Published on 04/26/2007

Explanation of the different color genetics and their crossings.

Coat Color Genetics: Brown, Black, Palomino & Buckskin

Understanding color coat genetics are great if you are breeding your horses and you want to figure out what crosses will produce what colors. Each color has its own gene combination for what they will present and produce.

Brown

A brown horse must have one parent that is black, brown or a color with black points, such as a bay. A brown horse can be homozygous for the black gene, which means that they can potentially produce a black horse. In fact, a horse with black points can potentially produce a black horse as well. To be homozygous brown, the horse must carry a black gene and have black points. A parent that is homozygous black will always produce a horse that is either solid black or a horse with black points.

It is also possible for a brown to have a roan gene. Some browns may carry a cream dilution gene that will cause a buckskin or palomino to be produced. A palomino is usually produced from a double dilution gene. Browns with the cream dilution gene may have a dapple effect to their coats.

Black

A black horse must have a black, brown or black pointed parent. Black horses will either have a black gene and one recessive red gene (heterozygous), or they will have to black genes (homozygous). A heterozygous black will produce a foal with no black points if bred to another heterozygous black or bred to a horse with no black points. A homozygous black will produce a solid black or a foal with black points every time. Some blacks may inherit a cream dilution from a palomino or buckskin parent. These horses often have a diluted black color and may appear slightly brown in the summer months.

Palomino

A palomino is a horse that shows the effects of the cream dilution gene. The palomino will carry two red genes and one cream dilution gene. They do not have any black, even if there is a black horse in the pedigree. The palomino may have a roan gene. The cream dilution gene causes the red to be the palomino color. The cream dilution gene is passed from a cream dilution-carrying parent, which can be another palomino, a buckskin, a brown or a black.

Buckskin

The buckskin acquires the agouti gene to cause the black points. The base color is red with the cream dilution gene causing the buckskin color. The buckskin actually has the same color genetics of the bay, but the cream dilution gene has been activated. If you breed two buckskins, you may get a palomino because of the double dilution of the cream dilution gene. The buckskin may also have the roan gene. Two buckskins will produce buckskin. A bay and palomino cross will produce buckskin and a cremello and bay cross will produce buckskin.