Horse Color Genetics
October 2, 2008
It can be tricky to breed for a specific horse color.
We all have our favorite horse colors and markings. Often, our favorites are the least common, such as roans and palominos. Many breeders strive for a unique nitche – top-quality horses displaying those fun, less-common AQHA colors and markings we love to see in action.
Here are some coat-color thoughts to keep in mind:
- The genetics of coat color are complicated, and the science of color is an ongoing process. Researchers do not know everything yet.
- All white markings are superimposed over a base body color. This includes gray horses. Thus, when discussing color inheritance, the base color must be considered and understood.
- Foals are rarely born the color or shade they will appear in adulthood. If there is any uncertainty, it is usually best to wait until the foal has shed the foal coat before identifying the color. Papers can be sent to AQHA with the color blank and filled in after the foal has shed the foal coat.
Learn more about horse colors. Get AQHA’s FREE report, Coat Color Genetics.
Some fun facts about horse color:
- Combined, sorrel and chestnut horses comprised 37 percent of all American Quarter Horses registered in 2005. Black horses accounted for approximately 3 percent.
- Legend says sorrel horses are generally flightier and more “hot” than horses of other colors and that they mature faster than those of other colors. Black horses, on the other hand, are generally held as sleepy.
- Black horses are usually not born jet black, instead typically appearing as some shade of gray (from light to dark) with a black mane and tail. As foals, they will have dorsal stripes and usually zebra stripes and are often confused with grullos. When these horses shed their foal coat, they will look black.
Understand the color genetics of all 17 approved AQHA colors. Get the FREE Coat Color Genetics report today!
Brush up on these color terms:
Allele – Alternative forms of a gene that occurs on the same place on a chromosome.
Chromosome - A series of genes strung together. They appear in pairs, and each parent gives one of its chromosomes to the foal. Horses have 32 pairs.
Dilution – A gene that causes a horse’s coat color to become lighter in appearance.
Dominant – A gene that will be expressed phenotypically over a recessive gene.
Gene – Segment of DNA that provides a blueprint of genetic information.
Genotype – The genetic makeup of an animal.
Homozygous – A pair of genes that are the same.
Heterozygous – A pair of genes that are different.
Modifier - A gene that changes the phenotypic appearance of a horse.
Phenotype - The physical appearance of an animal.
Points – The mane, tail, legs and eartips of a horse.
Recessive – A gene that will be hidden phenotypically if a dominant gene has control.
Comments
114 Comments on “Horse Color Genetics”
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October 8th, 2008 at 7:35 am
I have a AQHA Bay Mare that is turning 16 years old. She has never been bred and I was wondering if it is to risky to breed her now?? She gets very marish toward my gelding during her cycle and I even wondered if breeding her could improve her attitude. She in no way gets out of line with me or other people. In fact, she is very layed back and can be trusted with babies and young children and other Quarter Horse friends ask for them to be led around on her. I compete in Pole Bending on her at AQHA shows so she is in very good shape from practicing. If you think it is safe to breed her at her age I would like for her to have a Bay so I was also wondering what to breed her with.
October 8th, 2008 at 7:51 am
I bred my 21 year old barrel mare for a 2008 maiden foal. Mare was in good shape and well kept her whole life. Now I have a perfect 6 month old filly be her side. She is healthy and baby is healthy. I did not have one problem, but it probably depends on your mare. If you want a bay, breed to a bay with bay parents or even a black.
October 8th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I have a sorrel AQHA mare and have plans on breeding her to a buckskin AQHA stallion. What colors would this combination come up with?
October 8th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
This cross (sorrel x buckskin) could yield the following colors:
palomino, buckskin, smoky black, sorrel, bay or black
An excellent & informative site online to help understand breeding & color is:
http://www.doubledilute.com
Hope this has helped.
Peggy Reimer
October 8th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I have a sorrel mare, 4 years old. Brown sire, sorrel dam. The mare had a little roaning on one leg when I bought her as a yearling, but that was it in addition to a star and a half pastern sock. Suddenly in the last three months she is getting white hair on her body in some random hairs and then in about 15 spots about half the size of a dime with white skin under them. My vet says its genetics, but I really do not want my quarter horse mare looking like an appaloosa! Could it be a mineral issue? Or is this really a luck of the draw with genetics
October 8th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I have a 4 year old sorrel mare. Palomino paint sire, sorrel dam. She has 4 white stockings, white blaze & white hair mingled in all over her body with one area on her back leg that is trying to turn into a paint spot. I am planning on breeding her in a year or two but I don’t want a paint I would prefer either a palomino or buckskin. What color should I breed her to
to achieve this?
October 9th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Leanna,
If you are wanting a palomino, your best bet would be to breed to a dilute..which is either a cremello (best chance) or perlino. Either one will guarantee a diluted colt (palomino or buckskin) the white on your mare just indicates she could be a sabino which is indicitave of the white hair throughout her coat. this coloring is just an option, kind of like getting chrome bumpers on your truck, the base color which is sorrel is what you are looking at. The way I would go is because she is probably registered as a paint would be to find a really nice tobiano cremello stud in your area. This would “almost” guarantee a palomino. A great website to look at would be the cremello and perlino site.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I have a 10 yo bay QH mare that I was considering to breed in the future. I would really love to have a grulla foal, but dont know if it would even be a possibility with her being a bay.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Tiffany,
Check the information about coat colors that AQHA has available. There are also several websites that can give you info about Grullos and other coat colors. Some suggestions:
http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Outback/2936/colors.html
http://www.everettacres.com/For_Sale.html Scroll down to “Links” on this page and choose the one from “animal genetics” to find possible coat color outcomes when crossing your horse to another color.
There are more sites out there and some good books available, too.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I have a 2 yr old Pinto mare that has a dark bay Arabian mother and a Black with some white Tobiano Paint father. Both parents are papered. My mare was bred to a 3 yr old AQHA Dunn Stallion. Any clue as to what color this foal might be?? Is one color more dominant than the other?
October 10th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I’ve bred my 18yo bay mare 3 times – 2x to the same sorrel stud and once to my sorrel overo paint stallion. I have 2 chestnut fillie by the sorrel stud and a bay overo (okay, she only has one spot – but it qualifies) filly by the paint stud. My question — what can I do to guarantee a colt? (LOL)
October 11th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
I have a sorrel mare bred to a dark bay stallion (with a buckskin sire), her mother was black and her sire was bay. Is there any chance for a bay foal? Her last foal by a grey stallion is a sorrel like her.
October 12th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Hi All,
See this web site page also:
http://www.equinecolor.com/unusual.html
The rest of the site is also interesting to explore.
Peggy Reimer
October 13th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
I have a sorrel mare, bred to a dark bay, and my foal came out dark bay. YOu will probably get a dark bay.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I bred a brown mare to a blood bay and had a black filly. She was born grullo with strips, now at seven months she is jet black. She went throught a lot of color changes. From gurllo to buckshin to brown to black. I hope this will be her final color. I was not expecting a black and this is a wonderful surprise for us.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I have a 3 year old palomino halter mare. And i wanted to no what color to breed her with??
January 21st, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Tiffany,
I raise a few Grullos each year. Maybe I can help you with some of your questions or point you in the right direction. I would love to help if I can. I have been breeding for the Grullo color to incorporate into my running bred horses for a few years now and have been very successful with getting my color!
Melva
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:44 am
Just one quick question… Is it true that if you breed a palomino to a palomino you could get a blind foal? I just heard that and was wondering if it was true.
Thanks
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 am
Hello All:
I am the author of the color series, which originally ran in America’s Horse magazine. I wanted to jump in and answer a few questions you guys have.
Nicole, you spoke about your sorrel mare that is developing small white spots. This is likely to be what is called “Birdcatcher spots” after a famous Thoroughbred stallion who had them. Their cause is unknown. You can read more about them here: http://www.equinecolor.com/unusual.html#bird
Kelley, you asked “Just one quick question… Is it true that if you breed a palomino to a palomino you could get a blind foal? I just heard that and was wondering if it was true.”
That is false. Breeding a palomino (which is a sorrel or chestnut horse with a single cream gene) to another palomino has a 25 percent chance of producing a cremello, which is commonly termed a “double dilute” — it has two copies of the cream gene. These horses have white hair, pink skin and blue eyes, which can cause them to be confused with albinos (there are no known albinos in horses). Unfortunately, there is a lot of prejudice against the double dilutes, and thus a lot of misinformation. These horses are just as healthy as normal horses, although due to their pink skin they do tend to sunburn more easily (as with any pink-skinned animal – i.e. a horse with a wide blaze can often burn its nose). Research has proven they do not suffer from eye problems any more than the average equine population.
For those interested in knowing the color possibilities of any given mating, I find the Animal Genetics Inc.’s color cross calculator (http://www.animalgenetics.us/CCalculator1.asp) to be very helpful.
In addition, the Cremello and Perlino Education Association has a very nice page (http://www.doubledilute.com/color-chart.htm) that both describes the many colors that can be found with the cream gene, as well as a helpful chart that explains foal color possibilities.
Sincerely,
Andrea Caudill
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:35 am
I own a AQHA bay roan mare that I want to breed.She has three generations and blue roans(sire)If I breed to a blue roan what are my changes of a blue foal? What information is there about roans.
thanks
Cindy Harper
February 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Cindy, to answer your question it would be helpful to know if your bay roan mare or the blue roan stallion is homozygous or heterozygous for the black gene, red gene or agouti gene. With this unknown information we would say most likely you would get approximately 50% bay roan, 25% or less blue roan or bay, and other possibilities are black, sorrel/chestnut and red roan.
Sincerely,
Lisa Covey or Debbie Black
Equine Color Specialist
March 27th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I have a chestnut mare with a palemino sire and a chestnut dam. I want to breed her to a black tobiano paint. my mare is 13.3% palemino, 20.3% sorrel, 10% brown, 16.6% bay, 3.3%black, 10% dun,and 16.6% chestnut. I don’t have the papers on the stud i want to breed her to. does anyone know what color the foal will be?
March 30th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Lisa, to answer your question it does not matter the genetics behind a chestnut or sorrel the only thing a sorrel or chestnut will pass on is red. You most likely get a sorrel, chestnut, bay, brown or black.
Sincerely,
Lisa Covey or Debbie Black
Equine Color Specialist
April 8th, 2009 at 11:17 am
I really need some help with genetics. I have a solid sorrel mare that I had bred to a buckskin tobiano stud. He is young but before my foal he only produced palominos with a sorrel mare. On 3/24/09 my solid sorrel mare produced an oddly colored tobiano filly. Beautifully marked! She was born smokey black, lighter than her pure black mane and tail. Her sire (unknown homo) is a several generation grulla on both sides. It’s been 3 weeks since my filly was born and she is starting to change colors. She is a weird mix of gray/tan. I thought maybe she would be a grulla but she doesn’t have a dorsal strip or any else indicating a grulla. Just wondering if there is a chance she’ll be a buckskin…. I think I could die happy if she was. Either way is a beautiful filly that I am planning on keeping whether she is black, grulla, buckskin or whatever.I just wanna know… Can anyone help me?? Email me at emma_qt_53kg@hotmail.com… Thanks, Em
April 14th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Emma,to answer your question we typically would recommend waiting for the foal to shed the foal hair which can take two to four months depending on your weather. A foal born smoky black in color typically will shed off to be black.
Sincerely,
Debbie Black or Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
April 25th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Hi, I have a sorrel mare and a black stallion.I bred her to him and got a sorrel with blue eyes a blaze face and four white feet. I get the color end of things but how and where did the blue eyes come from? I crossed them again and am curious as to what other color combinations could there be? Thanks Lucy.
April 28th, 2009 at 7:00 am
I have a bay roan mare and I am thinking of breeding her to a palomino stud. What are the possible colors of the colt? Thanks, Ben
April 28th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Ben, to answer your question your most likely to get a buckskin or buckskin roan, bay or bay roan. Other less likely possiblities are red roan, palomino or palomino roan, smoky black or smoky black roan (blue roan) or even black.
Sincerely,
Debbie Black or Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
April 28th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Lucy, to answer your question the blue eyes or some people refer to them as glass eyes could be from the white marking on the face. To answer your second question your color possibilties are sorrel, chestnut, bay, brown or black.
Sincerely,
Debbie Black or Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
May 11th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I have a 8 year old AQHA Dunalino and I would like to breed her. I would like to try to get a dappled palomino…What color could I breed her to, and is this even a possible color? I was thinking of breeding her to a dark dappled gray…?
May 15th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Kemberly, to answer your question, dappling on a gray horse is not the same as on other horses. It is not uncommon for palomino/buckskins (creme diluted) to exhibit dappling. However, breeding for it may or may not be successful. Breeding for a characteristic such as dappling would more likely be successful if one of the parents has that characteristic.
Sincerely,
Debbie Black or Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
May 25th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
i have a gray(white with red speckles) mare that i will be breeding with a black stud they are both anglo arabs so i was wondering if anyone has any idea what the foal might turn out to be.
June 27th, 2009 at 11:55 am
i bought a 6yr old sorrel mare in jan 09 and just recently found out that she was with foal(vet checked)and i called the previous owner and asked what the sire color was and he is a black/white medicine hat( alot more white than black) black cap,and large black spot on chest and i believe blue eyes. i have tryed to look-up foal colors and no luck. i know i should get paint/solid with chrome but what color?
July 4th, 2009 at 6:35 am
Hello
I bred my Golden Palomino mare to a Blue Roan stud.
The filly is now 2 months old.
At birth she appeared Palomino.
Now I have noticed her head is darkening , some of her baby coat is shedding and she appears darker under the patches!
What color do you think she going to be?
I need to register her soon and don’t have a clue what color she is??
Thank you for the help!
July 12th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
i breed my 6 year red roan qaurter horse to a black qaurter horse stallion i was wounding what colors her foal could be?
September 18th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I have a 6 year old cremello Quarter horse and I am thinking of breeding her to a dark bay. His father was black. I am wondering what colors could might I get if I breed the two.
September 20th, 2009 at 7:48 am
I have a Dunalino Mare, will she carry both genes, Dun and Palomino ? Thanks
September 27th, 2009 at 9:58 am
What would be the coloring of the foal if the sire was a grey and the dam was a overo paint
October 1st, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I have a red roan mare that I bread to a gray stud what color do you think i will get?
Jen
November 16th, 2009 at 9:10 am
I am considering buying a palamino mare that is bred to a blue roan. Anyone dare take a guess at what color the baby might be? And next i wanna breed her to a black paint stud! Any ideas?
December 9th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
i have an 8 yr old dark bay breeding stock paint quarter horse. if i breed her to a homo black or hetero what is the possibility that she will have a dark bay? the guy i got her from said that if i breed her since she is breeding stock(which means she could have any color of foal) that she could have any possible color, but i want a dark bay.
January 16th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
My mare is a dapple gray (but very light dapple). Could she have a roan baby? Or a black one?
Do you think that breeding her with an appaloosa would be nice if I want to have a VERY coloured baby? (I mean, with A LOT of spots)?
January 18th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Cindy,
First, the dapples on gray horses are not spots, even though in certain stages of graying the gray horse may appear “spotty”. Genetically your gray mare will produce a foal that turns gray about 50% of the time, but what other color genes the gray mare might carry is unknown unless you know what color she was at birth. Breeding her to an Appaloosa might produce a spotted foal about 50% of the time since the Leopard complex spotting is a dominate gene, but remember half of this mare’s foals will turn gray which might result in a colored foal for a few years before it also turns gray.
February 17th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Thanks a lot Debbie.
March 26th, 2010 at 12:56 am
I have a 2yr old colt that was born chestnut, then he shedded out drk/liver chestnut. His sire is chestnut. dam is a sorrel/overo crop out paint. the mare also has roaning on her sides, a belly splash, big wide blaze, stockings and socks. This colt is still drk chestnut. and he has roaning in his flanks and big darker chestnut spots throughout his flanks. He has 15-20 + spots on his flanks. His sire has a few spots here and there. And his dam had a few here and there. My stallions dam lived to be 34, as she aged her spots turned grey. My stallion is now 24 and some of his spots are turning also. At 2 does it seem like this horse will have spots forever? They are all AQHA horses, (except the Paint, pending AQHA reg)
Vonne
April 28th, 2010 at 6:02 am
[...] was taking lessons at a nearby barn when the owner pulled out a “cute little chestnut” and told Lisa to “ride him … I think you’ll like him.” Upon first inspection, the [...]
April 28th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Debbie,
Posted once this morning, can’t find it now. Have a buckskin mare that produced a Palomino filly 7 yrs ago when bred to a sorrel stud. Last year we bred her to a copper chestnut with a dark mane and tail. The baby arrived this morning. He is very faint red, almost pinkish in color with no apparent white markings. Light brown skin around the muzzle, pink skin around the eyes, with what appear to be bluish-gray eyes. He’s inside due to high wind so shadows make exact eye color difficult to determine. Could this colt by chance, be Perlino? I’ve never seen a chestnut colt so pale in color before. His dam is a dappled buckskin, no white marking, and AMBER colored eyes. The sire has produced both dark bay and chestnut. His sire was bay, dam was chestnut. The Buckskins parents are a sorrel mare and a buckskin stud, he was out of a black mare and palomino stud. I know I should wait until he sheds, but his coloring is just odd. Any ideas?
Thank you,
Sharon
April 28th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Hey, Sharon. Debbie answered you here: http://americashorsedaily.com/become-a-horse-coat-color-expert/#comments Hope this helps!
May 11th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I have a solid sorrel mare that i just bred to a solid quarter horse palamino stud what are my color possibilites????
May 11th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Dear Brittanie,
When you breed a sorrel to a palomino the offspring will be 50% sorrel and 50% palomino.
Thanks for your question!
May 11th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
one more question if my sorrel is a solid paint and he is a solid quarter horse what is the possibality of a paint foal?
May 11th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Dear Brittanie,
Whether or not the offspring has Paint characteristics would depend on the genetics of the mare. I would suggest you contact the American Paint Horse Association for an answer to this question.
May 31st, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Can you get a Grulla from a Bay Mare and a Palamino Stud? We had a filly born this week and it is exactly the color described by the AQHA as a Grulla. We have been told that you can not produce that color from this combination? Is that true?
June 1st, 2010 at 7:52 pm
My 3 years old filly is a Bay Red Roan Paintaloosa. So her Red large spots have many little white spots in it.
She is absolutely one of a kind and I’m wondering, can she give a solid colored foal?
June 2nd, 2010 at 8:16 am
Hello Cindy,
Thank you for your question. It is possible to get a non-roan foal, but we do not currently work with the genetics of the spotted breeds such as Paints or Appaloosa’s. Please feel free to contact us when you have another question.
Sincerely,
Debbie Black or Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
806-378-4550
June 5th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
I have a red roan mare and I want to breed her to a blue roan blanket butt appy. What colors can I get?
June 6th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Cindy
try this color calculator it may help
http://horsetesting.com/CCalculator3.asp
June 23rd, 2010 at 11:47 am
I have a filly. Her dam is a solid sorrel and her sire is a blue roan. Her color when born was a sorrel color with a black mane and tail but is shedding off to be a really light color alomost buckskin color. Is it even possible for a sorrel bred with a blue roan to throw a buckskin?
July 1st, 2010 at 10:01 am
Hello Brittany,
Thank you for your e-mail. To answer your question, yes it is possible to have buckskin in some cases. In your case I feel like it would be best if you could contact me personally to discuss the genetics of the individual horses involved.
Debbie Black or Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
806-378-4550
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:02 am
[...] tail,” and appearing as white flecking, rabicano (rah-bih-KAH-no) is commonly mistaken for a roan coloration, but it is a marking caused by a different [...]
October 21st, 2010 at 11:06 am
what color foal would you get if you breed black to sorrel?
December 1st, 2010 at 7:29 am
I own a perlino/dun AQHA/APHA registered stallion. He is a stallion that can sire many different colors with an array of different colored mares. There are so many “wive’s tales” and stories “out there” about what is wrong with horses of this color – none of which are true. If a person has a solid colored mare (sorrel, bay or black) and wants a foal with a dilute color (palomino, buckskin, dunskin, dunalino, smokey black, smokey grulla, or smokey brown)- find a stallion such as mine and talk to the owners. If they don’t seem to know the colors their stallion can sire – get on the internet and investigate as most answers are there. Your mare can have a gorgeous colored foal using a stallion of this color. And “NO” a double dilute does not have a blindness problem, and they will not sire “lethal white” because they are dilute.
December 5th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
i breed a white stallion with my red roan mare what color will the colt or filly come out?
June 17th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
I have a cestnut tobiano filly and want to breed her to get a gray colt what color stallion do you suggest I breed her with
June 17th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Barbara,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question, you would need to breed your chestnut tobiano mare to a gray stallion. Genetic testing has proven that gray is a dominant gene and does not skip generations.
Debbie Black or Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
806-378-4550
October 8th, 2011 at 6:12 pm
Hello I have a question. I’ve got 2 mares that are tobianos and they are born black or black roan then go blue roan, then gray then almost completely white. I was wondering what color I could breed to, to get rid of white grey gene.
October 13th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Scott,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question, you can not get rid of the gray gene. The gray gene is a dominant gene and will approximately pass it on 50% of the time.
Lisa Covey or Debbie Black
Equine Color Specialists
October 18th, 2011 at 5:24 am
Hi,
I have bred my mare who is chestnut varnish roan with few spots, flaxen mane and tail to black leopard stallion (he has few brown spots as well).
The mare’s mother was solid chestnut with flaxen hair and mane. The mare’s father was as my mare, a varnish chestnut roan with few spots and flaxen hair and tail.
The stallion’s mother was a black leopard. The stallion’s father was bay with spots over hips.
Any idea what will I get?
October 18th, 2011 at 7:42 am
Alexandra,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question,you might want to contact the Appalossa Horse club or a Universty with Equine program; as we are not well versed in Appaloosa coat patterns.
Lisa Covey and Debbie Black
Equine Color Specialist
November 24th, 2011 at 12:19 am
Hi
i was wondering if you could help em at all… i have a buckskin mare ( both parents are coloured appaloosas) i was wondering what to breed her with to get a palamino?? also i bred her to a leopard appy and i have a colt that appears to be solid bay but he has different colours appaearing..do you know what colours he could possibly turn. regards
michelle
November 30th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
i have a National Show Horse mare that is a pinto and a National Show Horse stallion that is a dark grey. If i breed them, what color would the foal likely be? Thanks
December 28th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
I bred my sorrel/overo stallion to a buckskin mare. what color do you think i would get. thanks
December 29th, 2011 at 9:16 am
I Have A Palomino Mare That We Bred To A Dark Dun. What Colors Do You Think I Would Get? Thanks
December 29th, 2011 at 9:18 am
Hi If You Bred A Palomino Mare To A Dark Dun What Color Would She Have? Thanks
January 5th, 2012 at 10:14 am
Alexa,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question, you are more likely to get a dun, buckskin or bay. Some other possibilities are red dun, palomino or sorrel, some of the less likely possibilities are black or grullo that carry a creme dilution.
Debbie Black or Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
January 10th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
I was just wondering what color stallion you would have to breed a solid Chestnut mare to to get a Buckskin foal?
January 10th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
Her dam is a chestnut/white tobiano mare (no black, JUST chestnut & white) and her sire is a Palomino stallion with knee high stockings on all 4 legs.
January 10th, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Becky,
Thank you for e-mail and to answer your question your choices would be to breed to a buckskin or perlino stallion. Keep in mind the genetics on a chestnut are red, so you would need to breed to a horse that carries a creme gene and a black gene (buckskin/perlino).
Debbie Black or Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
January 20th, 2012 at 8:32 pm
I have a Dunn Paint mare that i want to breed and i was wondering what color of horse to breed her to that will make a beautiful foal. We want a Quarter Horse to be our stud. Thanks!
February 18th, 2012 at 4:35 pm
I have a tri color (red, white and black) paint Tennessee Walker mare that is bred by a palomino Quarter Horse stallion. Any ideas what color foal I may get.?
March 22nd, 2012 at 12:24 am
Hi I have a Red Dun Mare that was breed to a black and white tobiano stallion any ides what color I could possible get?
March 22nd, 2012 at 12:25 am
I have a Red dun mare that was breed to a black and white tobiano any idea what the foal color might be?
April 9th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Hello, i have a palomino mare that is bred to a homozygous black stud. Any thoughts on a color? Just curious. thanks
April 10th, 2012 at 7:46 am
Hello Faren,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question your possibilities are black, brown, bay, buckskin or smoky black. Breeding to the homozygous black you will never get a red horse(sorrel/chestnut, palomino or cremello) he will alway pass on one copy of the black gene.
Lisa Covey or Debbie Black
Equine Color Specialist
April 16th, 2012 at 6:58 am
I have a 7 year old mare quarter horse thats a sorrel color with a white star on her forehead. She is bred with a buck skin. Any chance the baby might come out buckskin?
April 23rd, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Lexie,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer question your color possibilties are sorrel/chestnut, palomino, bay, brown, black, smoky black or buckskin.
Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
April 26th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Hello: We recently purchased a Quarter Horse/Miniature Horse Cross mare who we have discovered is in foal to an Overo Palomino Paint Stallion. (Our mare is out of Pana Jade, a sorrel AQHA stallion, and a Section B all black mare.) The Stallion she was bred to is FR Designed On A Dime (His sire is a Sooty Palomino-Agouti a/a.) What color can be anticipate this baby being? Thank you for your help.
May 22nd, 2012 at 2:40 pm
I have a buckskin mare. Dam was palomino Sire is buckskin/white. I have a chocolate stallion that has a buckskin sire and a bay dam that I’m thinking about breeding her too. Any suggestions?
June 1st, 2012 at 3:59 pm
I bought a buckskin mare in foal to a red roan stallion what are the colour possibilities of the foal and is it at all possible to get a champagne foal out of her ?
June 5th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Hannah,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your first question the color possibilities are sorrel/chestnut, palomino (roan), bay, brown, black, buckskin (roan), red roan, bay roan, or blue roan.
The second question the only possible way a foal to could inherit the champagne dilution if for one of the parent to carry the gene.
Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
July 11th, 2012 at 10:21 pm
I have a sorrel quarter horse who might be preg to a palimino horse she is 22 years old perfectly fit and healthy what color would the foal turn out thank u
July 17th, 2012 at 5:39 am
I have a solid Black mare who is out of a black and white tobiano mare and an black and white overo stallion I have just put her in foal to a Palomino and white overo what colour foal do you think she might produce.
July 27th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Kass,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question breeding a palomino to sorrel the only color possiblities would be sorrel/chestnut or palomino.
Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
July 29th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
We just bred our black filly w/3 small irregular white socks and a white star to a grey colt. The fillys dam was sorrel overo paint and her sire was a bay(out of a sorrel and black). The sire we bred her to was born blackand has since turned grey. Both his sire and dam were grey. What color colt are we most likely to get?
August 15th, 2012 at 2:09 am
I have a sorrel tobiano mare that is about 50% colored and 50% white. I have not had her tested to see if she is homozygous or not. I am going to breed her to a red roan stallion. What colors are possible, and what would you think would be most likely?
September 13th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
I have a black draft cross that i breed to a bay draft and i was just wondering what color will the baby most likely be.?
September 24th, 2012 at 10:25 pm
Hi I have a Cherry Chestnut mare with Aguti I would like to breed to an Amber Champagne Stallion who genetically tests as EE AA Chch – homozygous black (no chestnut/red based foals), homozygous agouti, heterozygous Champagne.
Does this mean that my Red mare could potentially produce an Amber Champagne foal or would the resulting foal be Gold Champagne or something different?
The colour calculator says 100% Amber Champagne but the breeders advertise that only half his foals will have the champagne gene… ??? I love the stallion so any foal produced would be perfect so doesn’t really matter what colour the resulting foal is I’d just really like to know what colour combos the pair could result in or what the outcome was from anyone who has breed a chestnut mare to an Amber stallion
Cheers Beth
September 28th, 2012 at 12:34 pm
I have a liver chestnut mare. I was told that if I bred her to a blue roan I would have a good chance of getting a tri-colored paint? is this true?
October 26th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
I HAVE A TRIPLE REGISTER TRI-COLOR HOMOZYGOUS TWH And going to
bred her to a treu blue road, what do you think the color will be???
November 4th, 2012 at 8:05 am
i am planing to breed my bay roan filly in May or June.. we are breeding her with a registered tri-colored leopard appaloosa stallion! what color should we expect?
November 4th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Autumn, we can’t comment on Appaloosa coat color genetics. We are experts only in Quarter Horse coat colors.
Jody Reynolds
AQHA Director of Online/Interactive Communications
November 16th, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Hello, I was looking around for info on predicting colors of horses. My dapple grey thoroughbred/paint pony cross is 10 months pregnant now and I just have to know what color he/se is! I know this is a quarter horse website, but I just wanted to see if you had any leads. As I said my mare is a dapple grey, but with a black mane and tail. her mother was a blue roan color and her father was a fleabitten. I am not quite sure how she is part paint pony. The sire is a dark bay thoroughbred. If you could help that would be great!
November 20th, 2012 at 1:24 am
Hello, I bred my Bay mare (black points, black mane and tail, and dapples) to a Homozygous Black and White Tobiano Stallion. Her Sire was a Sorrel and her dam a black mare. His sire was a Black tobiano and his dam was a Sorrel Tobiano. I am really hoping for a Black Tobiano as the foal is guaranteed to be painted. Is this a possibility or am I guaranteed a bay tobiano? Thank-you!
December 28th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
I have an AQHA dapple gray mare and she’s pregnant from a bay stallion. What colors could the foal be?
December 31st, 2012 at 8:13 am
Rae,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question, any color would be possible. It would help if I knew what the color of the gray mare was at time of foaling, then I would be able to help you better.
Thank you,
Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
January 4th, 2013 at 7:29 pm
I have a sorrel QH mare that was bred to a zebra dun QH stud. When the colt was born, he looked like a buckskin – solid buff/tan colour with black mane and tail. His tail had some tan streaks in it along the sides and he had a slight dorsal stripe. He’s now shedding out very dark. Could he be a grulla? What about a smokey buckskin? It’s still hard to see a dorsal stripe. I can’t say for sure, but I think there’s a possibility that the stud also carries the cream gene along with the dun gene.
Thanks for your help!
January 6th, 2013 at 1:28 am
Regarding the above question about the ? grulla or smokey buckskin colt, I forgot to mention that when he was born his eyes had a bluish tinge. Now they are kind of a dark hazel colour.
Thanks again.
January 7th, 2013 at 8:22 am
Lorranin,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question, from the description you gave sounds grullo. If the stallion does carry creme then it is possible for the offspring to be buckskin, it you are still unsure when time to send in the registration you can leave the color blank and include photos.
I hope this will help you.
Thank you,
Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
January 23rd, 2013 at 9:52 am
Sire is gray and dam is bay, what color foal should i be expecting?
January 28th, 2013 at 6:01 pm
Abdul,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question it would be more helpful if you could give the color of the gray sire when he was a foal.
Thank you,
Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
February 6th, 2013 at 9:29 pm
If breeding a (buckskin) dun mare what color sires would give a dun foal? If we dont want a double dilute foal what color sires should we avoid?
February 25th, 2013 at 7:35 pm
Hi, I am looking at getting a Dunalino Mare, and my stud is a Buckskin, what are your thoughts? Good Idea? Bad Idea? What color foals would we get? We have bred for years, but not really sure what this would come to be, we usually breed Blacks and Blue Roans to Buckskins…Would this produce a double dilute foal? Im not very familiar with Dunalinos…Thanks – Jacque
February 27th, 2013 at 8:43 am
Jacque,
Thank you for your e-mail and to answer your question your color possibilities are , sorrel/chestnut, palomino, red dun, bay, brown, black, buckskin, dun, grullo, smoky black, perlino, cremello or smoky crème.
A dunalino is a palomino with dorsal stripe, zebra stripes and “carries dun dilution”.
I hope this will help you.
Thank you,
Lisa Covey
Equine Color Specialist
March 25th, 2013 at 10:55 am
I recently bred my bay roan mare to a quarter horse/paint stud he is dark sorrel Wt3 white stockings, a wide blaze and he has blue eyes. What color can I expect the foal to be. His dam is a stock paint. Should I be expecting a painted baby