u/AlertStrength3301

Came across this guy on Pinterest and was able to locate another image of the same individual with a face and stripe closeup. They have a very diluted mane and tail with faint mane stripes. Their dark body stripes are less diluted to a very dark brown and the nose is also a lighter brown tone. Meanwhile their skin and eye color are unaffected.

I immediately thought of the silver dilution in horses which has a similar effect on coat coloration. This guy even has light eyelashes like many silver horses do. Makes me think that a mutation on PMEL17 (the same locus for the silver dilution) is possible. Another interesting feature is that their stripes seem wider than those of their non-dilute herd mates. The decreased pigment possibly influencing their expression.

Let me know what you guys think!

I was putting together a presentation on bay coloration and came across the darkest confirmed bay I have ever seen. His name is Pieorities, a quarter horse stallion. He was confirmed E/E A/a through UC Davis. At first I couldn't believe he wasn't black. It didn't help that I first came across a photoshoot where he had dark makeup put on his face. Then I found the photoshoot with the blue halter and saw the barely-there red on his muzzle.

Had to compare him to MP Festival, the wild bay Arabian so light her flaxen gene found enough mane and tail without black pigment on it to phenotypically express. She's one of the lightest bays I've seen and comes from a line of light/wild bays. She's wearing makeup in the supplied images, but here on the lower image she either isn't wearing any, or it's much less.

Thought this was a fun comparison of two extremes in bay expression and had to share!