The Equinest archives

Single Dilute Cream Shades

A single cream gene can have a rather dramatic affect on chestnut, bay and brown coats, creating some of the most sought after and beloved colors. Note that only in chestnut horses is the mane and tail hair affected by a single dose.

Chestnut Base

Bay Base

Brown Base

Double Dilute Cream Shades

A double dose of the cream gene affects colors much more dramatically and can even make black animals almost pure white. Double cream dilutions are the horse color most often mistaken for albinos (which doesn’t really exist in horses). Obviously it is difficult to visually differentiate between the four bases once the dilution has removed so much pigment.

Black Base

Chestnut Base

Bay Base

Seal Base

White Patterns

The various white patterns can be displayed on cream breeds that carry them, on both single and double dilutions. This creates some incredibly beautiful creamy spotting.

Roan

Pinto

Appaloosa

Chestnut Shades

There is a rainbow of reds in the chestnut family, but they all fall under one of four categories. Luckily the chestnut colors are slightly different genetically, which provides us a rather tidy way to reference them. Traditionally how chestnut colored horses are categorized can vary between countries and breeds, regardless of their genetics.

Liver

Red

Standard

Sandy

Modifiers on Chestnut Coats

Horse coat modifiers have affect the base color and a chestnut base is affected by a wider variety of modifiers than a black base, with some spectacular results.

Mealy or Pangare Modifier

Sooty or Smutty Modifier

Flaxen Modifier

Dilutions on Chestnut Coats

Chestnut animals are affected by most of the known coat dilution genes, creating a huge variety of lovely chestnut based shades.

Single Cream Modifier

Double Cream Modifier

Dun Dilution

Champagne Dilution

White Patterns on Chestnut Coats

The lovely white patterns can be found across any coat color that carries the genetics for them. Chestnut bases makes for some gorgeous patterns in all of them.

Grey White Pattern

Appaloosa White Pattern

Pinto White Pattern

Roan white pattern

Rabicano White Pattern

Non-Fading Black

Fading Black

Seasonal Black

Modifiers and Dilutions on Black Coats

Black based animals are not affected by most of the coat modifiers, however a few of the dilution genes have a fairly drastic affect on black hairs. Creating some of the more spectacular and rarer colors in the horse world.

Dun Dilution

Cream Dilution

Silver Dilution

Champagne Dilution

White Patterns on Black Coats

White patterns can be found across any coat color, but black bases makes for some of the most spectacular contrasting white patterns.

Grey White Pattern

Appaloosa White Pattern

Pinto White Pattern

Roan White Pattern