Everything Horse UK Everything Horse Magazine, August 2018. | Page 26

CREAM OF THE GENE
A LOOK INTO THE CREAM GENE WITH THE BRITISH PALOMINO SOCIETY
Palomino and Cream Dilute
horses and ponies are truly
striking and totally unique
to the average bay, black,
chestnut
or
grey.
Ever
wondered what causes the
change? It’s all down to
the genes and in this issue
The British Palomino Society
exclusively breaks down the
process.
F
irstly, any horse or pony that
isn’t black, chestnut or bay has
had a genetic mutation that has
acted in diluting the horse’s coat,
hence where the meaning came
from, dilute.
The mutations start in the MATP
segment of the gene within the
DNA and will affect the coat, skin
and eye colours by lightening
them.
There are a number of
these mutations, but the cream dilute is regarded
as the most popular and affects black and red
pigments in the skin. Other mutations include
champagne dilution, dun dilution, pearl dilution,
silver dilution and grey.
ALLELES AND SINGLE DIULTES
Alleles are
same gene
gene it is
non-cream
26
describe d as different versions of the
and if a horse carries the Cream Dilute
abbreviated CR and in its recessive
form it is written ‘cr’. Single Dilute is
EVERYTHING HORSE MAGAZINE • AUGUST 2018 • ISSUE 36