Equine Color Conspiracy Theory!

(Bay Roan)

Okay, so it's not a conspiracy theory but I do wonder what some people are thinking when they fill out the registration papers of their foal. Or the info in a sales ad....

(I say this is a bay roan but have listed her as "questionable")

If it is one thing I've learned through years of horsey window shopping and through my obsessive compulsive need to research pedigrees and bloodlines (like they are my own person crossword puzzles) it is that one should never assume that the registered color of a horse is accurate.

(Questionable)

Determining the true color of a foal can be confusing at the best of times and so very often horses are registered inaccurately.

(Bay Roan)

I understand that. I also understand that some horses are really difficult to classify...

(TRUE blue roan)

I've mentioned before how often I see horses that are listed for sale as some color that they are not.... Blue Roans, grullas or Blacks that are really gray, Palominos that are sorrel with (barely) flaxen mane and tail, buckskins that are dun, duns that are buckskins and duns/buckskins that are simply bay. Not to mention the black or brown (dark bay) issue....or bay roan/blue roan! I don't mean to come across as a know it all...sometimes I cant determine what color a horse is or have mistaken one for another, especially when it comes to paints.

But in my mind some should be simple. And yet are still mistaken.

(Gray)

And then there is the registration end of things.... I imagine that with the number of horses that AQHA has to process in a year they can hardly take a hard look at every paper that comes across their desk...but I do wonder how it is that people get away with registering a horse as buckskin out of two sorrel parents. I've seen it. Far more often than you might think.

For some there is a simple explanation- a sooty buckskin that was registered as a bay goes on to produce a palomino foal... that kind of thing.

(Bay Roan)

Whenever I research the pedigree of a horse I like to go back three generations to make sure the colors match up to the real color of a horse.

(Bay Roan)

Just this evening I found a nice black looking mare for sale. Upon further research I discovered that her dam is actually a perlino (there was a picture to prove it.) and as such this mare MUST be a smokey black (must care the creme gene). Imagine someones shock had they bought that mare and bred her to a stud with a creme gene (palomino or buckskin) and unknowingly produced a cremello/perlino!

When AQHA or APHA processed her papers, did they not see that one of her parents was a perlino and therefore it would be pertinant information to have her registered as.... BUT WAIT!! AQHA does not classify a horse specifically as smokey black (black horse with the creme gene), nor a dunalino (horse with dun and creme gene)... You'd think that noting the cream gene on a horses papers would be fairly important... but apparently not!

Now it's sure a good thing that those AQHA papers determine if a horse is chestnut or sorrel (genetically the same) or bay or brown (also the same). *note the sarcasm*

(Gray)

The color issuereally isnt important in the long run! A good horse is a good horse, no matter what the color! And dispite the old wise tales the color of a horse says little about it's health.

But the truth is that the color of a horse can effect it's value.

And so I wonder at the motive behind the results of a little experiment I ran this evening...

I entered a dreamhorse search for a:

3 year old or over, BLUE ROAN AQHA or APHA horse.

This yielded 151 results.

The first page of the results showed 30 horses.

Of those 30 horses:

Only 10 appear to be TRUE BLUE roans. A true blue roan is a black horse with a roan gene. The do not have brown noses or a rose hue to their body. They have black legs and black faces.

10 appear to be BAY roans. A bay roan is a bay horse with a roan gene. These horses have black legs, a brown hue to their body and usually dark heads with brown noses.

4 appear to be GRAY. A blue roan does not have roaning on his face, especially not between the eyes (excluding a star or blaze.)

6 appear questionable...the pictures do not show enough to tell one way or the other but I highly suspect that they are not true Blue Roans.

(Gray)

All of the pictures in this post are from the first 30 of my search results.

More on this coming up next!

Paint Horse Color Patterns

As one who has long been fascinated by the many beautiful colors produced by the numerous equine color genes, variations and combinations you'd think that I'd take greater interest in the dramatic effects produced by the genes of an American Paint Horse. But no matter how often I read the terminology or how studiously I try to memorize the rules and regulations of the different patterns and their many variations, I seem to have only retained the very basics.

I thought maybe I'd write this post in hopes that I'll come out the other side with a better ability to remember the "rules" associated with the color patterns of the Paint (APHA) horse breed in the field (so to speak) by sharing a few pneumatic devises I've come up with. Warning: some are a little odd!

Please keep in mind that a paint horses genetic markings can present in many different variations from horse to horse. I suggest but the crudest of guidelines.

For a much more detailed explanation of APHA's color patterns you can read a fascinating article called Genetic Equation on the APHA's website.

Most of us know that there are three base color patterns to the APHA breed: Overo, Tobiano and Tovero.

Of course the names of these markings couldn't be big spot, little spots, lots of spots....cause that'd be easy!


Tobiano: (Click for a more detailed description). The main clue that you are looking at a Tobiano is that there is usually a lot of white on the legs but little white on the head.

This is not commonly seen in solid colored horses, (usually if a horse has a lot of white on their legs they will also have a bold amount of white on their face.)

I try to remember this by thinking that Tobianos have a name that starts with the word "Toe" because they have white toes (or more accurately most tobianos have high white on their legs.... but Tobiano ends in "No" because they have little to no white on their NOses. (usually have a solid head with only a normal star, strip or blaze).

Tobianos are white on the toes but not the nose.

The other "T"association with Tobiano is that the white markings of a Tobiano usually run vertically...from Top to bottom. This means that the white markings seem to runs downward, not across the body. Also, the white usually crosses the Topline (crest of neck and spine).

Your going to have to excuse me on the next one.... but Tobiano also kinda has the word "beano" in it...which is product I associate with gas or bowel dysfunction...and well... The tobiano often has a tail with two colors in it...a bit of light and bit of dark...which looks as though maybe he has a case of the *ehem* shits....and could use some beano. I do apologize.

Ready for the next one?

Overo: is much easier to understand if you think of it as "not Tobiano"...The most common characteristic of all types of Overos is a lack of white crossing the topline (the crest of the neck and spine) but a larger amount or wilder pattern of white on the face.

I like to think of the word overo as "missing" the "T" because the overo has no white on the toes....(The "To" in tobiano represented the white toes)meaning that Overos usually have dark legs (they can have socks but only a "normal" amount as you'd find on a solid colored horse)).

Overos also usually have a lot of white on their faces and commonly have blue eyes ...which I try to remember in a ridiculous way that probably wont work for you.... but I'll go ahead and tell you anyways....

I try to visualize Overos as a big oil stained pair of overalls (overo - overall) with holes worn through (as in the jumpsuit worn by mechanics) that cover most of all the body but leaves the head bare and a few patches of white skin showing through.

As with the beano thing, I am sure you are going to laugh at my stupid little pneumatic devise but I also actually think Overies when I think Overo. Yes, I'm talking about the reproductive organ of females! Because the white patches on an overo usually are towards the centre of the body around the flanks and belly and the patches are usually horizontal.... meaning side by side (like ovaries), not like tobiano that runs top to bottom (virtical).

Remember that those are general rules. Overo is actually a term applied to three different color patters that are grouped together because they are similar in the above noted ways. It is easier to understand overo if you think of it as three distinctly different color variations.

Framed Overo- The most common overo is easy to remember as the white patches are usually in the centre of the body and are framed (or surrounded by) the darker color (the dark legs, belly and topline.)

(Colonels Smoking Gun- Framed Overo)

Splashed Overo- I try to remember this one by thinking of a horse that has wandered into a pond of white paint. He dropped his head to it to sniff, as horses do but accidentally dunked his head in.... and then he splashed around in the paint. This leaves him with very high white on his legs and belly and a white head but little to no other white markings on the rest of his body.

Sabino: This is a hard term to remember but can be the most distinct of patterns. Sabino is a spanish word meaning "pale or speckled" and usually has a roany type molted appearance like an Appaloosa. While Sabinos tend to follow the "general" Overo rule of having a light colored head and blue or speckled eyes it cheats by usually having high white that extends up the legs in spotchy patches. This paint color is the most commonly color paint found in other breeds (clydesdale pictured). There is a large variation in how Sabino presents.

Those are your three Overo types: Framed, Splashed and Sabino.

The last pattern that needs to be mentioned is a Tovero: This is a deviation from the general parameters of a horse either being Tobiano or Non-tobiano (some type of Overo) It is one of the many combinations of genes that confuse and complicate our ability to distinguish one type from another. But the Tovero does follow a few rules..... Toes and Noes are usually white (hence both a T and an O in the name). Actually most of the body is white except for a patch on the flank, base of tail, the chest and ears and dark splotches around the mouth.

These Tovero horses were of special significance to some Native American tribes and were valued as special war horses. This pattern is also known as "Medicine Hat".

In summery....

Tobiano: White on the toes but not on the nose.

Overo: No white on the toes but white on the nose.

Tovero: White on the toes and on the nose.

27, here I come!

The above picture exemplifies my twenty-sixth year. Twenty-six was a serious year for me, full of deep introspection, soul-searching, and heavy choices. It was a bit dark and I had to try a little too hard to make it work (like my make-up)... I'm also just starting to see the light...with just a few more steps I could have been basked in it. Just a few. More. Steps.

If the above picture represents my twenty-sixth year, then I hope my twenty-seventh year will look a bit like the following, taken yesterday (the day before my birthday).

I'm not pretending to smile in this picture, I'm simply smiling because I'm happy. Because I am outside, in the bright light of a summer day, with a lovely man sleeping inside and my dog at my feet. I'm safe, feeling no pain, and I have my whole life ahead of me.... And I'm old enough to know that that's worth smiling for. I may be having a bad hair day...and I dont have a stitch of makeup on my face...and I'm in my PJ's.... but I'm not hiding under anything either. I am what I am, what I am. At any age.

Twenty-seven years ago today my mother brought me into this world, through no small amount of effort and no large amount of pain medication. On that note I'd like to say..... Thanks Mom!!! Today's pictures are my virtual flowers to you!!

This evening I found out that I was born on the same day as the great Total Lunar Eclipse of July 6, 1982.

And that George W. Bush and Nancy Regan were both also born on July 6th....but then so was Sylvester Stallone and 50 Cent. I keep good company.

My Mom said that she knew I was a girl from the get go. She's always been really good at guessing things like that. Some women are.

Last week my sister was telling me about how the girls in her office played this game that is suppose to predict whether their pregnant co-worker was going to have a boy or a girl. I am sure we've all heard some folktale, like spinning the wedding ring of an expectant mother over her belly (it will swing in a circle if it's a girl, back and forth for a boy) or even simply how you carry the child, (low for a boy, high for a girl.)

This game was a little different and my Sis said that it had amazing results- it was accurate for all the girls in her office who had children.

I'm curious if it will be accurate for you.

Here's how it works. You need to know the month that you child was CONCEIVED....NOT the month that he/she was actually born.

You also need to calculate what age the mother was when the child was CONCEIVED.

So, lets say your child was conceived in November when you were 25 years old. You'd take the number 11 (November being the 11th month) and add it to your age (25)..

11 + 25 = 36

Now we have to break down the number 36 into a single digit....so add the three and six together (3+6=9)

The digit we came up with is 9.

Boys are odd numbers

Girls are even numbers.

So our hypothetical child should have been a boy!

Try it and tell me if it worked!

Simple Things Amuse...

Simple Minds....

Sorry.... at least I amuse myself!

I took these pictures today while out with Hawky and Hunter. One of my greatest joys in life is sitting back and watching the animals I love play...nothing lightens my spirit faster....

Hawky ready to lunge at a rope on a stick!

Hunter likes to mock Hawky by running in front of him with the ball... he may be little but that bugger is fast!

I love the above pic ! Straight out of the camera.


Hunter is so intense!

The dogs had a great time. We are filling up the old (and badly in need of repainting) pool just so for the dogs to play in during this hot spell....it was in the low 30s today!! They had a blast this afternoon and it was only a foot deep! I think they were just happy to cool down. Both dogs are sleeping at my feet as I type this...totally wiped out. A good dog is a tired dog!

Speaking of simple minds...

God I love this cat!! She hung around the pool, climbed in, sniffed around. Totally oblivious to the wet dogs and water! What a nut!

Skoal Ring!

(Me with ALL my babies...from Left to Right (as I called them) ... Bo-beena, Bo, Hawky-dog, and Cisco-buscuits)

Over the past few weeks I've posted two polls. The first was the question "Do you own a dog?" and the second was "Have you ever tried chewing tobacco?"

I asked the first question because I wanted to get a feel for how many people out there in bloggerland own a dog. Dogs are a HUGE part of my life and have been for many years... as a matter of fact my DB and I have had as many as four dogs at one time and plan on adding another three dogs to our family in the near future! As such, I hope to write a lot more about my dog adventures and hoped to engage you to share some of your own...which is why I wondered what percentage of you have a dog or two...or three. I truly do believe that dogs are the most fabulous, wonderful and amazing creatures on earth, I could live without one...but I sure the hell wouldn't want to!

Now, the "Have you ever tried chewing tobacco?" question had no such deep or intrinsic meaning. I was simply listening to Gretchen Wilson's song "Skoal Ring" (which I love) and go to wondering who on God's green earth could actually enjoys chewing that shit! Oh, and btw, "I could live without anything-"....including..."a man with a skoal ring!" I had a boyfriend who chewed, so can say firsthand that while that little gray ring on back pocket is most certainly cute, there's nothing tasty about it!



(Music starts about a minute in)

Which is why I must finish with this (warning: mature content) joke....

Prior to her trip to Texas, Lola (a New Yorker) confided to her co-workers she had three goals for her trip to the Lone Star State:

1. She wanted to taste some real Texas Bar-B-Que.

2. She wanted to take in a bona fide rodeo. And..

3. She wanted to have sex with a real cowboy.

Upon her return, the girls were curious as to how she fared.

Lola said, "That mesquite BBQ is so good, the meat fell off the bone! And I went to a real rodeo. It was crazy! Those guys ride wild horses and bulls! It was crazy fun!"

Then her friends asked....

"Well tell us, did you have sex with a real cowboy?"

To which Lola replied:

"Are you kidding? Hell no! You should see the size of the condoms they carry in
their back pocket!!!"

Sorry... it's not that funny.... *snort* But I like it.

First of July Cake!

So yesterday my Mom asked me if I would make a cake for a BBQ she was throwing for Canada Day and, as I am happy for any excuse to make a cake, (and sneak a little batter and icing *ehem*) I quickly agreed and suggested that we try the "Fourth of July Cake" that I had seen on Pioneer Woman's blog (only of course we'd make it a "First of July" Canada Day cake.)

Here is how it turned out...

Now, I am well aware that the Maple Leaf is like totally lopsided. As a matter of fact, it's been driving me crazy all bloody night long! I was not for lack of effort! I was so anxious about placing the raspberries just so that my hand shook and sweat broke out over my body... you'd think that I was disarming a freakin nuclear bomb rather than just trying to place raspberries in the shape of a blasted bloomin' geometrically challenged Maple Leaf!

In the end I just had to hope that at first blush the maple leaf wouldn't look like it had dipped into a little too much Canadian Lager (beer)!

(btw, the batter of this cake was AMAZING!! But then it aught to considering that it had 1 1/2 cups butter, 1 cup sour cream, 6 extra large eggs, and 3 cups of sugar in it! This was the Barefoot Contessa recipe that Pioneer Woman suggested. I didnt get to try the cake once baked but I hear it was pretty darn good!)

Happy 142nd Birthday Canada!

It is Canada Day today! (that's a mouthful, eh? (get it, "eh?"... though a stereotype we actually do say "eh" a lot. We actually love to punctuate a swear word with "eh" it makes them much more fun!)) I've always thought it was a little sad that we dont go as crazy about out National Birthday as those in the US....as though we arent as proud to be Canadian as Americans are to be...well... American.

But then as a people we are not particularly prone to excitement.... about much of anything besides Hockey, that is. It' true. When playoff season is upon us the towns and cities virtually shut down- men go around unshaven with "playoff beards", everyone drives around with the local hockey team's logos plastered to their cars or flying flags from car windows and if our team wins people pile into their trucks and drive around town honking and screaming from windows.

Oh sure, we have a Canada Day parade, a few fireworks and people get together for BBQs and to drink beer.... but most just enjoy getting the day off work or school and having a viable reason to drink more beer than on your typical Wednesday. However....beware mistaking a lack of hoopla as a lack of Canadian patriotism!....as Billy Bob Thorton found out after incurring the wrath of Canadian pride when he called us "mash potatoes without the gravy." In fact Bill Bob's band is no longer welcome in Canada.

You can call us "nice" (though secretly we hate that) or even believe we all live in igloos and hunt beaver.... We understand that not much is known about who we are or how we live! So here are some interesting facts about Canada....

A Canadian invented Basketball.

And hockey of course!

Curling and Lacrosse too! (you're like so impressed right?)

Also...


The first electric light bulb (There was one before Thomas Edison!), standard time, Insulin, five-pin bowling, Velcro, the electric cooking range, telephone and the zipper! Oh and Superman.

(Alexander Graham Bell was a Canadian citizen and was buried in Canada...but did work in the US and was born in Scotland.)



Winne the Poo was Canadian.


The US buys more oil from Canada than from Saudi Arabia.

Canadian's use one and two dollar coins rather than dollar bills. We call the 1$ coin a Loonie (because of the Loon bird pictured on it not because we're crazy!) and the 2$ coin a Toonie...'cause it came out after the Loonie and so it just made sense...)



Famous Canadian Stars:


William Shatner (the original Captain Kirk) and Jame Doohan (Scotty)
Mike Myers (Austin Powers)
Michael J. Fox
Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gossling (stars of The Notebook.... they were actually born in the same town and in the same hospital!)
Jim Carey
Ryan Reynolds
John Candy
Pamala Anderson
Dan Ackroid
Kiefer Sutherland
Keanu Reeves
Mathew Perry
Shania Twain
Leslie Neilson
Celine Dion
Michael Buble
Steve Nash (NBA NVP)
and many many more...

Canada is the worlds second largest co

untry (in terms of land mass) at 9,984,670 it is second only to Russia. However, it is home to only 33 million people (approx the population of California).




I am a PROUD CANADIAN!!!!!