🧪 Dilutions

Dilution Genes

Dilution genes lighten or alter the base coat color.

Cream (CR)

Cream is an incomplete dominant dilution. One copy creates a single dilute, while two copies create a double dilute.

Single Cream

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Double Cream

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Palomino Variations

Standard Palomino

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Dappled Palomino

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Light Palomino

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Buckskin Variations

Standard Buckskin

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Golden Buckskin

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Dark Buckskin

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Light Buckskin

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Dun (D)

Dun lightens the body while leaving primitive markings visible. Primitive markings include dorsal stripes and leg "zebra stripes"

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Primitive Markings

A horse may display primitive markings without being fully dun.

The Dun locus has three possible alleles:

Dominance order:

D > nd1 > nd2

This means Dun overrides both nd1 and nd2, while nd1 overrides nd2.

Non-Dun 1 (nd1)

Non-Dun 1 is incredibly interesting because it is basically a "partial remnant" of the original Dun gene.

Horses with nd1 are not diluted, but they may still display primitive markings.

Genotypes

Traits:

• Dorsal stripe
• Leg barring
  

However, the body color remains undiluted.

Non-Dun 2 (nd2)

Non-Dun 2 is what most modern horses carry.

Genotype

These horses:

• Are not diluted
• Do not naturally display primitive markings
• Cannot pass Dun unless bred to a horse carrying D

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Champagne (CH)

Champagne dilutes both red and black pigment while creating lighter eyes and mottled skin.

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