color question about dun

[Marsha Cassada]

This is my sister's mare, Shamrock Acres Ginger. Her papers say she is a sorrel, but she has a line down her back. Is she really a dun?

If my sister pairs Ginger with her zebra stripe dun stallion, what colors might she expect from a foal? The last foal the mare produced is a b&w pinto (stallion unknown). She had another foal previously, but we don't know what color he was; he was registered.

This pairing might take place once Ginger gets her papers in order. The stallion has never bred before, so his offspring possibilities are unknown. He is W a s h i t a s John Henry. (sorry about the spacing, but it has that 4 letter word in it

)

My sister is in the middle of a major renovation, checking her email at the public library, so I'm asking the questions for her. When she gets settled, I know she will be a Forum reader!

 

[funnybunny]

The color experts say that unless one of her parents was a dun, she cannot be a dun. Do you know what her parents were? Some horses have a stripe, but it is not a dun stripe. I've heard it called "self-colored" stripe, meaning the hair is just a bit darker there but it is not really dun coloration or markings.

For color prediction I use this website:

Color Caluclator

 

[Jill]

In order to be dun, she does need to have at least 1 dun parent. A stripe alone doesn't mean she's dun (but it's one of my favorite color "things"). She would need to have other characteristics. It does not look like she has the cobwebbing on her forehead to me, but is her head darker than her body? That is a sign. Other signs are edged ears, shoulder stripes and leg bars. Note even if she is not a true dun, she may well pass along the cool back stripe to her foals

We have lots of duns here so I'm used to looking at it (just love it), and we have one neat case where I think a foal let us know a mare carries dun... her sire (foal's grandsire) carries it but the mare herself is a perlino pinto which along makes it hard to see but her white markings cover every place you might be able to see dun on her (though on perlino, it would be hard to see regardless of pinto markings). Her 2008 buckskin filly by a non-dun stallion appears to be dun. You may get your answers as to Ginger's actual color characteristics through her own foals.

There is a test for dun, but as I understand it, it currently requires samples from the horse in question and one or both (can't remember) parents.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Thanks for the replies. That color calculator is very interesting. It will make for some great research.

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

I just saw this today and wanted to ad that she is most likely just a linebacked sorrel, we have a big paint gelding that is one also and when he was a stallion he threw it to all of his offspring. He also didnt have a dun parent. Hope this helps

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