roan

[waterbearer]

I hate for my first question on this board to be one about color because I like Kigers for other reasons, but this is an issue on which I'm a little confused:

What's the deal with roan?

I think I've pretty much got the gray thing figured out although it seems it's still an acceptable color on at least one registry, but it appears that roan is also ok with some and not on others. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't there at least two blue roans, and one red roan counted in the earlier assessments of the Kiger HMA's? If so, and they were not removed or seen as an undesirable color unlike the misunderstanding with the gray / claybank thing, then where does everyone stand on the issue of roan Kigers?

Are there really any roan Kigers out there either in the wild or owned by someone?
Is this a color that people want or don't want to accept if all the registries can get their ducks in a row?
And what about grulla roan? This is something that's new to me that I've only recently come across in pictures on the internet. I have a fundamental understanding of horse color genetics, but that's not saying much because it's incredibly complicated. So is it really an accurate description of color or the terminology of someone who can't decide or doesn't know? And if it is, and grulla is acceptable in all the registries, and roan appears in some (at least in what I read currently on the internet), and there were roans in the original herd, then should grulla roan ALSO be an acceptable color (providing it exists truly in the first place).

Whew! Sorry, that's a lot of spinning round and round, but it seems unlike with gray, this is something that I don't see discussed much and I just wondered about everyone's stance.

Roan or no roan? Anyone have a roan Kiger? Have pictures? I know where I can find some through Google, but I wouldn't want to offend anyone posting them.

[fantasykiger]

I have no issue with roan Kigers, I except all colors. I had heard of, seen a few pictures, of a very few roan Kigers in the way back but they were gathered up and adopted out I believe. To be honest I have not heard of any roan Kiger in years. I would imgine it was not a desired color on the begining, much easier to recognize early on and cull out of the herds.

[kimk]

I think that just like the "claybank" horses that turned out to be grey, many roans were incorrectly indentified assuch, when in reality they were grey. I do, however know of one true roan Kiger in Michigan, owned by Denise. She was from Riddle HMA foaled in 1989 and is listed as a red roan dun. She never greyed out and is still roan. I don't think the BLM folks are very well versed in color genetics, and many times I've seen them incorrectly list the color of horses in general, not just Kigers.
Kim

[waterbearer]

Aug 31, 2008 15:10:27 GMT -5 kimk said:

I think that just like the "claybank" horses that turned out to be grey, many roans were incorrectly indentified assuch, when in reality they were grey. I do, however know of one true roan Kiger in Michigan, owned by Denise. She was from Riddle HMA foaled in 1989 and is listed as a red roan dun. She never greyed out and is still roan. I don't think the BLM folks are very well versed in color genetics, and many times I've seen them incorrectly list the color of horses in general, not just Kigers.
Kim

That would mean that the several horses labeled blue roan, as well as those labeled red roan (perhaps they were red dun), AND those called claybank that turned out to be gray, would all have to have been misidentified. Yeesh!
But it could be true. When I look at the horses up for adoption in the online gallery on the BLM website, they seem to be all over the place... calling duns bays and vice versa, calling horses black, when they're clearly just brown.

Is there a picture of that roan Kiger in MI?

[desperatehorsewife]

I think a lot of the confusion of the color comes from what the horse looks like when he's first captured and labeled. Plus, there are volunteers who help from time to time as well. On top of which, there are only so many boxes one can check on the form, so a lot of the colors are guesswork. I've got a filly here who is a silver bay, but she's labeled as chestnut.

[lindad]

Denise in Michigan was one of the very early Kiger adopters who owns the dun/roan Kiger, named Blush. Blush is truely a roan/dun as is her daughter, Rosie, who is a Kiger/Sulpher cross. Blush and Rosie have all of the dun characteristics but with roaning and a dark face like true roans have. A black gelding out of Blush, named Mystery, has roaning just in his flanks, (unless he has roaned since). Blush was foaled in 1989 to wild parents on Riddle HMA. They can be seen at : www.wilthew.com/KINGSOWNTOO/index.html
I have never heard of any Grullo/Roans. Also, it would be unlikely to confuse a red dun with a red roan because they look very different due to the absence of white hairs and the dark heads found on the roans, unless somebody with no understanding of color labeled them incorrectly. More likely a red dun might be mistaken for a chestnut.
Linda D

[waterbearer]

Thanks for the pics, Linda D.
I wonder... with the roaning just on the flanks or in certain areas, wouldn't that be rabicano?

Also, I think it's a little sad that roan could be "dead" in the Kiger, since it's a color that seems to be wanted, but no longer found in pure Kigers.

Other Spanish mustangs like Pryor Mtn. horses and Cerbats seem to have HIGH percentages of roan. I wonder since Pryor Mtn. horses had Oregon mustangs imported into their area and they also have a high percentage of kiger-like horses, if that's where the roan Kigers went?