2005 SILVER DAPPLE BAY PONY MARE, 13H

"Yours Truly" is a silver dapple bay (really! I originally just thought she was a funny colored chestnut) pony mare with an unknown pedigree who was purchased from our pony rescuing friend Cindy Bellis-Jones in Paris, Kentucky in November 2007. Cindy and daughter Heather work with the local horse dealers and sales in the area to save, rehabilitate and rehome approximately 100 ponies a year.

Since Hannah was showing an interest in riding, I asked Cindy to be on the lookout for a kind pony. As luck would have it, Truly had found her way into Cindy's care while I was going to be in the area for the finals of the 100-Day Stallion Performance Test at Paxton Farms in Ohio during November 2007. Although she was very young and green, Cindy said she only sees one or two ponies a year with the kind of temperament Truly displayed. She was suspiciously plump when I saw her and checked in foal when I had the vet out to see her. For whatever reason, I had a really good feeling about her and so she came home to Pennsylvania in time to be a Christmas pony.

On March 15, 2008, baby Ziggy was born after a long exhaustive foal watch as we did not have a due date to work from and Truly was quite a drama queen. Truly, herself only coming three (her first caps were shed in January 2008 making her approximately 34 months old), was a fabulous maiden mother and was nickering and licking him before he was all the way out. She did everything right, even positioning herself and pushing him back to the udder. He was up in less than 30 minutes after birth and his legs unfolded almost immediately. Both the vet and blacksmith have noted how correct he is. I wish we had a clue as to who papa is!

I believe Ziggy also carries the silver dapple (Z) gene (how appropriate!) as he has the same chocolate brown on his ears and the blond coloring in his mane.

Truly displays quite nice movement for a pony and I will start her back under saddle in a few months when Ziggy is weaned. Hannah has started lessons from my former hunt seat trainer Sue Casale on her school horses. Hopefully in the years to come the two will become a good pair when they both have more experience.

Silver Dapple Bay Gene

From Wikipedia - The silver dapple (Z) gene is a dilution gene that affects the black base coat color. It will typically dilute a black mane and tail to flaxen, and a black body to a shade of brown or chocolate. It is responsible for a group of coat colors in horses called "silver dapple" in the west, or "taffy" in Australia. The most common colors in this category are black silver and bay silver, referring to the respective underlying coat color. Mature black silvers typically have sooty white or silver manes and tails with a flat, non-fading, dark grey or grey-brown body coat. The body coat frequently exhibits dapples, rings of lighter-colored hair.

Mature bay silvers retain their reddish bodies, though the presence of small amounts of silver often gives them a chocolate appearance. The mane and tail are usually a sooty silver, darker at the roots, and the legs are usually a flat, brownish-grey mottled with silver. The hair around the eyes and muzzle may also show signs of silvering.