15 Southwest Highways
The Charge is Underway!
By Bridget Decker
Buckskin and dun are both colors of horses that look very similar from a
distance because both have a light tan color with dark points. But buckskin and
dun coloring come from two different genes, so they are different. You can
distinguish them up close most of the time.
All horses have a combination of red and/or black genes, so all horse
colors some from black genes, red genes, or a combination of black and red.
The other genes that lighten black and red create many color combinations.
Buckskin is a light tanned deerhide color on a black base. A black base is
a horse that has black color genes and therefore has a black mane and tail and
usually black lower legs. But a black gene horse can have other genes as well
that lighten the color of the coat, like the cream gene that creates a buckskin
from a black.
Dun is a color from a gene that lightens either a
black, a chestnut, or a bay. A black comes from
black genes, a chestnut comes from red genes,
and a bay is a black with an agouti gene. Dun hor-
ses are distinctive by having a narrow, dark dorsal
stripe that goes from the withers to the tail. It also
has horizontal zebra striping above the knee or
hock, and black lower legs. A classic dun is a bay
horse with the dun gene and it has a body color
that ranges from sandy yellow to reddish-brown,
with dark mane and tail and often a darker face.
A chestnut with the dun gene is called a red dun,
and it has a lighter reddish coat and points that
are a darker red than the body. It has no black
points because it comes from a chestnut that has no black genes.
While we’re in Canada, why don’t we head out west to Alberta, and to a local Chuckwagon Race? This type of race isn’t as easy as one would think. Unlike the Kentucky Derby, you don’t just run your horse around the track and hope that Secretariat’s son isn’t the colt that’s way the heck in front. Yes, you still go around the track, but there is more to it. Let’s start out with the wagon. The wagon body is very small—not very useful for driving out on the range—so that it is easer for the horses to pull. The horses are usually retired Thoroughbred racehorses from about 4 to 10 years of age. Since Chuckwagons can’t fit into the regular starting gate, they adapted a special way to get the wagons a-rollin’. As you can see, the diagram shows four sets of two circles, and some squiggly lines. Each race or “Heat” has four wagons, and each wagon is assigned a set of barrels (the circles) and they do a figure eight around (the squiggly lines) the barrels. After that, they race around the track and (usually) the first person to cross the finish line wins. But, there are more aspects than that.
Below:
Diagram of Starting Barrels
-Bridget Decker