The popular 1969 hit song “My Way” contains a signature verse which has become virtually a lexicon in the English language i.e. “I did it my way” and of course it was sung by the legendary Frank “Ol’ Blue Eyes” Sinatra.
The blue colour in the eyes results from low melanin pigment concentration in the iris.
Horseyhooves.com explains the incidence of blue eyes in horses.
“Whether a horse will be born blue-eyed or not is more dependent on coat color than anything else. Double-dilute colorations will always come with blue eyes, like the cremello and perlino. These are horses with a chestnut, bay, or brown base color that has been diluted twice by the cream gene.
Single-dilutes like palominos or buckskins can also have blue eyes, although less frequently. Blue eyes are scarce in horses with base colors such as bay, chestnut, or black, but not unheard of. These horses will almost always have white markings.
Pinto and appaloosa colors are also associated with having blue eyes. The chances of this happening are even higher in horses with frame overo, splashed white, or sabino patterns. What’s more, blue eyes can be quite common in horses where white markings spread onto one or both eyes, like in “white-faced” horses.”
This Gimmethegreenlight gelding almost certainly has the sabino gene, as can be seen by the big white marking on his face, so his blue eyes are particularly rare as the white colouring does not extend to his eyes.
Neil Andrews, nominee for the Benmag Brown Syndicate, with I Did It My Way
The horse, who was raised at Varsfontein Stud, is trained by Dean Kannemeyer and members of the Benmag Brown syndicate are looking forward to his first appearance.
I Did It My Way as a foal with his dam, the USA-bred Easy In Love (Cape Blanco).
I Did It My Way’s dam, the USA-bred Easy In Love (Cape Blanco), had blue eyes but in a more common form because the white blaze extends over her eyes.
Pictures: Candiese Lenferna and Jaco and Carolyn Erasmus.