# Blue roan Clyesdales?



## asbo (29 September 2013)

I don't know ANYTHING about Clyesdale's but a friend is looking for a blue roan for her daughter after they met one at the Highland Show this year. I was told they do not have the roan gene, so would this colour be classed as? Or do they have blue roan?


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## Meowy Catkin (29 September 2013)

Are you sure it wasn't a black Sabino (often called Blagdon on Clydesales and Cobs when it is a very 'roany' manifestation of sabino)?

See the difference here -

Blue/black roan. The head and legs (ignore white markings), mane and tail are left dark or unroaned.







An extreme back Sabino AKA Blagdon.







ETA - I've never seen any Shire or Clydesdale with the true Roan gene.


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## asbo (29 September 2013)

It could well have been, as I say, I know nothing about the breed or colour genes in horses. Thank you, will message her now with this x


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## Meowy Catkin (29 September 2013)

* An extreme *black* Sabino AKA Blagdon

Flipping keyboard with it's sticky keys.


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## asbo (29 September 2013)

lol x


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## Oscar (30 September 2013)

My friend bought a blue roan and a few years on he is totally grey, not one dark hair left! His passport says coloured!


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## Meowy Catkin (30 September 2013)

O - it is a surprisingly common thing for people to mix up grey and blue roan, or rose grey and strawberry roan. Greys will normally start to grey out on their heads, where as Roans have unroaned points (including the head). Your friend's horse was never roan. If you wash him can you see patches on his skin? It's possible that he is a grey and white skewbald.

ETA - the patches of black and pink skin are normally easier to see if the horse is wet. If he has long fur, you might see them when he is freshly clipped.


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## TarrSteps (3 October 2013)

Faracat said:



			O - it is a surprisingly common thing for people to mix up grey and blue roan, or rose grey and strawberry roan. Greys will normally start to grey out on their heads, where as Roans have unroaned points (including the head). Your friend's horse was never roan. If you wash him can you see patches on his skin? It's possible that he is a grey and white skewbald.

ETA - the patches of black and pink skin are normally easier to see if the horse is wet. If he has long fur, you might see them when he is freshly clipped.
		
Click to expand...

I used to know an Appaloosa like that. She was completely white but when she was wet you could see she was actually a leopard spot! 

Also many coloured horses "lose" markings as they get older as the edges of their spots change from coloured to white. My own coloured horse now has areas of pigment that are noticeably larger than his dark patches. A different process to greying out though, as I understand it.

Lots of grey horses have markings that fade once they grey out. I once had a tense time at the US-Canadian border with a cranky customs agent, trying to explain that the reason the horse didn't look like its health papers was because it was a grey so its markings didn't show up the same way as they would on a dark horse.


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