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Basic Color Genetics
This information was compiled from several sources but mainly from Heather Rauschenberger and Lesli Kathman's website (which no longer exists at the address I had). I have taken it and added a little and "made it my own."
Click on names of colors and if I have a picture it will bring up one for an example.
Horses are one of two colors, black or red. All other colors are the result of one or more modifiers "piled up" on top of them. The base colors and their "offspring" make up families - Red family: chestnut, sorrel, palomino, cremello, red roan & red dun. Black family: bay, brown, black, buckskin, perlino, dun, grullo & blue roan. I'm sure you missed grey. Grey is a phenotype, grey really is genes that cause the coat to turn white over time. It can be on any color but eventually it will become white. Picture is of chestnut going grey and at that stage is called fleabitten grey. This process takes 8-10 or so years with the points (mane/tail and lower legs) graying last. Sounds like people doesn't it?
We will list a color, description, some crosses which can result in that color and some colors it will produce.
Chestnut/sorrel: your basic red.
We are talking about the genotype so chestnut & sorrel are the same. Chestnuts range from red-brown to orange-red with no black points. The mane/tail can range from almost black to almost-white flaxen. Chestnut/sorrel x chestnut/sorrel will always and only produce chestnut/sorrel foals. Chestnut is recessive for everything and when you mate two recessives you will get a recessive. Any color x Any color can produce chestnut/sorrel.
Black: one interesting color.
We are talking about true black, with NO brown. Blacks can be hard because they fade in the sunshine but they will always shed to jet black. True black x true black will never produce brown.
Black has an interesting trick. When you add a creme gene you can't tell by looking, but the horse will produce dilutes on non-dilutes. They call it a "hidden" creme gene. Blacks with creme are called smoky black.(see creme section) Black x any color, bay x any color when bay carries recessive black, roan x roan
Brown: your first modifier.
Brown horses are black with a brown modifier that causes brown places on muzzle, flank & other areas that never turns black. Brown horses can produce brown, black & sorrel. Brown horses can also carry a not so hidden "hidden" creme gene. The creme gene causes the brown places to turn golden but again, doesn't affect the black. Brown x brown, black x brown,
Creme: the dilution gene!
Creme is the gene responsible for Palomino, Buckskin, Cremello and Perlino. Creme is dominant, which means you must have one parent the same color, it cannot "hide." The single dilutes: Buckskin = bay + creme, Palomino = chestnut + creme and Dunalino or Buckskin/Dun = buckskin x dun or palomino x dun or cremello/perlino x dun. The double dilutes: Cremello = palomino x palomino or two cremes on chestnut and Perlino = buckskin x buckskin or two cremes on bay. You can only get one creme gene from each parent, a cremello x non creme will not have a double dilute foal. Cremello/Perlino are basically white with blue eyes. Perlinos tend to have bluish or reddish points. They are not lethal whites and do not produce lethal whites unless they have an overo background.
For cremello: buckskin x palomino, palomino x palomino, smoky black x palomino, etc. you get the picture.
For perlino: buckskin x buckskin, buckskin x palomino, smoky black x smoky black, smoky black x buckskin etc.
For palomino: cremello x chestnut, palomino x any color, perlino x any color, buckskin x any color etc.
For buckskin: buckskin x any color, cremello x bay, perlino x bay, palomino x bay etc.Check out Double Dilutes.com
Bay: your common modifier.
A black horse with the "bay modifier." Bays are always reddish or brownish w/black points. Photo shows a dark bay. Bay x bay crosses can result in bay, brown, black, sorrel/chestnut. Bays are typically born bay but the black on their legs is light until they shed. Bay x any color
Dun-factor: said and dun it.
Dun is a modifier that adds the distinctive dorsal stripe all down the back. Some non-duns have a partial or indistinct dorsal, these aren't dun. Dun-factor is usually expressed in one or more of the following: ear bars & tips, face mask, cobwebbing, leg stripes, and neck and shoulder bars. Dun is dun-factor on bay, Grullo is dun-factor on black, Red dun is dun-factor on chestnut. Dun-factor can be present in a homozygous form and some horses only throw dun-factor foals. Dun-factor is dominant (must be passed directly from parent to foal). Dun x Dun cross can result in black, grullo, bay, dun, sorrel & red dun. Some foals are born w/dorsal or leg bars but they shed away in the first year - these are not dun. Dun foals are usually born yellowish, even grullo duns, and darken as they shed.
Dunalino and Buckskin-Duns: a combo of the best.
A dunalino is a horse with both dun and palomino genes. Buckskin-duns are, of course, buckskin and dun on one horse. Because creme and dun-factor or dominant these colors can only be Dunalino: dun x palomino, cremello x dun, & (I think) red dun x perlino Buckskin-Dun: buckskin x dun, perlino x dun
Roans: a little white mixed in.
Black is a black(blue) roan, bay is bay roan, chestnut is chestnut(red) roan, palomino is palomino roan, etc. These are true roans, not horses that just happen to have a white hair on their flanks. Rabicano is a different form of roaning. Rabicano is often called Arab roan because it is the only roan that Arabians come in. The difference? Rabicanos are wildly roaned on the flanks and have a "coon tail." Go Man Go is a great example of a rabicano mistakenly registered.
Champagne: more than a drink.
Champagne is a different dilution gene. It dilutes the hair and the mane/tail. It is the effect of a chocolate Labrador. The TWH are known for the "funky" palominos, buckskins and duns.The characteristics are pumpkin/pinkish skin that is "freckled" or mottled with dark spots, a reverse of Appy mottling, bronze/gold cast to the coat, eyes that change considerably, they are light blue at birth but change to a variety of color ranging from light amber, greenish, bluish to "normal." The foal coat also changes, it starts darker and lightens. Gold champagne is champagne on sorrel, amber champagne is champagne on bay, classic champagne is champagne on black, and ivory is champagne on palomino. Gold Champagne(chestnut): gold champagne x any color, any champagne x any color. Amber champagne (bay): amber champagne x any color, champagne (classic) x any color. Champagne (classic, black): any champagne x black, any champagne x bay if bay carries recessive black, classic champagne x any color.
Pintos:
Tobiano: white with colored spots
Tobiano is basically a white horse with normal horse colored places. You use the normal color getetics to get the "base color." For a black tobiano you would breed a black tobiano x anything or to get a buckskin tobiano you could breed a cremello to a bay tobiano. Tobiano is usually easily recognized, it is more of a "vertical" pattern. The "rule" is that white must cross an invisable line from between the ears to the base of the tail.
Tovero: the "in-between" pintos
Tovero is overo BUT the white crosses the back. It could also be called minimal tobiano. It's for horses that "break the rules."
Overos: colored with white patches
Same basic color genetics apply. Overos are basically any horse color with white patches. The spots are generally in a more "horizontal" pattern and tend to be kindof circular. There are Minimal Sabianos - a colored horse with a white face & high stockings. Sabianos - same as minimals but may have small spots on belly etc. Frames - the "normal" overo. Basically, the color "frames" the white. The picture is of a frame overo. Lethal Whites: According to the APHA website overo x overos will produce lethal whites 25% of the time. The other 25% may be solid or "breeding stock" and the other 50% will be overos. A "Lethal White" (or LW) is a solid white foal born that dies in a day or so. They only come from crossing 2 overos. The genetics behind it are still a mystery so for real horse breeders crossing 2 overos will have it's risks.
Appaloosas:
Snowflakes:
Probably the most uncommon of Appaloosa patterns. It's a colored horse with white spots like he was in a snow shower. Like "reversed leopard" or colored with small white spots. Basic color genetics apply and one parent should probably carry a similar pattern.
Blankets:
A very common Appaloosa pattern. Colored horse, white covers rump and/or back. Blanket may be crisp around edges or roaned, may have black or body-colored spots.
Leopards:
Many Appaloosa breeders breed for < a href="promises2.jpg">leopards. The general term leopard usually specifically refers to a white horse covered in black spots but leopard as a pattern can mean a white horse with chestnut or other colored spots. Some have big spots, others have tiny spots more like "reversed snowflake." Base color genetics apply, I think the leopard may throw from past generations as well as from parent to foal.
Varnish Roan:
Is like washed out roan or semi-leopard, typically not as pretty as the "usual" patterns. It is said to come from too many appy to appy generations. Many breeders outcross to prevent Varnish or Marbel Appaloosa but some owners love it.
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