Copper Bay Farm | ZIGNATURE "Ziggy"

2008 TOBIANO PONY GELDING

Zignature "Ziggy" is our mystery foal (sire unknown) out of "Yours Truly", a silver dapple bay pony mare (pedigree unknown) who was purchased from our pony rescuing friend Cindy Bellis-Jones in Paris, Kentucky in November 2007. She was suspiciously plump when I looked at her and sure enough turned out to be in foal to an unknown stallion with an unknown due date.

On March 15, 2008 Ziggy was born after an exhaustive and long foal watch as we did not have a due date to work from and Truly was quite a drama queen. 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 was so surprised to see the high white stockings on the front legs and then the zigzag of white down his neck as he was being born. The only name that had popped into my head was "Signature" because that's what follows "Your's Truly", but Ziggy fits him better so we incorporated the Z into his name.

Honestly, I was expecting anything from a give-away companion foal to a mule, but we
are delighted with this little guy! His conformation, personality and movement are all quite nice and his markings are beautiful.

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. A DNA test from UC-Davis confirmed he is N/Z so has one copy of the altered sequence detected.

For now we will enjoy his little whinny whenever we call his name and see how he develops as time goes on. The kids love the "Ziggster" as they call him.

About the 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 gray 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.

Lineage

Yours Truly

Ziggy's dam "Yours Truly" is a 13H 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.

Truly has since been sold to Stacey and Neil Donnelly in Virginia and we wish them the best of luck and hope Truly proves to be a wonderful foxhunting mount for Neil!

Show Results

Hannah is looking forward to riding and showing Ziggy in a few years so I'm sure we will have much to report in this section when he grows up!

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