> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://equinecolors.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Grey - URL: https://equinecolors.com/grey/ - Published: 2025-12-09T13:16:44.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-10T10:47:56.000Z - Description: Grey (or gray) is a horse color caused by one or two copies of grey on any coat color. It causes progressive lightening ("greying") of the coat. - Author: Hannelore Roodhooft - Tags: Colors, Modifiers, #Import 2026-08-12 09:42 ## Appearance | Foals | ![Grey foal](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/greyfoal.png) | Grey foals can be born with **any coat color**(here: chestnut). The coat is [**hyperpigmented**](https://equinecolors.com/dictionary/#:~:text=on%20buckskin%20horses.-,Hyperpigmentation,-Foals%20that%20are)and grey foals can often be recognised by the grey **“goggles”** around the eyes. The greyingusually starts on the head, from which itspreads to the rest of the body. | | ----- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Grey horses gradually **turn lighter**,going through different stages. Somehorses are completely white by the timethey are 5 years old, other horses don'tstart showing any signs at all until muchlater in life.Grey horses have **dark skin and eyes**.Grey is linked to an increased risk of**melanoma**. Horses may also develop **depigmentation** around the eyes,nose and genitals. | ![](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/grey-1.png) | Adults | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | #### Grey shade variations The shades/ stages of grey that horses go through in their lives are often given specific names. Here are some snapshots of the many different grey variations. | DarkDappleGrey | ![Dark dapple grey horse](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/darkdapple.png) | An early/intermediate grey stage wherelight and dark areas form a “dappled”pattern over the entire coat: dark ringswith a lighter color on the inside. | | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | SteelGrey | ![Steel grey horse](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/steelgrey.png) | An intermediate grey stage where the white hairs are mixed in evenly with a dark original color, giving the horsea silvery look. | | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | RoseGrey | ![Rose grey horse](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/rosegrey.png) | An intermediate grey stage where thewhite hairs are mixed in evenly witha red (chestnut/bay) coat color, givingthe horse a light reddish tint. | | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | LightDappleGrey | ![Ligth dapple grey horse](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/lightdapple.png) | A late stage where the dapples on thecoat have almost completely greyedout. The pigment is mostly retainedon the legs. | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | "White"Grey | ![White grey horse](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/grey-1.png) | A late/final stage of grey. Nearly allhairs are fully depigmented and white. | | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Flea-bittenGrey | ![Fleabitten grey horse](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/fleabitten.png) | A fully “white” coat with small, pigmentedspeckles. The number of speckles can varybetween horses. They usually go through afully “white” stage first and sometimes gainmore speckles as they age. | | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | BloodyShoulderGrey | ![Bloody shoulder grey horse](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/bloodyshoulder.png) | A bloody shoulder is a heavily pigmentedarea on the coat of a grey horse. It can beseen as many fleabitten specks that have merged into a big spot. Despite the name,it can be anywhere on the body. | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ### Mimics Because most horses eventually turn completely "white", it becomes difficult or impossible to determine the underlying coat color without genetic testing. White markings or patterns can sometimes still be seen, as the skin underneath them is pink, while grey horses normally have dark skin and eyes. This becomes especially visible when a grey horse is wet. "White" grey horses can be confused with diluted coat colors such as homozygous [cream](https://equinecolors.com/cream/). ![CTA Image](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/Equinecolors_Icon_MagnifyingGlass-11.png) Grey horses (unless dilution or white markings are present) have black skin and dark eyes. ## Genetics Grey is caused by the dominant **G2** and **G3 alleles** of the[**STX17 gene**](https://equinecolors.com/stx17-gene/). The effect of **G2** is less strong: horses with one copy of this allele are often **late-greying** and have a **lower risk** of developing **melanoma** (a type of skin tumors). Horses homozygous for **G3** are suspected to grey **faster** and have an **increased risk** for melanoma. ![CTA Image](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/Equinecolors_Icon_DNA1-33.png) ****Grey:** G3/G3 (very fast) G3/G2 G3/g G2/G2 G2/g (slow) In older genetic test results, you'll usually just see grey written as **G/G or G/g**. That there are actually multiple alleles is a pretty recent discovery. **Note:** Horses that are **G3/g** and **G2/G2** can't be distinguished with genetic testing alone at the moment. For a more detailed explanation about this, you can read our page about the STX17 gene. > *In our game,* [***Horse Reality***](https://www.horsereality.com/?ref=equinecolors.com)*, horses are randomly assigned one of the grey variations when they turn from a foal into and adult. Some shades are exclusive to/ more common on certain base colors. There is only one grey-allele (G) in game, at the time of development it wasn't yet known there are actually multiple variations.* ## Presence in horses Grey can be found in many different breeds. The G3 allele is the most common across horse breeds. The slow-greying G2 allele has been found in 8 different breeds: Andalusian, Connemara Pony, Miniature Horse, Mangalarga Marchador, Mustang, Quarter Horse, Tennessee Walking Horse, and Welsh Pony. [Back to Modifiers](https://equinecolors.com/modifiers/) ## Articles 1. Andersson L. **White horses - non-coding sequences drive premature hair greying and predisposition to melanoma**; Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences (2024); Doi: [10.48101/ujms.v129.10626](https://ujms.net/index.php/ujms/article/view/10626?ref=equinecolors.com) 2. Henner J., Poncet P.A., Guérin G., Hagger C., Stranzinger G., Rieder S.; ***Genetic mapping of the (G)-locus, responsible for the coat color phenotype "progressive greying with age" in horses (Equus caballus)***; Mammalian Genome (2002) doi: [10.1007/s00335-002-2174-7](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00335-002-2174-7?ref=equinecolors.com) 3. Rosengren Pielberg G., Golovko A., Sundström E., Curik I., Lennartsson J., Seltenhammer M.H., Druml T., Binns M., Fitzsimmons C., Lindgren G., Sandberg K., Baumung R., Vetterlein M., Strömberg S., Grabherr M., Wade C., Lindblad-Toh K., Pontén F., Heldin CH., Sölkner J., Andersson L.; ***A cis-acting regulatory mutation causes premature hair graying and susceptibility to melanoma in the horse***; Nature Genetics (2008); Doi: [10.1038/ng.185](https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.185?ref=equinecolors.com) 4. Rubin C.J., Hodge M., Naboulsi R., Beckman M., Bellone R.R., Kallenberg A., J'Usrey S., Ohmura H., Seki K., Furukawa R., Ohnuma A., Davis B.W., Tozaki T., Lindgren G., Andersson L.; ***An intronic copy number variation in Syntaxin 17 determines speed of greying and melanoma incidence in Grey horses***; Nature Communications. (2024); Doi: [10.1038/s41467-024-51898-2](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51898-2?ref=equinecolors.com) 5. Swinburne J.E., Hopkins A., Binns M.M.; ***Assignment of the horse grey coat colour gene to ECA25 using whole genome scanning***; Animal Genetics (2002); Doi: [10.1046/j.1365-2052.2002.00895.x](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2052.2002.00895.x?ref=equinecolors.com) --- [![CTA Image](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/10/Image-5.png)](https://www.horsereality.com/?ref=equinecolors.com) Learn while playing! Discover how genes shape colors and patterns in our realistic horse breeding game, Horse Reality [Play now ](https://www.horsereality.com/?ref=equinecolors.com)