Grey (G)
Grey is a dominant modifier that causes a horse's coat to progressively lose pigmentation as it ages, changing from its original base color to a mostly white or completely white appearance. In game, horses can either turn a mostly solid white or fleabitten (this is also grey, but just another variation).
Grey can affect all three base coat colors, regardless of any other dilutions or patterns the horse may carry.
How Greying Works In Game
In game, horses with the Grey gene are born with their original coat color and gradually grey out as they age.
Over time, the horse's coat becomes lighter until it eventually reaches the final greying stage. At this point, the horse will no longer display its original coat color or visible markings and will appear almost entirely white.
The rate at which horses grey out in-game is percentage based, meaning one horse may be at a different greying stage than another despite being the same age. All horses will fully grey out by approximately 15 years of age, you'll know if your horse has the grey gene as it'll start changing slowly from approximately age 2-3, a more reliable way of telling without waiting would be to genetic test the horse.
Grey Inheritance
Because Grey is dominant, only one copy is needed for a horse to progressively turn grey.
- G/G - The horse has two copies of Grey and will always pass Grey to its offspring.
- G/n - The horse has one copy of Grey and has a 50% chance of passing Grey to its offspring.
- n/n - The horse does not have the Grey gene and will not visibly display it or be able to pass it to its offspring.
Hidden Genetics & Grey Horses
Grey does not remove or change a horse's underlying genetics. A grey horse can still carry and pass down its original base color, dilutions, modifiers, and patterns, even if they are no longer visible.
Just because a horse has lost its original color and markings does not mean it can no longer pass them down to its offspring.
Once a horse has fully greyed out, genetic testing is the only way to identify its underlying base color, dilutions, markings, and other modifiers in game. A horse may carry a wide variety of genetics that could be useful when breeding, but they may be completely covered up.