Roans do change color with age like grey horses do. Grey horses tend to start to lighten in color on the head around the eyes and muzzle. Whereas a grey that looks like a roan really just has a dense amount of speckles, the flea bitten pattern. The difference between roans and similar looking grays is that roans have a dark base coat with white hairs interspersed throughout the coat. While some other Flea Bitten Greys have so many speckles that they could be mistaken for a roan horse. Some Flea Bitten greys only have a few specks so the pattern is barely noticeable and they look mostly white. Typically if the horse is going to get the flea bitten pattern it begins to show around 10 years or older, However it can happen up to a few years sooner or later than 10 years.Įach flea bitten horse is different with the amount of speckles they will have and it is common for the speckles to increase in the amount and density as the horse ages. If this freckling starts early enough the specks can become quite large and numerous, with the horse beginning to look a bit like a leopard spotted appaloosa. Homozygous grey horses tend to white out faster than heterozygous grey horses, but homozygous horses rarely become flea bitten.Īlso just to note it is possible for flea bitten horses to start getting the speckles before their coat turns completely white. Horses that become flea bitten usually go through a stage of having their coat go completely white. This pattern develops most often in heterozygous greys. For example a bay horse will have bay colored spots and specks and a chestnut horse, chestnut color spots and specks. The color of the Flea bitten pattern will be whatever the horse’s base coat color is. The many small chestnut or brownish flecks seen on these grey horses were thought to resemble fleas, hence the name.Ī Flea Bitten Grey like I mentioned at the beginning of the post has a white coat with a sparse to dense amount of theses brownish, rust or chestnut like speckles. Some animals can get covered and bitten all over with fleas. A creature you most likely know about, which lives off the blood of animals. The Flea Bitten pattern got its name from the rust color of fleas. This is part of what got me interested in learning more about the flea bitten grey color and grey horses in general. Momo is about 12 years old now and every time I see Momo he looks more flea bitten than the last time I saw him. We commonly see the flea bitten pattern on many mid to older grey horses, but not every grey horse becomes flea bitten grey.

These horses become flea-bitten grey over time and are not born with this coat pattern.

This flea-bitten pattern is commonly seen in heterozygous (Gg) Greys. I owned Momo before my friend and when I got him he was actually a dapple grey.įlea-bitten Grey is a horse’s coat that has white hairs with pigmented freckles that are dark brown to a light reddish brown depending on the horse’s base coat color. He is a flea bitten grey but wasn’t always this color.

My friend owns a grey Thoroughbred named Momo. Dun Color Horses: Fascinating Facts and Features Indy is a stunning dapple Gray 8 year old 14 hand mare that is very sweet and smooth gaited!She has been shown and now is a very willing trail partner! Indy is fearless, she doesn't have a ton of trail experience but she is willing to try anything and does! She was raised to be a show horse and has plenty of show pedigree!She has such a beautiful gait and her conformation is flawless so she would be perfect to breed with!Her owner took her in on a trade so doesn't know much about Paso's but her 12 year old Niece who doesn't ride much has taken right up with her and has been riding Indy all over even through creeks and she doesn't hesitate to do whatever is asked!.

Beautiful dapple grey horse