[i luv my spirit]

Okay, so if your mare breeds to a stud that is guaranteed too produce a certain color and the baby is not that color, how would you go about this?????? Would you return it or keep it , or get another free breeding?????

This just happened to my friend and she does not know what to do??????
And she specifically picked this sire because she wanted a certain colored baby and she didn't get it and she is really upset!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanx In Advance!!!!!!!!

[Lou3]

you suck it up and live with it.
If you are desparate for a certain colour you research colour genetics and make darned sure the combination you are breeding to will produce that colour.
But to be perfectly honest someone who's first priority is colour should not be breeding in the first place. The foal should be being bred for quality not colour. If you dont have a plan for the foal no matter what gender or colour it is then just dont breed. Simple as that.

[i luv my spirit]

well the problem is that the sire is really well bred and so is her mare, but the colt is an ugly brownish!!!!!! He is very well built, but she was looking for a white or palomino horse which is what they guaranteed!!! ALso is there any chance, i just saw him and he starting to lighten up, so could he end up those colors or closer to them?????????

[Lou3]

Unless the stud is a cremello or perlino they cannot guarantee a dilute gene. If the stud is a double dilute and the colt is brownish its quite possibly grulla or buckskin in which case it will shed out a pretty nice colour.
If the stud was grey then she probably will end up with a grey horse, it'll just take a while for him to grey out.

[Acme Acres]

What or who was the stallion anyways? If we could see him, we'd be able to get you a better idea. But.... you should NEVER breed JUST for color. And.... you have a breeding contract that should ALWAYS be read before you sign and breed.

[Horsefeathers3]

I'm wondering what color the stud was that they would guarantee palomino or "white".

Honestly, to me there's no such thing as an ugly colored horse . If the stud had good bloodlines and the mare did also (of course it depends on how the bloodlines mesh together to produce the foal) and both horses had at least decent conformation, I'd say she still has a nice colt.
If she's really so upset with not getting a certain color and that was the whole reason for the breeding (which it should never be) then she can address the stallion owners and see if she could get a free breeding or her money back that she paid for the stud fee.

It sounds like the foal is some shade of buckskin, which happens to be my favorite color and is still a very sought after color of horse.

[Top Dun]

IF there is a color Guarantee, It should be listed in the stud contract so your friend should consult the contract to see what is in that contract for color guarantee.

However I think your friend needs a few lessons in genetics and horses in general. So what if the foal isn't the exact color she wanted. There are NO iron clad guarantees in horse breeding EVERYone if they breed long enough gets a foal that is not exactly what was expected. AND your friend should really be happy with a Nice well bred, well conformed foal. Color should ALWAYS be considered as "Icing on the cake" so to speak. A person should NEVER breed only for a specific color with no regards to the overall quality of the foal. Breeding should be done with careful thought to the quality, conformation, temperment of the foal being primary and Color being sought after but not always expected.

[DancerLover08]

Just curious...how do you return a foal? LOL.

I would have to say just suck it up and live with it. I don't think there is any way to guarantee just one color, genetics is so complicated.

[Acme Acres]

TD's right. We bred Player (Dun Overo) to a Sorrel QH - Red Dun Solid colt. Player to a Solid buckskin mare - Red Dun Overo; Player to a Red Dun QH - Bay solid; Player to a Red Dun Overo - Dun solid; Player to a Sorrel Overo - Bay solid. Guess what... only one person was/is still upset that they didn't get the color they wanted (the Solid red dun out of the sorrel QH). The rest all mailed me and said, we didn't get color, but we sure got quality and that rules over color any day.

Your friend should think the same thing. Oh sure, we all have specific colors we like and want. We've chosen to focus on just dun and dilutes, but with that comes a multitude of colors and patterns we can get. Just part of breeding. Breed for quality. In the long run it's a much safer gamble.

[PaintedHorses]

Originally Posted by Acme Acres

Breed for quality. In the long run it's a much safer gamble.

You took the words right out of my mouth!
Color is just a bonus!