What is the cream gene in horses?

cream dilution gene
The cream dilution gene affects both red and black pigment and is responsible for ‘diluting’ the carrying horse to lighter coat shades and colors. In many breeds this is often considered a highly desirable trait. Cream dilution is the gene responsible for palominos, buckskins, cremellos and many more (see below chart).

What is a cream colored horse called?

cremello
These horses are usually palomino, buckskin, or smoky black. These horses often have light brown eyes. Horses with 2 copies of the cream allele also exhibit specific traits: cream-colored coats, pale blue eyes, and rosy-pink skin. These horses are usually called cremello, perlino, or smoky cream.

What is the pearl gene in horses?

Barlink factor
The Pearl gene, also known as the “Barlink factor”, is a dilution gene at the same locus as the cream gene, which somewhat resembles the cream gene and the champagne gene but is unrelated to champagne. It is a somewhat rare dilution gene found in the American Quarter Horse, American Paint Horse, and Peruvian Paso.

What is a cream horse?

Cream is a dilution that causes the palomino, buckskin, smoky black, cremello, perlino, and smoky cream coat colors. Cream dilution on chestnut base coat (palomino) Phenotype: Cream is a dilution that causes the palomino, buckskin, smoky black, cremello, perlino, and smoky cream coat colors.

How does the cream gene affect a horse?

The cream gene causes red to become gold, but does not affect black pigment EXCEPT when in a double dose (smokey cream and perlino) where black becomes light taupe. So a seemingly regular “black” horse, if it were truly a smokey black, could throw a “surprise” cream gene, while a red horse could never carry the cream gene without showing it.

What kind of body does a cremello horse have?

If a horse has one copy of the cream gene, color dilutions like palomino, buckskin, and smoky black occur while two copies produce cremello, perlino, and smoky cream. Cremello horses are characterized by a cream body with white or cream mane and tail.

What happens when two copies of the cream gene are present?

When two copies of the allele are present, both red and black pigments are affected; red hairs still become cream, and black hairs become reddish. A single copy of the allele has minimal impact on eye color, but when two copies are present, a horse will be blue-eyed in addition to a light coat color.

What kind of eyes does one cream gene produce?

Where one cream gene lightens red to gold, two cream genes turns red to white. Horses with one cream gene often have light brown to golden eyes. Horses with two cream genes have light blue eyes. *Double agouti cream dilutes are desirable, as they can’t produce the less desirable smokey blacks or smokey creams.