ROANS

Roan is one of those confusing patterns.  It's not really a color, since it is a pattern of white that modifies a base color.  A chestnut can be roan, a black can be roan, a bay can be roan.  Roan means the presence of white hairs.  Some registries use Roan and Gray interchangeably, but the visual affect and genetic control are different.  Both are dominant.  However, roan as a homozygout (RR) is a lethal in most cases (there are some studies ongoing regarding a few supposed RR stallions).  Therefore Roan horses have only 1 dose of the roan gene.  They have a 50/50 chance of having roan offspring when bred to a non-roan.  Roan is also seasonal, but basically non-progressive.  Roans will keep some dark in the coat, as well as the characteristic dark head and legs year round.  They may darken slightly in the winter, then become lighter on the body in summer. Gray is progressive.  The animal is born dark and gradually becomes lighter and lighter each year, until a white or nearly white coat is achieved.  Gray is also a dominant, but there are homozygous (GG) grays.  Only one dose of Gray is needed to produce a Gray horse.  A gray horse will ALWAYS have one gray parent.  If only one parent is gray, the gray offspring will have a 50/50 change of siring gray offspring itself.  If BOTH parents were gray, there is a possibility the gray offspring is homozygous for gray.  A homozygous Gray (GG) will always sire (or produce) gray offspring. There is a form of roan in Appaloosa horses as well, called varnish roan.  It is called this as it appears that the animals have been paritally paint-stripped!  The darker areas remain at bony points (on the face, usually in a distinct V on the bridge of the nose; on the cheeks, point of shoulder, elbows, knees, point of hips, hock) and it can be seasonal as well. Many varnish roans are born nearly solid with only a few white hairs, then they begin to roan out as yearling.  This pattern usually reaches a stable point in the animals life. (see more on changing) Just to make things more complicated, a horse (or mule) can be GRAY and ROAN both.  Gray is dominant to all colors and patterns including pinto, appaloosa, and roan. Once way to tellt hem apart MOST OF THE TIME is that roans will have darker heads and lower legs.  Grays will have a lot of white hair mixes into the face color.  Appaloosas will have white on the face, too, but will have the dark markings on the bony points. (And then, if it weren't already complicated enough, donkey roan is different from horse roan.  Roan donkeys have lighe heads and legs, with "reverse" dapples in the roaned areas, meaning the dapples are dark spots on a light background.  In horses dapples are light areas on a dark background!  Whew!!!

Myryha the Mustang is a strawberry roan.  (That's roan overlaying the chestnut color).  Note the dark head and dark lower legs.  Even in this small photo you can see that the body is covered with intermixed red and white hairs.  The may be equal in number, more dark hairs, or more light.  It also changes seasonally, and this mare (who is nearly 20 in the photo) gets a darker red each winter (less white hair).

Sorry it's not a better picture, but this is a bay roan Mustang Gelding.  He is bay overlaid with roan.  His head is still dark bay, his lower legs, mane and tail black.  He is covered with scars, which in his case have grown back in dark red (the bay base coloration).

This handsome bay roan is Ideal, a Mulassier stallion in France.  he is a bay roan, with silvering on his mane and in his tail.  His head is still bay, the body is still bay mixed with white (very apparent on the rump).  The mane, tail and lower legs are black (with some silvering typical of roans).

Raisin Bran  - varnish roan.  See the darker patches wherever there is a "bony area" - such as ont he jaw, nasal bones, shoulder, and point of the hip?

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