Horse Colours - The Gorgeous Grey

GREY - Variations are Steel, Iron, Dapple, Fleabitten or Rose Grey

Grey horses may appear white but are never referred to as such.

Black hairs are scattered throughout the coat with black skin underneath, even though the coat looks white.

Grey horses have black, dark brown or blue eyes. Darker shades of grey such as steel or iron liken the coat to a metal. These colours are very dense with a solid colour across both the coat itself and the mane and tail.

Most grey horses become lighter with age, frequently turning almost completely "white" as the example in the example on our main Horse Colours page shows.

Fleabitten Grey doesn't sound very flattering but does not mean literal flea bites! It refers to tiny pockets of black, red or brown hair - similar to dots in the coat.

Rose Grey is a term used to describe chestnut, bay or brown horses whose coat lightens to a pinky grey with age. Dapple grey horses are called such because of the circular "dapples or pennies" in their coat.

As grey horses age, distinguishing white Facial or Leg Markings will become almost imperceptible - seen only perhaps at bathtime when the hair is wet and the skin underneath is visibly pinker (evidencing true white hair growth).

Ask anyone who has ever owned a grey and they will tell you it is one of the most high-maintenance of horse colours! A bad combination is a grey horse that hates a bath since they almost always show the dirt much quicker than their darker friends!