Truly Spectacular Silver

Lovely silver is sort of an opposite to cream, as it affects black and brown pigment but doesn’t affect red. True to its name, the silver effect is absolutely spectacular and creates a range of interesting shades.

Updated Colors

We’ve been giving our colors section a major overhaul, to make the information more accurate and provide better images. Equine color genetics are incredibly complex and some of it still remains a mystery, even for geneticists. We think that is part of the fun.

Squinty Silver

While this dilution is quite beautiful for the coat, it may not be so good for the eyes. The mutation is associated with Multiple Congenital Ocular Abnormalities syndrome (MCOA), which basically causes defects to the eyes that can affect eyesight. There are genetic tests which can identify markers for MCOA, helping breeders avoid combining certain genetics. This is particularly useful as chestnuts can carry the gene (with no visually identifying factors) and pass it along to their offspring.

The Range

The silver range is not large, but it makes up for that in sheer drama. Brown and bay base coats are not as affected as they contain red pigments, but their mane and tail is wow. They often look like bays with silvery mane and tail hair, along with handsome chocolate points. It is black that provides us the most silver range, as their coat color seems to vary considerably depending on location, breed and animal.

Dapple Comparison

As this is the one of few coat modifiers or dilution genes that specifically affects black pigment, we wanted to celebrate having a black range to share. The images below are all Icelandic Ponies wearing their fuzzy winter coats. We believe each of them to be a black base affected by the silver dilution. The interesting part is the sheer range, just among this breed (living in roughly the same environment) is quite broad. The lightest animal on the far right looks like it’s a mealy (or even a seal?) as well, which could be the reason for its lighter color.

Brown Vs Bay

The image below perhaps shows us the difference between brown and bay animals better than an undiluted image might. The animal on the right has a bold red color associated with bays. The seal animal’s coat is obviously diluted to some degree, making it look a bit more like a black silver. We are fairly confident that those patches of reddish brown on its nose and flank indicate it’s a seal.

Silver Breeds

Silver is present in only a handful of breeds, which contributes to its rarity. There are a few breeds where it is commonly found and in many others it proves elusive to breed for, even in the ubiquitous Quarter Horse. It can be found in Shetland Ponies, Icelandic and Morgan Horses, but there is only one breed that is absolutely known for their silver dapple coat, The Rocky Mountain Horse. Perhaps it’s connected in some way to gaited breeds, two of the four below are.

Colorful World

The world of horse colors is truly a spectacular one and we will continue to share updated color (and breed) pages, with all of their spectacular images. We’ve been working on some quick color cheat sheets for all of the horse color lovers out there. Click the image below for a larger version.