22 April , 1962
Color Inheritance Factors ( Continued from Page 13 ) reddish to dark liver colors . Manes and tails may be color of body or flaxen .
GREYS : Black and white hair . May be almost white or black . Usually dark when born , turning lighter with age .
ROANS may be any shade or color interspersed with white hairs . They come in all shades and are not always born Roan .
PALOMINO — a color group having yellow body with light mane and tail . Probably belong in a group with cream or white with white or silver mane and tail . Some very light Sorrels with white mane and tail could be a related color . Sometimes born Sorrel .
DUNS — here we have some disagreement by placing all buckskins , mousecolored , clavbanks and creams in one group instead of placing them with the Palominos , but in the duns we usually find the dorsal stripe and the coat appears diluted .
PIEBALD and SKEBALD-any irregular color with white area . May be in combination with the above colors . Piebald is black and white ; Skebald is other colors and white .
Unit Characters Inherited
From the standpoint of inheritance , all animals are made up of a large number of inherited unit characters . Many , rather than one gene , function in developing each unit character , and unit characters dominate others during the development of the individual — thus determining its apparent characteristics .
A recessive character , unable to manifest itself in the presence of the dominant unit character , may be carried along for many generations to appear later when it finds itself linked with a like recessive unit character .
Now , observe how this applies to the action of color genes in horses .
ROAN is believed to be dominant to all other colors .
GREY is dominant to all except Roan , but their exact relationship to one another is not entirely understood due to their close resemblance .
BAY is considered dominant over Black , while Black is dominant over Chestnut .
The Dun group is considered dominant over all except Grey and Roan and possibly pied or spotted . Pied or spotted is considered domi-
Proved By Many Tests nant to all others except Grey and Roan but seems to be heterzygous ( mixed ) for some other color , possibly white .
If we class Palomino as belonging to the Ysabella or Flaxen mane group , then it would be very much like Sorrels or Chestnuts and possibly be recessive to all other colors like Sorrells and Chestnuts .
Under the above arrangement we find that Chestnut is the only color Lliat is definitely known to be recessive , and consequently the only color to breed true .
I find no data on the Appaloosas and just how they fit into this scheme would be purely speculative . But from the large number of horses of this color suddenly showing up in the horse family , it must either be a dominant color or homozygoes for some other colors . We find these peculiar markings showing up on all colors of horses . I have suspected that these markings may be a separate unit factor in color and act independently of coat color similar to leg and face markings on other coat colors .
15,000 Crosses Studied
In one study with 15,000 crosses of Chestnuts on Chestnuts we find only 16 oll-colors , and this is very likely due to errors in identifying the colors on the part of those persons registering offspring . With 340 crosses of Black with Chestnut we found 83 Blacks , 111 Chestnuts , 20 Browns and 124 Bays . Bays crossed with Bays produced 474 Chestnuts , 107 Blacks , 300 Browns and 2,831 Bays . No Roans or Greys were produced by any crosses of Chestnuts , Blacks , Bays or Browns . All Roans and Greys were produced from crosses or Greys or Roans . No Albinos , Pieds or Palominos were recorded here .
With this scheme of the law ' s of recessiveness and dominance , let us cross a pure Grey sire with a Chestnut mare . We get four Grey offspring , all carrying both the Grey and the Chestnut factor . When w ' e cross these in the next generation we get three Greys and one Chestnut , the latter being pure Chestnut . There are two hybrid Greys and one pure Grey . The pure Greys cannot be distinguished from hybrid Greys , and only the Chestnut can be said to be pure in color factors .
An interesting case of the action in these recessive factors is that of the Palominos showing up in the Tennessee Walking Horse — where only one foundation yellow horse was recorded . But within a few ' years more than four hundred yellow horses were recorded . These laws of inheritance seem to work in reverse in the mules as there are many Sorrel or Chestnut mules but none in the Donkey family .
In discussing die leg and head markings , it seems very evident that these markings are a separate factor and are not linked directly with color of body . In some breeds we find very elaborate leg and head markings like those found in Walking Horses , while in Thoroughbreds we find very little .
Some writers on this subject have thought these elaborate markings were simply Albinoism asserting itself , while others assert the inbreeding of these horses with much white markings tends to produce this characteristic in a double dose .
Probably the latter theory is responsible for the Palomino breeders discriminating against horses with markings above the hocks and knees . I have observed that many white horses result from the crossing of these Roans with much white on the legs and head .
It is not my purpose to cover this subject in its entirety , but rather to point out some facts and problems concerning those attempting to breed horses for color .
Popularity In Cycles Popularity of color runs in cycles . DUN w ' as the favorite color for Western stock horses in the Old West , while it is giving way to Chestnuts and Bays now '.
The Leopard or Appaloosa was at one time considered an objeclional color but now ' appears a favorite color among many horse fanciers .
There are some disadvantages to colors , as Albinos with light eyes have difficulty in hot sunlight , and bald face horses sunburn around the nose . Blacks sunburn badly and get smutty when left in the sun .
Some colors are said to be better for hot climates than others . A few breed associations discriminate against certain colors , but some associations do not discriminate against any color , and register solely on pedigree .
Whether it is a Bay Thoroughbred , a Grey Arabian , a stockinged , bald faced Red Roan Walking Horse , a White-maned Palomino or a coyote Dun mustang , I still contend I never saw a good conformation horse and a good doing horse that had a bad color .