Lucky Chappy's coat color

[Starine]

I first saw a picture of him with this DRF article:

http://www.drf.com/news/hollywood-pa...draws-field-13

The colt looked to be turning grey to my eye. I looked up his breeding on Pedigree Query:

http://www.pedigreequery.com/lucky+chappy

And in that photo he looks somewhat grey; vaguely rabicano.

Yet he can't possibly be grey because both his sire and dam, High Chaparral and Germane, are both bays and I know you need at least one grey parent to produce a grey foal.

So am I crazy, or does his coat color look unusual to anyone else?

[second_glance]

I first saw a picture of him with this DRF article:

http://www.drf.com/news/hollywood-pa...draws-field-13

The colt looked to be turning grey to my eye. I looked up his breeding on Pedigree Query:

http://www.pedigreequery.com/lucky+chappy

And in that photo he looks somewhat grey; vaguely rabicano.

Yet he can't possibly be grey because both his sire and dam, High Chaparral and Germane, are both bays and I know you need at least one grey parent to produce a grey foal.

So am I crazy, or does his coat color look unusual to anyone else?

He's listed on equineline as a bay, but . . . no way, Jose. :-)

[asti]

Lucky Chappy

[asti]

Lucky Chappy

[asti]

L.Chappy

[asti]

Lucky Chappy ( Keeneland )

[Insane Crazy]

With the way the white acts around his tail - sort of looks like a classic "skunk tail" - I could see the rabicano theory.

The pictures of his dam's sire and dam on PedigreeQuery certainly agree with PQ calling Germane brown. Doesn't look like there's any grey in there, if that pedigree is correct. But the picture of him on PQ looks much lighter than any of the others. Odd!

[harvestmoon]

Looks gray to me.

I know many of us could confirm the coat color of the sire, but how about the dam? Being listed incorrectly is one possibility that comes to mind.

Or, well, has anyone checked the coat color of the milk man? ;-)

He is not gray. Doubt it was a mistake. He has one grey in the first five generations, and that's Native Dancer. The first grey I found on his dam's side was Mumtaz Mahal.

He looks like an extreme rabicano to me.

[Starine]

Whatever he is, he's quite pretty.

I wonder if I could contact Barbara Livingston somehow for her take. I know she's quite knowledgeable about coat colors and I imagine a colt with his coloring might have caught her eye during Breeders' Cup week.

Right now I do have to agree he looks more rabicano than anything.

[stuff]

If he was any breed other than a TB you could just call him what he is.....a roan. A bay roan to be specific.

[Retrospectiv]

If he was any breed other than a TB you could just call him what he is.....a roan. A bay roan to be specific.

If he was any other breed, we'd still call him a rabacino because that's what he is.

The funny part is that while there is no roan in TBs (outside that possible Oz 1% exception) the JC still insist on registering horses as such. There are cremellos, buckskins, etc but they won't register them as such

[Ezariah]

I called him roan when I saw him at Churchill cause that's what his color reminds me of. Just the thought of this horse makes me giggle, though, as it reminds me of a funny conversation one morning with Barry Irwin.

[TapitsGal]

he kinda looks like a bay roan to me.but i could see how one could think he was a gray.that was my initial thought when i first saw him

[mariasmon]

I called him roan when I saw him at Churchill cause that's what his color reminds me of. Just the thought of this horse makes me giggle, though, as it reminds me of a funny conversation one morning with Barry Irwin.

Lucky Chappy!!

[Insane Crazy]

If he was any other breed, we'd still call him a rabacino because that's what he is.

The funny part is that while there is no roan in TBs (outside that possible Oz 1% exception) the JC still insist on registering horses as such. There are cremellos, buckskins, etc but they won't register them as such

I will admit, the PQ picture of him looks SO roan - he's got the right body color for a strawberry roan, but his head and legs are still dark. Wild!

Greys tend to lighten at their heads and legs first, right? That's what also would deter me from thinking he was grey.

[Rainyday]

The 'skunk tail' is a standard sign of a rabicano. Classic roans don't have that.

Greying usually starts at the head, but it can be surprising. :P Rabicano is usually concentrated around the quarters/flanks.

I read a lot of discussion about this boy elsewhere, and although there were some wild theories, the general conclusion was that he was an extreme rabicano. I've read that his dam has some weird white herself, but haven't seen a picture...there doesn't seem to be on PQ? I have seen a picture of a colt out of one of Germane's half-sisters, who had a very clear belly spot...which is probably a different gene, but interesting!

[Galagre]

Here's a link to a long discussion about him.

http://www.pedigreequery.com/forum/v...10fab724e344d9

[Rainyday]

Here's a link to a long discussion about him.

http://www.pedigreequery.com/forum/v...10fab724e344d9

Yes, that'd be the one I was mostly thinking of. Sometimes I forget where I read these things!

[Starine]

Barbara Livingston did get my e-mail and kindly replied:

Hi Megan,

Thanks so much for your kind words about my photos.

Not only did I go "Wowza" when I saw Lucky Chappy at Churchill, but I
took some closeups of his tail as it's so wildly skunk-taily. He has a
generally bay head (with a few white hairs), but he absolutely,
completely looks like a roan. Just behind his head - from his neck
back - he has tons of white hairs throughout. His belly and midsection
barely show any brown...he looks more like a uniform, medium-grey.

He shows a bit more brown/bay down into his legs near his black
points...but even those "points" (legs and tail) have lots of white
(especially his tail).

If he didn't have that obvious skunk tail, which I've read indicates
rabicano, I'd be very sure he is a roan. And for people who read the
dictionary definition of "roan," rather than just study genetic codes,
he sure fits.

Thanks again, and take good care,
Barbara

[Starine]

A quote I found interesting from the Pedigree Query thread:

Philipp Stauffenberg wrote:

"The close family is well known for unique markings. His dam Germane looks nearly like a zebra and if you follow the link you will see a colt which is by a son of Sadler's Wells out of the sister to Germane and is unusually marked as well with two white spots on his bally."


A zebra! Would love to see a photo of her.

Here is a photo from that thread I found telling as well: