The right name for your first horse doesn’t have to be one of the most popular names. It could be a unique name representative of the horse’s personality or the horse’s color.
Best grey horse names
Here is the list of names to get you started on choosing the perfect name for your new horse, whether it is a gray mare, stallion or gelding:
Best horse names
The best name for your horse is whatever you think is a good name.
Dapple gray horse names
Aether
Arcus
Arsenic
Artemis
Beryllium
Blue
Cadmium
Carina
Centauri
Chrome
Chromium
Cirrus
Cloudy
Cobalt
Corona
Corvus
Darkwing
Diana
Eeyore
Erebus
Europa
Frost
Gemini
Ghost
Gloom
Greyson
Hydra
Indium
Iron
Latona
Lepus
Lithium
Lucida
Luna
Lutetia
Neptune
Nighthawk
Nimbus
Nyx
Magic
Mistic
Mercury
Moneta
Moondance
Palladium
Pisces
Pluto
Plutonium
Quicksilver
Rhodium
Rover
Selenium
Shadow
Shadowfax
Shark
Shark tooth
Sheep
Silver
Silverado
Silver Bullet
Snowbank
Steel
Sterling
Stormchaser
Stormcloud
Stormy
Stratus
Tartarus
Taurus
Tempest
Thor
Thunder
Thundercloud
Unicorn
Uranium
Vanadium
Windy
Zinc
Zirconium
Fleabitten grey horse names
Altair
Andromeda
Antimony
America
Arcturus
Argon
Aquila
Bellatrix
Blade
Blizzard
Cappella
Capricorn
Cassiopeia
Dot
Dove
Dusty
Draco
Flea
Freckles
Fulgora
Gallium
Gandalf
Germanium
Grit
Hurricane
Iris
Krypton
Leo
Leopard
Lightning
Lyra
Lynx
Moonraker
Merlin
Misty
Necromancer
Nickel
Nick
Niobium
Orion
Pebbles
Pegasus
Perseus
Pheonix
Pirta
Platinum
Polaris
Prometheus
Radon
Rain
Raincloud
Raindrop
Rigel
Ruth
Sandstorm
Snowflake
Snowman
Snowstorm
Snow White
Spot
Star
Starlight
Sirius
Technetium
Tellurium
Titanium
Tungsten
Vega
Vela
Xenon
White Gold
Almost all horse breeds contain grey horses. Greys are beautiful and unique.
They tend to stand out because they are less common than bays and chestnuts.
The color grey has another unique feature: it gets lighter with age.
Gray horses have black skin with a mixture of white and dark hairs. Grey foals are born black or very dark.
As they age their hair coat becomes lighter in stages.
As a yearling, the first white hairs appear around the ears and eyes, then scattered over the back and rump.
Each year after that, the coat becomes lighter. White hairs gradually replace black hairs.
Why grey horses get lighter as they age
There is actually no grey hair on a grey horse. It is all either white or black. The mixture of the two gives the appearance of grey.
By the age of 10 or 12, a grey horse will have almost all white hairs and look gray-white.
This progressive lightening of the coat comes from different skin layers producing less pigment as the horse ages.
When the foal is born, all the skin layers have plenty of pigment for the hairs, and they are all dark.
Around the time a grey horse is three years old, the first layer of skin has run out of pigment. The hairs that are rooted there turn white.
The hairs with the shallowest roots are located around the ears and eyes. These areas are the first to lighten with white hairs.
By age 7, the second layer of pigment-producing cells in the skin have also gone dry. The hairs rooted in the first 2 skin layers are all white.
The process continues layer by layer until the skin produces no more pigment for the hair and the horse looks almost white.
The skin itself never turns from dark to light, only the hair.
What is a dapple grey horse?
Dapple gray is a color pattern where the black fades in spots leaving irregular circles of white color. These little islands of white are called dapples.
Did you know?
It’s not just greys that can have dapples. A bay or a palomino can have dapples. But you might not spot the dapples easily on these other colors.
If you see slight dappling on a bay or palomino, you can be sure that the horse’s coat is in top condition.
Excellent nutrition and a dedicated grooming routine make it more likely a dappling pattern will appear in a horse’s coat.
What is a fleabitten grey horse
Flea-bitten gray is simply a different pattern of white and dark hairs on a grey horse.
Instead of dapples (circular areas of pigmented hairs surrounding lighter areas), the darker areas are in the form of small dark dots or specks.
As the horse ages, the “flea bites” become smaller and the white hairs cover more area.
Famous grey horses
When choosing a horse’s name, a horse owner can look at famous horse names for inspiration.
A great name can be inspired by famous names of similar horses.
Snowman
Snowman began life as a plowhorse. Then, at 8 years old, he was on the way to be slaughtered when he was rescued by Harry deLeyer.
DeLeyer used him as a school horse in his riding school. But when Snowman jumped high pasture fences, deLeyer recognized his talent for jumping and began riding him himself.
The pair formed a strong bond, and became champions on the American national showjumping circuit in the late 1950s.
However, Snowman was still very calm and good with children. In one show, he won a leadline class and a jumper championship on the same day.
Blueskin
Blueskin was a favorite horse of George Washington, the first president of the United States. The gray horse was one of 2 that he rode into battle during the American Revolutionary War.
Blueskin was part Arabian breed; his sire was said to have come directly from Morocco.
Greyhound
Greyhound was a grey Standardbred trotting horse born in 1932. He was nicknamed the Great Grey Ghost, and was arguably the greatest trotting horse in the history of the sport of sulky racing.
Native Dancer
Native Dancer was the first American racehorse to become famous on television. His gray coat was rare among Thoroughbred horses when he raced in the early 1950s.
This famous horse is still one of the most successful racehorses in American racing history. His barn name was Grey Ghost.
Desert Orchid
Desert Orchid was a very famous British steeplechaser. His career lasted from 1983 to 1991.
He was one of the most popular British racehorses of all time.
People loved his aggressive style of running at the front of the pack and his huge heart.
Nicolaus Silver
Nicolaus Silver was a British steeplechase racehorse who is famous for winning the 1961 Grand National.
He was foaled in Ireland and began his racing career there before being sold to Charles Vaughan in England.
Nicolaus Silver is one of only 3 greys to ever win the Aintree Grand National.
The other grey Grand National winners are:
The Lamb – won in 1868 and 1871
Neptune Collonges – won in 2012
Giacomo
The most recent winner of the Kentucky Derby that had grey coloring was Giacomo in 2005. At 50-1 odds, he was the fourth biggest long shot ever to win.
That year Giacomo finished third in the Preakness Stakes, and seventh in the Belmont Stakes.
Some other gray horses that have won the Kentucky Derby:
Monarchos – won in 2001. When he won he ran the second fastest winning time and the third fastest time overall in the race’s history up to 2001.
Silver Charm – won in 1997. He came very close to winning the Triple Crown, also winning the Preakness Stakes but coming second in the Belmont.
Winning Colors – won in 1988. Although Winning Colors was registered as roan, she was in fact gray. She is one of only 3 fillies ever to win the Kentucky Derby.
She finished third in the Preakness and out of the money in the Belmont. Otherwise she had a very successful racing career and was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame.
Gato Del Sol – won in 1982. Gato Del Sol’s trainer did not try for the Triple Crown, keeping him out of the Preakness Stakes. He finished second in the Belmont.
Also check out this super long list of names for white horses, which can work for greys too!
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