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The Colors it Produces The creme gene is a gene expressed in horses, producing many common, and not so common, colors. When one copy of the gene is present, it dilutes "red" color (chestnut) to yellow, and when two copies of the gene are present, both red and black hairs become a pale cream color. A horse with the creme gene is not a horse that survived lethal white syndrome. It has nothing to do with frame overcoat patterns. Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 For other uses, see Horse (disambiguation). ...
Chestnuts. ...
The Creme Gene produces the colors:
- palomino
- buckskin
- smoky black
- cremello
- perlino
- smoky creme
What it does The creme gene lightens the "red" base coat. One copy lightens red (chestnut) coloring to pale yellow (think palomino), two copies will lighten both red and black hairs it to an off-white, cream color (think cremello).
Eye color: double dilutes have blue eyes (unlike red eyes of an albino, or brown eyes of a true white horse). Many palominos are born with blue eyes, along with pink skin, which darken within a couple weeks of birth.
The creme gene is an "incomplete dominant" gene, which means that it is expressed even when there is only one copy of the gene--it is dominant--but it expresses itself even more when there are two copies (one from each parent).
Single dilutes Single dilutes received the creme gene from one parent, and a different gene for coat color from another parent.
Palomino: One parent gave the creme gene, one the "red" base coat gene. The creme gene lightens the coat to pale yellow/ gold and the mane to white, producing a palomino.
Buckskin: One parent gave the creme gene, the other had the genes for bay (the black base gene and the agouti gene that restricts the black to the points only- see bay for explanation of the agouti gene). The creme gene lightened the coat to pale yellow, but could not change the black of the horse, leaving the mane, tail, and lower legs black. Bay is a color of the hair coats of horses, characterized by a body color of dark red (known as blood bay) to deep brown, with black points (mane, tail, lower legs, and sometimes the muzzle and tip of the ears). ...
Bay is a color of the hair coats of horses, characterized by a body color of dark red (known as blood bay) to deep brown, with black points (mane, tail, lower legs, and sometimes the muzzle and tip of the ears). ...
Smoky black: One parent gives the creme gene, the other the gene for a "black" base color. The one creme gene can not change the black hairs, so the horse looks black, "masking" the creme gene. Only on true blacks can the creme gene be totally masked. Those horses with some brown or red hairs will have those hairs turned gold, and have a "glow" on their coat. Although the gene is masked, IT CAN STILL BE PASSED ON. So a smoky black stallion can pass on the creme gene to the next generation, and produce, say, a palomino horse from a chestnut mare, even though neither parent appears to have the gene.
Double dilutes Double dilutes have 2 creme genes (one from each parent). This even further lightens the red color: from the golden color of one dilute to a "creme" color of the double dilute. It also results in lightening of black hairs to a dark cream color.
Double dilutes are not albinos, even though they have pink skin. Nor are they white: they have blue eyes, whereas a white horse would have brown eyes. Albinism is a genetic condition resulting in a lack of pigmentation in the eyes, skin and hair. ...
Cremello: The double dilution of chestnut/red coats. The body and mane is a cream color (hence the "cream gene").
Perlino: Double dilution of bay, so that the body is a light creme, with "pinkish" points (mane, tail, lower legs).
Cremello and Perlino horses fade in color as they mature, so that they look almost white. Their eyes and skin remain their respective colors.
Smoky Cream: Double dilution on a black coat. The cream gene is not completely hidden like it was in the smoky black. The horse is a pinkish or pinky-gray color (although colors vary).
Color differences | Color | Coat Color (Birth) | Coat Color (Adult) | Eye Color | Skin Color | | Gray | Dark | Gray or White | Brown | Black | | Cremello | Light Cream, visible markings | Fade to white | Blue | Pink | | White | White | White | Dark | Pink | | Albino* | White | White | Pink | Pink | | Ivory** | Light Cream | Pale Cream | Green/Greenish | Pink | | Champagne | Chestnut or bay | Shades of yellow | Birth: blue, adult: hazel | Pink |
See also Gray is a coat color of horses, consisting of black skin, a white to dark gray coat, and a mane the same color or darker than the body coat. ...
The champagne gene is a gene that occurs in horses. ...
The color of a horse is based on two base colors: red (chestnut in color) and black. ...
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