as you can.
The more information I have, the better likelihood my opinion will be on the mark!

Your name

Your e-mail address *required*

Double-check your e-mail address. Include what comes before and after the @ sign. We often get requests with incorrect e-mail addresses, and so our replies come back as undeliverable

Your phone number

Your web site address, if applicable. We enjoy looking at other peoples' pretty horses! :-)

Yes No

Do we have your permission to use your photos on our educational pages to help other people? We don't do this often, and always get permission first. If you have a neat photo, it would be nice to use it on our educational pages to help other people in the future.

What is your Main Help Request?

I'd like to know if my foal/horse is grullo. Before proceeding, please take the short quiz here (opens in a new window to allow you to finish this form if needed.

I'd like to know if my foal/horse is blue roan. Before proceeding, please take the short quiz here (opens in a new window to allow you to finish this form if needed.

I'm unsure of my horse or foal's color...just looking for help.

Just sharing my photos.

Other, described below in the comments section.

Sire's color

Dam's color

Yes No Don't Know Does the sire have a cream gene (buckskin, palomino, dunalino, smoky black, etc.)?

Yes No Don't Know Does the dam have a cream gene (buckskin, palomino, dunalino, smoky black, etc.)?

Yes No Don't Know Does the sire have a roan gene?

Yes No Don't Know Does the dam have a roan gene?

Yes No Don't Know Does the sire have a gray gene?

Yes No Don't Know Does the dam have a gray gene?

If your foal might be dun/grullo, what color was its dorsal stripe shortly after birth (wet or dry)?

Does your horse/foal have white hairs around its eyes, below the knees, or on the bridge of its face/nose? This wouldn't include facial markings, socks, stockings, etc, and refers to white hairs mixed in with the face color or white hairs mixed in with the leg color.

Show Us Photos

In order to help you, I will need to see a photo or more than one photo. This can be done:

Via e-mail, by attaching photos (which you'll be asked to do after submitting this form)

A current file on the Internet if you have uploaded a photo to a web site

If you have uploaded photos to a location on the Internet, please give me some of the addresses for those files. Include the http:// in front of your addresses.

If you don't have files uploaded to the 'net, you can attach images to an e-mail after submitting this form.

Web Page Address (if you have one for this horse/foal)

Web page for this foal/horse

Photos (if you have uploaded photos to the 'net)

Front view (including face)

Side view

Rear view

Dorsal stripe/top view

Front legs: for dun-factored horses, a photo of the back of the knee and just above it.
For possible roan horses, and photo of the knee and just above the knee from the front are helpful.

Other

Click Submit below to send your initial data regarding your horse/foal's color.
If you need to attach pictures to an e-mail message, you will be able to after submitting this form.

Remember to be objective! I will try my best to help you, and usually am correct. If I'm not sure,
I'll tell you that I'm uncertain. In those cases, I love to receive periodic updates so I know the end result.
I also want to know if my guess is incorrect once a horse has shed out with its mature coat color showing.
That's how we all learn! :-)

Note: If the PayPal Donate button is showing at the top or bottom of this page, it is a time of year that I am too busy to help people for free. I will only assist you, if that is the case, after a donation has been made.

Donate

I am now limiting my assistance to those that will donate $3 for my effort. At this time of year, I just can't abandon my job to assist people with their new foal colors without compensation, and I find that is what is happening. Hopefully later in the year, after foals have shed and I am less busy, I can remove this request.

Click the button to donate
$3 for assistance in determining
your horse/foal's color

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This page last updated 04/13/08