The evolution of the grey coat

 This photos help me to explain how the grey coat of a horse changes in time. Nothing better than see the "evolution" of it in these pictures that I want to share with you. In the first one on the left we can see an Andalusian grey horse at the age of 2.

 And on the right the same Andalusian horse at the age of 4.

Same horse at the age of 6

 Same horse at 7.

Same horse at the age of 8.

 Another grey Andalusian horse at the age of 9 here on the right.

Same horse as before at the age of 10.

Grey pony, 17 years old.

Do you want a new horse every year? In that case a grey horse is the right choice. Many people refer to grey horses as white but that's not right. In fact white horses are less common and they have got pink skin underneath their coat while a grey one has dark skin. The grey horse changes his coat during the years due to a gene, that is dominant, and this causes the coat depigmentation. When a grey horse is born he can be black or bay or any other color. The grey horse usually has brown eyes while a white one often has light blue eyes with pink skin around them. 

You can find grey horses in every breed but they are quite common in Andalusian, Lipizzaner and Arabian. Every horse shows a different way of "greying" and you can see many differences among grey horses of different ages; some of them become "white" in a little time while for others this evolution takes many years. For this reason you can't rely on the color of a grey horse coat to understand his age.

Grey horses are prone to develop cutaneous melanoma but it's not malignant in many cases.