(no subject)
Apr. 13th, 2005 08:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickOkay. The entirety of this post is going to discuss horses, with illustrations. Well, that and the fact that it's fucking APRIL and I'm building a damn fire because baby, it's cold outside. Okay. Did that.
I said yesterday that Taku was ugly. She is. Since it's possible that non-horse-people are unable to distinguish between cute and uncute horses, I have provided ya'll with examples of each so that you can see side-by-side comparisons. The unrelated-to-me child visible in the pictures is Bubba, who kindly agreed to take time out from playing with her pony to help me out with the photo op.
Full body views, Nick and Taku. Nick is the first one, Taku is the second. Note that Nick gives the impression of balance, front and back halves about the same height, and she's got a neck that goes well with the rest of her and sits on her shoulders nicely. On the other hand, Taku is an inch or two taller on the hindquarters than on the forehand. That's not good. She's got a short, unattractive neck that doesn't blend well with the rest of her and looks... icky on her shoulders. It's too upright or something. Nick is carrying better weight than Taku, but they live in the same field and get fed the same stuff, which means that Nick is just plain thriftier than Taku. (Think of it as a metabolism thing -- people are the same way. Some humans can eat and eat and never gain an ounce... and it's good when people do it. It's a pain in the ass when horses are like that, though.) Nick looks compact, of a piece, like she's made of all parts that came in the same box. Taku looks... not so well assembled.
Side head shots. Sorry I couldn't get them facing the same way. You'll have to make do. Again, Nick is the first, Taku is the second. Nick has neat, small ears and a nice-sized eye on a fairly small, attractive head. She's got finer structure than Taku. Taku has big muley ears and little eyes and a coarser, less refined face than Nick does. This is somewhat hard to see since they're both in furry coats, but trust me, it's the case. For arabian horses, the 'dry' head (fine skin, very little fat, visible structure and veins) is the look to go for. It's breed-appropriate. Both mares are registered Arabians, but Nick is way more typey than Taku.
Today Taku and I worked on basic rope skills. For a beastie left to her own devices for so long, she's remarkably sane. She's also smart as a whip. I'm kind of pleased she didn't get the short end of the stick on all counts -- her parents (I knew them both) were damn fine horses and they had a lot to offer besides good looks. She got speed. She got smarts. I think she's reasonably pleasant, to boot. We shall see, but I am optimistic after one day.
I said yesterday that Taku was ugly. She is. Since it's possible that non-horse-people are unable to distinguish between cute and uncute horses, I have provided ya'll with examples of each so that you can see side-by-side comparisons. The unrelated-to-me child visible in the pictures is Bubba, who kindly agreed to take time out from playing with her pony to help me out with the photo op.
Full body views, Nick and Taku. Nick is the first one, Taku is the second. Note that Nick gives the impression of balance, front and back halves about the same height, and she's got a neck that goes well with the rest of her and sits on her shoulders nicely. On the other hand, Taku is an inch or two taller on the hindquarters than on the forehand. That's not good. She's got a short, unattractive neck that doesn't blend well with the rest of her and looks... icky on her shoulders. It's too upright or something. Nick is carrying better weight than Taku, but they live in the same field and get fed the same stuff, which means that Nick is just plain thriftier than Taku. (Think of it as a metabolism thing -- people are the same way. Some humans can eat and eat and never gain an ounce... and it's good when people do it. It's a pain in the ass when horses are like that, though.) Nick looks compact, of a piece, like she's made of all parts that came in the same box. Taku looks... not so well assembled.
Side head shots. Sorry I couldn't get them facing the same way. You'll have to make do. Again, Nick is the first, Taku is the second. Nick has neat, small ears and a nice-sized eye on a fairly small, attractive head. She's got finer structure than Taku. Taku has big muley ears and little eyes and a coarser, less refined face than Nick does. This is somewhat hard to see since they're both in furry coats, but trust me, it's the case. For arabian horses, the 'dry' head (fine skin, very little fat, visible structure and veins) is the look to go for. It's breed-appropriate. Both mares are registered Arabians, but Nick is way more typey than Taku.
Today Taku and I worked on basic rope skills. For a beastie left to her own devices for so long, she's remarkably sane. She's also smart as a whip. I'm kind of pleased she didn't get the short end of the stick on all counts -- her parents (I knew them both) were damn fine horses and they had a lot to offer besides good looks. She got speed. She got smarts. I think she's reasonably pleasant, to boot. We shall see, but I am optimistic after one day.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-04-14 10:58 am (UTC)Jerez was originally chestnut as a baby. He turned grey, or pink, anyway, and then eventually white. (This is what grey horses do. They start out some other color and get more and more white as time goes by.)
Bayada was originally bay as a baby and turned grey.
(I knew both Jerez and Bayada as babies -- they were young when I was twelve or so.)
Galen's bay mare was bay and stayed that way.
Since Jerez x Bayada -> Taku, who is bay and will stay that way, neither Jerez or Bayada was homozygous for grey. If either of them had been, the cross would not ever have thrown a colored baby. Both of them were heterozygous for grey, likely Jerez chestnut and Bayada bay on the other allele. (I think that's the right word.)
We cannot know much of Galen's bay mare's genotype because we only saw the one baby (Nick) from her.
Interesting: Does the foal coat color on later-turned-grey horses show the hidden allele? It's got to come from *somewhere* after all, and horses that don't change color are mostly born the color they are going to be. (Exception: black horses are born mouse-grey.)