Greying discussion!

[Cypress Creek Elites]

So, I've been working on a new project that literally only started because I saw a pretty horse in the AC and was like mine now

the horses are located in these two pastures:
https://www.horseworldonline.net/farm/pasture/178210
https://www.horseworldonline.net/farm/pasture/198588

if anyone else has been breeding for grey- is the time between body greying appearing linked to time to full grey and then turn fleabitten? or could I theoretically slow down the time for the horses to reach full grey, so they stay dappled longer?

is there a way to turn off fleabitten altogether? or is that just part of greying as a whole?

I've noticed that I have been able to breed out or restrict certain aspects of greying that I don't like: the skull faces, and then exaggerated early face whitening. I've also been able to breed in more consistent dappling. I wonder how much more I can control the greying on my horses.

[Sunpath]

Now, this was years ago, so I don't have that horse anymore but I do remember that I once did have a grey that just stayed white and didn't fleabite, and I know I was quite amazed by that horse. All my other greys had always gotten fleabites. That being said, that horse died around 20 years old so it didn't live for that long, could be that the fleabites would have showed up later. I feel like breeding for a slower greying process could result in fleabites showing up so much later in the horse's life that the horse doesn't get to that stage.

[Cypress Creek Elites]

The thing is, I'd love to get some really gorgeous dappling on the horses around 3 or 4, but have it last significantly longer. I don't love the whited out look, and I really don't like the fleabites. Interesting that you had one that did that, though!

[BlackOak2]

To keep this very simple and straightforward.

You can shorten and lengthen graying times through favoring and culling breeding. You can maintain certain gray-looks for longer by favoring those horses that do so. You can have fully gray horses that never fleabite and you can have fleabites appear quite early (even starting to appear before the horse is fully gray). I've even had a few horses with fleabites that are barely legible on horses that originally had dark coats. So not only are fleabite appearance and density also breedable-for, so seeming is, fleabite strength opacity.

How far the gray genes can be pushed, is not a study I have entered into. So although I know these things are possible, I don't know and haven't heard, how far these genes can be stretched.

Be an interesting read, if you apply your findings to a topic in the future.

[Cypress Creek Elites]

Okay, good to know! I'll be making a stud pasture shortly for free studs, if anyone wants to mess around with my dapple genes. These guys are also mostly 5* Akhal-Teke evals, so should work if anyone is working on a breed that includes Akhals, and wants black horses/markings/grey or all of the above!