STONEYBROAK LODGE SPORTHORSES

Specialising In New Zealand Performance Sporthorses

COLOUR SIMPLIFIED

Everyone knows that horses come in all colours, however some people will not realise that horses only have two base colours, and those are red (chestnut) and black.

Black = aaEe or aaEE

Chestnut = aaee or Aaee or AAee

What alters these base colours are single Dominant genes that are known as modifiers. Horses also carry Pattern genes, like those you see on an Appaloosa and a Paint/Pinto horse.

MODIFIERS:

Grey (GG or Gg)

Agouti (AA or Aa) or Bay

Extension (EE or Ee) all over body black.

Cream (CrCr or Crcr)

Dun (DD or Dd)

Champagne (Mainly Miniatures in NZ & American Saddlebreds)

Silver Dapple (Mini's)

Pearl (Spanish horses PP or Pp)

If you can imagine any modifier except grey, as a bucket of paint, take your brush and dip it into Cream and start painting your chestnut horse. The result will be Palomino. Sounds too simple? This makes it easier to understand for some people.

Grey is an exception because its not a colour as such. The grey gene strips colour from the coat. Foals that grey with age, are born black or chestnut (or other colours) and as the foal ages the grey gene strips colour from the coat, usually from 6 months to 4 yrs, but there are exceptions to the rule.

All genes are grouped in pairs, eg. one copy of Cream/no Cream = CR/cr

All bay horses are black horses carrying one or two copies of the Agouti gene (brown/bay). Only black horses are affected by Agouti, not chestnut horses. Chestnut horses can carry this colour but it only affects a black coat.

Likewise one copy of Cream does not affect a black coat, but it will affect a chestnut coat turning it to Palomino. Two copies of Cream will turn a black coat to Smoky Cream, plus the horse will have blue eyes. Two copies of Cream over a bay base coat gives a Perlino horse.

DILUTE COLOURS

AGOUTI - This gene changes a black horse to bay, but leaves the lower legs, mane and tail black. Agouti shows when joined with Extension. Extension gives all over body black. All bay horses are AAEe or AAEE or AaEe, or AaEE. This means is horse can homozygous (dominant) for Extension and heterozygous for Agouti (bay) as AaEE, or homozygous for bay which will be AAEE. Homozygous meaning this is the only colour this horse will produce. When mated to a horse of a different colour, the foal may be a different colour, eg mating a homozygous bay (AAEE) to a cremello (aaeeCrCr), the result will be a buckskin. (AaEeCr)
Black + Agouti = Bay

CREAM - One copy of cream alters a bay coat to buckskin and a chestnut coat to Palomino, however on a black base coat it often never shows. Two copies of Cream however on a black base coat shows as Smoky Cream and the horse has blue eyes.
Chestnut + Cream = Palomino
Chestnut + {2 x Cream} = Cremello (blue eyes)
Bay + Cream = Buckskin
Bay + {2 x Cream} = Perlino (blue eyes)
Black + Cream = Smoky Black
Black + {2 x Cream} = Smoky Cream (blue eyes)
See more about the Cream Gene.

DUN - Dun is recognised by a dark dorsal stripe down the spine, dark shading over the wither, cobwebbing on the face, horizontal stripes on the back of the front legs and on the front of the back legs. Click here for photos of dun markings. Dun can display on both base colours, and with other modifiers as well.
Black + Dun = Grulla/o (pronounced grew-yo {male} or grulla {female} or Blue Dun
Chestnut + Dun = Red Dun
Bay + Dun = Yellow/Caramel Dun

To take things a step further, horses can carry more than one modifier over a base coat colour to make identifying their colour a little more tricky.
Black + Dun + Cream = Smoky Grulla/o
Bay + Cream + Cream = Dunskin or Buckskin-Dun
Chestnut + Dun + Cream = Dunalino or Palomino-Dun

See the Appaloosa stallion Mighty Luminous. He carries Dun and Cream over a black base coat.

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