Dilution genes

Dilution genes do to the red and black pigments what adding white, or water, to paint, does.  There are several different kinds of dilutions:

An underline " _ "  next to a gene means it doesn't matter what the other one with it is, the results are the same.

• Dun

  • Grullo: E_ + aa + D_
  • Dun: E_ + A_ + D_
  • Brown Dun: E_ + Ata or AtAt + D_
  • Red Dun: ee + any A or a + D_

• Cream

  • Palomino: ee + any A or a + Crcr (red + one cream and one non-cream gene)
  • Cremello: ee + any A or a + CrCr (red + two cream genes)
  • Buckskin: E_ + A_ + Crcr (bay + one cream gene)
  • Perlino: E_ + A_ + CrCr (bay & two cream genes)
  • Smoky Brown: E_ + AtAt or Ata + Crcr (brown + one cream gene)
  • Brown Cream: E_ + AtAt or Ata + CrCr (brown + two cream genes)
  • Smoky Black: E_ + aa + Crcr (black + one cream gene)
  • Smoky Cream: E_ + aa + CrCr (black + two cream genes)

• Champagne

  • Classic: E_ + aa + Ch_
  • Amber: E_ + A_ + Ch_
  • Gold: ee + any A or a + Ch_
  • Champagne Cream: any of the above + Crcr or CrCr

• Pearl -  this rare gene is found only in a few breeds: the American Paint, Andalusian, Lusitano and the Pasos.  It's recessive, probably a mutation of cream, and interacts with cream.  It does not interact with dun.

• Silver

  • is a dominant gene (Z)
  • dilutes black manes & tail color to anything from pewter to flaxen; sometimes only partially
  • dilutes black body color to a dark chocolate color
  • has no apparent effect on red pigment

• Double Mixed Dilutions

  • dun + 1 cream gene
    • on red: "dunalino", "line-back Palomino", "yellow dun"; looks like a Palomino with dun markings, which are usually chestnut in color.  Dorsal may continue through center of mane & tail.
    • on bay: "dunskin", "buttermilk dun", in Kigers may be called "claybank" though this otherwise means light red dun.
    • on black: "golden grullo" (?), "silver grullo"
  • dun + 2 cream genes
    • on red: cremello dun;  markings may be invisible to the naked eye
    • on bay: perlino dun;  markings tan, pewter or yellow
    • on black: smoky cream dun; markings a bit darker than on perlino dun
  • dun + champagne
    • on red: gold dun
    • on bay: amber dun
    • on seal brown: sable dun
    • on black: classic dun
  • 1 cream + champagne
    • on red: gold cream
    • on bay: amber cream
    • on seal brown: sable cream
    • on black: classic cream

  And so on.  This last list is not exhaustive, as you can well imagine.  See also:

  horsecolor.com -- general horse color information

  newdilutions.com - pearl and searching for even "newer" dilutions

  ICHRegistry.com - the champagne color registry

  (all by this same webmaster)