A Guide to Equine Color Genetics and Coat Color

Sample genetic recipe: Any color dun X any dun color; any dun X any color.

Sample shade variations on body color:

• Apricot dun: a pale peach-skin or apricot-skin hue.
• Claybank dun: a pale shade ranging from pale straw to yellow clay, characterized by a yellow cast to the hair; mane and tail are mostly cream or white.
• Sooty red dun: red dun with sooty effect.

Palomino: This color is actually the result of chestnut with a cream dilution factor. Look for a rich gold to clear-yellow body; manes and tails are generally white or pale; dark eyes.

Sample genetic recipe: Cremello X chestnut (will always produce palominos); cremello X any color; palomino X chestnut (you'll get only chestnut or palomino); palomino X any color; buckskin X any color; black X any color (if black parent has a hidden cream gene).

Sample variations on color:

Golden palomino: a body the color of a newly minted gold coin, with a white mane and tail.
1. Isabelo: the palest palomino shade or dark cream with amber eyes.
2. Sooty (or smutty) palomino: black shading mixed with yellow body hairs; can be quite dark and difficult to distinguish from a chestnut.

Silver dapple: A dominant gene acts on black pigments (such as points) by lightening them. It leaves red body pigment unchanged but does lighten manes/tails in red horses. Now known simply as the "silver gene," as only a minority of horses actually show dapples. Uncommon in North America, except in pony breeds (think chocolate-colored Shetland with a flaxen mane and tail) and such gaited breeds as the Rocky Mountain Horse.

Sample genetic recipe: Silver dapple X any color.

Sample variations on color:

• Silver-dapple bay: body red; mane and tail flaxen or mixed; legs light; eyes dark.
• Silver-dapple black: body chocolate-silver dapple; mane and tail flaxen or white; legs chocolate brown; eyes dark.

Patterns of White
Even though you may think of gray as a horse color, it's actually considered to be a pattern of white hairs. Pinto/paint, roan, and Appaloosa are considered to be patterns characterized by white patches. Here's how it breaks down.

Appaloosa (or spotted horses): There are lots of leopard-patterned horse breeds in the world, but Appaloosas are the best known, especially here in North America. The leopard pattern is a dominant gene that produces coat patterns characterized by dark or white spots, blankets and "varnish" (see below). Also characteristic of this factor are white sclera visible around the eyes, mottled skin pigment on the face and/or genitals and striped hooves. A sparse mane and tail can be typical of some Appaloosas.

Sample genetic recipe: Appaloosa X Appaloosa; Appaloosa X any color.

Sample variations on color:

• Blanket: a dark body with a blanket of white hair over the loins and hips, which may or may not contain darker spots; mane, tail and legs are dark; eyes are dark.
• Few-spot leopard: white body and legs with a few dark spots scattered throughout; white mane and tail; dark eyes.
• Frost: roaning-type white spread over the croup and hips; dark eyes.
• Leopard: white body and legs with numerous dark spots; mane and tail mixed; dark eyes.
• Snowflake: white patches up to nearly 3 inches across, scattered over a darker base color.
• Varnish roan: not actually a roan, but rather a manifestation of the leopard complex with a mixture of white and dark hairs. Bony areas (such as the face, withers, hip and stifle) are darker than the rest of the body; the exact opposite of the "frosty roan".

Gray: This is a dominant pattern caused by individual white hairs. Such horses are normally born colored, then progressively acquire white hairs as they age; the body, mane, tail and legs are gray; eyes are dark. The speed with which graying occurs varies from horse to horse and from breed to breed. All gray horses eventually turn white or flea-bitten (see below). Some horses' manes hold color longer than others, but eventually all turn white if the horse lives long enough.

Sample genetic recipe: Any gray X any color.

Sample variations on coat pattern:

1. Dapple gray: dark dappling that can be seen on some young gray horses before they "white out."
2. Flea-bitten gray: small flecks of color (generally red or black) remain in the coat.
3. Iron gray: gray that lacks dapples.
4. Porcelain gray: older gray horses that are white with pigmented skin.
5. Rose gray: pinkish-gray body color; dark eyes. Not a permanent color, but rather a descriptive term for a stage of gray through which a bay- or chestnut-hued young horse may go through as he gets progressively grayer.

Pinto/Paint: Their coats are characterized by irregular, asymmetric patterns of white spotting. Any number of background colors can exist; mane, tail and legs vary depending on genetic coat pattern (see below); eyes can be dark or blue.