The Cream Gene is a modifier, or a gene that acts on one of
three base colours in horses. The three base colour are chestnut, bay,
and black. Some people classify brown as separate colour but for the purposes
of this discussion, we will group brown with black since the inheritance is the
same.
PLEASE TAP/CLICK ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION
The Cream Dilution can either be expressed as a single dilution, or a double dilution. Every chromosome has two alleles that represent the way in which each chromosome is inherited and you receive one allele from each parent. Simply put, the chromosomes (usually represented by letters) appear in pairs. To review high school biology, these pairs are generally dominant or recessive. Dominant genes are represented by two capital letters or one capital and one lower-case. The animal appears the same (phenotype) whether they are EE or Ee. The recessive form is represented by two lower-case letters ee.
The cream gene in the single form acts upon chestnut,
bay and black by diluting the red colour to cream. The Cream Colour may be
light enough to appear almost white to a dark chocolate tan colour. The black
is generally unaffected so bay horses horses retain the black points, and mane/tail. Black horses appear somewhat diluted- a mousey chocolate. Horses with a single Cream dilution generally have dark eyes (unless blue from paint patterns) and black skin except where there are white markings (paint markings, facial markings, and leg markings).
The double dilution, or two Cream Genes acts upon both the red and black colours. The red become light cream/off white, and the black lightens to cream. In a bay horse with two cream genes, the body colour is light cream and the points appear as a a darker shade of cream. Smokey Black Creams have a slightly over all darker shade but without genetic testing, it is impossible to determine what the base colour is in these horses. All double dilute Cream horses all have pink skin and blue or light green/hazel eyes.
The double dilution, or two Cream Genes acts upon both the red and black colours. The red become light cream/off white, and the black lightens to cream. In a bay horse with two cream genes, the body colour is light cream and the points appear as a a darker shade of cream. Smokey Black Creams have a slightly over all darker shade but without genetic testing, it is impossible to determine what the base colour is in these horses. All double dilute Cream horses all have pink skin and blue or light green/hazel eyes.
BASE
|
ONE CREAM GENE
|
TWO CREAM GENES
|
Chestnut
|
Palomino
|
Cremello
|
Bay
|
 Buckskin |  |
Black
|
Smokey
Black
|
 Smokey
Cream |
Corona's Band- Six Cream Dilutes
Left to Right: Fleabitten Grey, Palomino (1), Chestnut, Palomino (2), Palomino Paint(3), Chestnut, Corona- Dunalino ( Palomino + Dun) (4), Grey
Back Row: Chestnut, Palomino (5), Black, Cremello (6)
Buckskin Stallion with three light palominos in his band
Buggs Band
Sand Wash Basin
Variations of Cream Dilution: Shades, Sooty, Pangaré (mealy)
Shade: A horse can be various shades of their base colour-
from pale sorrel chestnut to deep liver chestnut and mahogany bay to a bay so
pale it looks nearly buckskin.
Sooty- the sooty trait is another modifier that acts on coat
colour. It can act alone with chestnut or bay. It gives the coat an appearance
of a fine patina of black that has been airbrushed over the coat. Chestnut horses may have the sooty modifier but
it often appears isolated to the mane and tail. Some chestnut horses do have
sooty on their body but it can be difficult to see. On bay horses, the sooty
can be very prominent. Sooty can also be found in buckskin and palomino horses.
It is possible it also can be found in darker black or brown horses but it would
be difficult to differentiate due to the dark base colour.
Chestnuts
Chestnut with sooty- appears most prominently in the mane
and tail, base colour is chestnut.
Cimarron
Sand Wash Basin
©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Palomino- mid colour
Bobby
Sand Wash Basin
©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TMBobby
Sand Wash Basin
©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Palomino- light
colour (Isabella/Isabelle)
Queen Isabella de Bourbon of Spain was reputed to have a love for very
pale palomino horses. She kept a stable full of pale palominos. These light
palominos are sometimes called Isabella/Isabelle.Sand Wash Basin
©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Buckskin Stallion with three light palominos in his bandBuggs Band
Sand Wash Basin
©Karen McLain StudioEquus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
 |
Buckskin Stallion with three light palominos in his band
Buggs Band
Sand Wash Basin
©Karen McLain StudioEquus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Always get your color-oriented photos before the mud bath…
Buggs Band
Sand Wash Basin
Palomino with Sooty
Bolder
Well known for changing colour as he aged, Bolder has the
Sooty gene expressed almost to the maximum. Born lighter, each year he grew
darker and darker. Some liver chestnut
horses that have a cream gene are called “chocolate palominos” and may be hard
to distinguish from Sooty palominos but the chocolate palominos tend to be
browner and the colour is more uniform and not scattered as we see here on
Bolder.
Pryor Mountain
©Karen McLain Studio
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Palomino with sooty- Bolder and his son Echo, a light
palomino
Pryor Mountain
©Karen McLain Studio
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM©Karen McLain Studio
Palomino with sooty restricted to the forelegs, face, and
chest. Tripod, a cremello- note the pink skin around his muzzle.
Tripod & Palomino Stallion
Sand Wash Basin
©Karen McLain Studio
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
BAYS
Sooty Bay
McCullough Peaks
©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
YELLOW ARROWS= Bay with Sooty
PINK ARROW= Bay
GREEN ARROW= Primitive Bay or Bay with Pangaré
A Primitive Bay is a bay with paler colour and the black
points of the legs do not extend above the knees/hocks- often paler in comparison.
McCullough Peaks
©Karen McLain Studio
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
YELLOW ARROWS= Bay with Sooty
PINK ARROWS= Bay
McCullough Peaks
©Karen McLain StudioEquus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Buckskin Stallion
Sand Wash Basin
Buggs
©Karen McLain StudioEquus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Buggs
©Karen McLain StudioEquus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Buckskin Mare with her Cremello colt
McCullough Peaks
©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Buckskin Mare- slight Sooty
McCullough Peaks
©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM
Buckskin Mare- moderate/heavy Sooty
McCullough Peaks
©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Equus ferus -Wild Horse Photography TM©Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Like
the Sooty modifier, the Pangaré (mealy),
trait may appear with most coat colours and lighten the coat on the legs, belly, and around the muzzle. Common in Icelandic and Haflinger horses.
trait may appear with most coat colours and lighten the coat on the legs, belly, and around the muzzle. Common in Icelandic and Haflinger horses.
Genotype at the agouti locus
|
Chestnut horses
|
Palomino horses
|
A+_
|
Light chestnut
|
Cream palomino
|
AA_
|
Red chestnut, with AAAA being the reddest
|
Golden palomino
|
At_
|
Standard chestnut
|
Seasonal palomino
|
Aa Aa
|
Liver chestnut
|
Bibliography
Gower, J. (1999). Horse color explained: A breeder's perspective. North Pomfret, VT: Trafalgar Square.
Kathman, L. (2014). The equine tapestry: An introduction to horse colors and patterns. Charlotte, NC.: Blackberry Lane Press.
Sponenberg, D. P. (1996). Equine color genetics. Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Presented by Dr Meredith Hudes-Lowder
Presented by Dr Meredith Hudes-Lowder
