Smoky black and smoky cream

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Some smoky blacks, such as this horse (which appears bay, but is not), may be more prone to hair coat fading than ordinary black horses. Only genetic testing can verify the presence of the gene.

Smoky black and smoky cream are two equine coat color variations of the black gene combined with the cream gene.

The coat color smoky black in horses is created when an animal is heterozygous (has only one copy of the allele) for the cream gene. The horse appears to be a black horse and the dilution gene dilution factor is not visible. However, the coat may be somewhat more prone to fade to a brown shade if weathered or sun-bleached. Just because a black horse may fade in the sun does not necessarily prove or disprove that it is a smoky black. All smoky blacks must have at least one parent with the cream gene, and a smoky black can be veified through DNA testing.

A smoky cream is homozygous (has two alleles) for the cream gene. Smoky creams have an ivory colored coat. Both parents must carry the cream gene. The color is difficult to distinguish visually from the cremello or perlino. However, it can be verified by genetic testing. If the horse is a cream color, with parents carrying the cream gene, and also carries the extension "E" gene that creates black color, AND does not have the "Agouti" ("A") gene (which suppresses black color to bay), then the horse is a smoky cream.

[edit] See also

• Cream gene
• Cremello
• Perlino
• Smoky black
• Silver dapple gene
• Dun gene
• Pearl gene
• dilution gene

[edit] References

• American Morgan Horse Association Color/Markings Guidelines, 2006
• "Introduction to Coat Color Genetics" from Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis. Web Site accessed January 12, 2008
• Horse tests-Coat Color, Veterinary Genetics Lab, University fo California, Davis. Web Site accessed August 14, 2007

v • d • e Equine coat colors Solid Coat Colors Bay · Black · Chestnut (also known as Sorrel)  · Gray  · Liver  · Sooty (coat)  · White Diluted coat colors  · Buckskin · Champagne  ·  · Cremello · Dun · Grullo (variation of Dun)  · Isabelline · Palomino · Pearl dilution  · Perlino  · Silver dapple  · Smoky black and smoky cream Mixed Coat Colors and Markings Horse markings · Brindle · Leopard (pattern) (see also Appaloosa breed)  · Varnish roan · Roan · Rabicano · Pinto horse: (Patterns)  · Overo  · Sabino · Tobiano · Tovero · (Color variations): Piebald  · Skewbald · Tricoloured · Bend-Or spots · Cropout Genetics and breeding Equine coat color genetics · color breed

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