The Cream gene is the cause of the beautiful golden colors of Palomino and Buckskin, the mysterious Smoky Black and also the wonderful Double Dilute colors of Cremello, Perlino and Smoky Cream.
Cream also does not noticeably affect black pigment when it is in a single dose, this would explain why a Buckskin keeps the black legs, mane and tail. The Cream gene only makes the horse's base color lighter, it never totally removes it. Think of it like adding creamer to coffee, the more you add, the lighter it gets. This also proves that horses with two doses of Cream (double dilutes) are not Albinos. Albinos lack pigment of any type in hair, skin and eyes.
The Cream dilution gene is present at the Albino locus. It being called the "Albino" locus is only a name, it has nothing to do with the horse being an Albino.
This gene is incompletely dominant and causes the base coat color to be lightened or diluted. Red colors are lightened to tan or yellow which causes Bay to become Buckskin and Chestnut to become Palomino. All horse colors can be affected physically by color modifiers and Cream is no exception. Horses with one Cream gene or heterozygotes can have sooty areas and can also be different shades ranging from light to dark. The Cream gene only affects Black colored horses when it is in homozygous form.
Horses that are Buckskin, Palomino or Smoky Black have one copy of the Cream gene and are capable of producing offspring with the Cream gene, but do not always pass it on, there is a 50% chance that the foal will carry the gene. These horses are called "single dilutes"
Single Dilutes
The single dilute group consists of Palomino, Buckskin and Smoky Black. Horses of this color have only one cream gene diluting their base coat color.
Palomino is caused by the one dose of the Cream gene diluting a Chestnut base color. Palominos with primitive markings do occur, this is caused by the Dun gene combined with the Cream gene on a Chestnut base coat and is called "Dunalino".
The shade of a Palomino can be so light the horse appears white, this shade is sometimes called Isabella. Palominos can be mistaken for a very light Chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail. Palominos with the sooty modifier can be mistaken for Silver Dapple.
Buckskin is very often confused or interchanged with the color Dun. This is incorrect. Genetically and physically they are two different colors.
Buckskin is what happens to the color Bay when there is a single dose of the Cream gene present.
As with Palominos it is possible for the Cream gene and the Dun gene to occur on the same horse, this is called "Dunskin".
Buckskins range in shade from the very lightest tan to very dark, almost black in some cases. In it's purest form Buckskin will have black points. It is not uncommon though to see a Buckskin with points faded to the point of being a chocolaty color. You may also see white "guard hairs" at the top of the tail and along the mane. The skin is dark and the eyes usually range in color from very dark brown to amber.
Smoky Black: A horse that appears much as a regular black horse looks; but it actually has a dilute gene (in this case, a dominant cream gene) from a dilute parent (palomino, buckskin, cremello, perlino, smoky). Both the black gene and the cream gene are dominants, so if you breed a black to a palomino, you can get black, palomino, smokey black, chestnut and even occasionally a bay or buckskin.
Smoky Black is caused by a single dose of the Cream gene on Black. Because the Cream gene is an incomplete dominant it does not affect black pigment physically unless it is present in homozygous form.
Smoky Black horses look like regular Black horses although some may be faded so much they appear Brown or even Bay.
As A foal
As an Adult
Now we have always heard that there is an exception to every rule and we are about to give you that exception in reference to the cream gene. Black is the ONLY color that can partially hide or even cover up the cream gene. A chestnut with the cream gene is a palomino, a bay with the cream gene is a buckskin, but a black with the cream gene can appear to be black although it is actually a smoky black. However the cream gene is still present and can produce palominos from a smoky black to chestnut mating. This is the one sure way to determine if the horse is a smoky; since the chestnut can only contribute a red gene, the dominant cream gene showing the palomino color has to come from the smoky.
Smokys can also produce cremellos if bred to a palomino, smoky or buckskin since you have the possibility of getting a cream gene from both parents. If you get a foal that appears black and one of the parents in the mating is a cremello/perlino, then you know that the foal is a smoky because the cremello/perlino ( 2 dominant cream genes) has only a dominant cream gene to pass on and the black is hiding it.
Smoky foals usually are born with blue or grey eyes that later darken or go amber gold. They often have light tan or gold appearing tufts of hair in the ears (or even the whole inside). The foal coat color usually appears the same as a black foal, although some may look like dark buckskins until the foal coat sheds and the black color becomes evident. Some may even develop gold dapples on the body as they mature. One of the great things about smoky black is that even though they appear black, most times they will breed as though they are palomino.
Brown: Body brown or black with light tan areas at muzzle, eyes, flank, inside upper legs, black mane and tail; also referred to often as "seal" brown. These horses are usually not quite black and yet not quite bay either. Their coats tend to lack the red of bays and chestnuts and are usually too light to qualify as black. There are several differing opinions on this color. Some say that there is a brown gene that produces this color. Others think that it is really a black horse with an additional modifier gene ( pangare-- pronounced pan-gary) that produces the lighter areas as described above (known in many circles as "mealy"). Pangare is a documented gene and can occur on other colors, it will be discussed further in our article on Gene Layering
Double Dilutes
Smoky Cream: Body is cream/white with rust, dark brass or red points including mane and tail, blue eyes and pink skin. Genetically they are a black horse with 2 dominant cream genes. A single cream gene can not totally cover up or dilute (lighten)the black. A double dose of the cream gene can and does dilute or cover up the black body and leaves the points as described above. Smoky creams are very difficult to identify since they closely resemble perlinos although their points and bodies usually have more color than a perlino. Both perlinos and smoky creams are born with pink skin and blue eyes (which they keep all their lives). Smoky cream usually occurs when two smoky black horses are mated but can occur with a buckskin to smoky mating. Both parents have a dominant cream gene hidden by the dominant black color so smoky creams are referred to as "double cream dilutes on a black base". They are basically a black horse that has been super diluted and their offspring color can vary according to the color of the other parent. Many color variations are possible but the majority of offspring are usually palomino or smoky black. Smoky creams will never produce a chestnut even if bred to one. Remember it takes "two" red genes to produce a chestnut and a smokey cream does not have a red gene so it can't contribute one. If a smoky cream ever produces a chestnut, then it is not a smoky cream. Smoky creams are very rare and can only be verified by offspring and parentage at this time.
Double Dilutes
Cremello is what happens when you get a double dose of the cream gene on a Chestnut base. A Cremello will always have pink skin and blue eyes. If the horse had dark eyes or skin, then it is not a Cremello. Cremellos vary in shade from very light to a darker cream. It may be very difficult to tell the difference between a horse that is a Cremello and a horse that is a maximum white Pinto. UC Davis now offers testing for the Cream gene. For a test for click here.
