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What kind of a horse is that

What kind of a horse is that?

That's the question Bob and Karen Spector would hear whenever they took their Perlino stallion Approvn' The Blues (Louie) anywhere. Now when they take Louie places, people ask, "That's a Perlino isn't it?"

In just a few years, mare owners wanting to breed for color have identified double dilutions as being worth their weight in gold. Few people these days haven't heard about Perlinos' and Cremellos' magic in the breeding shed.

So what is a Perlino? And how is it different from a Cremello?

Perlino is a color, not a breed, the same way Buckskin is a color and not a breed. Perlino is from the French word perle, meaning (can you guess) pearl, which certainly describes Louie's coloration. He glows like a polished pearl. His skin is pink and his eyes are clear blue. Louie is out of bay genes, so his points have been diluted to a reddish gold color and he has a gold dorsal stripe. You can clearly see his white star and socks against the pearl pigmentation.

Color is an inherited characteristic - each gene a horse has is made of two parts (alleles) and offspring inherit one gene for color from each parent. So, depending which gene is dominant and which is recessive, the foal will show one or the other color of its parents, or some combination of the two.

Some combination of the two? Think of adding cream to dark coffee, how it lightens the coffee to a tan color. A dilution gene imparts a similar effect when it lightens the base color of the foal.

For example, three undiluted colors are bay, chestnut/sorrel or black. A foal born palomino, buckskin or smoky has been genetically "lightened" or diluted by one of the parents who passed along their creme gene (Ccr). With one dilution gene - "single dilution" - the foal will be easy to recognize as a palomino or a buckskin. If both parents give a creme gene, however - "double dilution" (CcrCcr) - the foal will be a cremello or a perlino.

* Bay lightened by one parent is a buckskin; lightened by both parents is a perlino.
* Chestnut/sorrel lightened by one parent is a palomino; lightened by both parents is a cremello.
* Black lightened by one parent is a smoky black; lightened by both parents is a smoky creme.

Single dilution parents may or may not give their creme gene to the foal. There's a 50/50 chance when bred to a non-diluted horse. Breeding one buckskin to another (each a single dilute) can give you a bay, a buckskin, a black, or a perlino. This wreaks havoc with your color breeding program because you have absolutely no control.

But what if you could guarantee that one parent would absolutely throw a creme gene? Double dilute horses can do just that. Perlino / Cremello is homozygous, not for the fact that they produce painted horses, but rather because they produce 100% diluted horses.

Genetic Contribution from base color mares
Genetic Contribution from Approvn The Blues (Ee, A, CcrCcr)

Probable Possible Every now and then

Bay (E, A, CC) Buckskin Palomino, Smoky Zebra dun, Grullo, Yellow silver

Chestnut (ee, CC) Buckskin, Palomino Smoky Zebra dun, Grullo, Chocolate silver, Yellow silver

Black (E, aa, C) Buckskin Palomino, Smoky Zebra dun, Grullo, Yellow Silver, Chocolate silver

If you have a bay mare and you absolutely want a buckskin or a palomino, who do you breed to? A double dilute: a perlino or a cremello.

So how do Perlinos differ from Cremellos? In the same way that Buckskins differ from Palominos. That is, the black gene (E).

Perlinos, diluted from a bay, will always carry one or two black genes. Cremellos, meanwhile, diluted from a chestnut/sorrel, will always carry two red genes, but never a black gene. (A Red Factor test conducted at the U.C. Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory will reveal conclusively which genes a horse carries.)

* A Perlino with two black genes (EE) will only give you buckskins, and cannot give you palominos (when bred to a bay, chestnut or black mare).
* A Perlino with one black and one red gene (Ee), like Appovn' The Blues, can give you both palominos and buckskins (when bred to bay, chestnut or black mare).
* A Cremello has two red genes (ee) and will give you only a palomino. If you want a buckskin from a cremello, the mare will have to supply the black gene.

Approvn' The Blues is out of two AQHA buckskins, so he is a registered breeding stock Paint and now a registered Quarter Horse. In 1999 the APHA added Perlino to its existing list of approved colors, and the AQHA just passed a vote in March to reverse their previous exclusion of eye and skin colorations; this now allows all Perlinos and Cremellos of AQHA lineage to be registered according to their heritage. This vote is so important for AQHA mare owners, because it will be the first time EVER that they can breed for guaranteed color and be able to register the offspring as AQHA. This year Louie has been bred to Thoroughbred, Paint, Arabian, and Andalusian as well as Quarter Horse mares.

About nine years ago Karen and Bob, horse photographers, were contracted to do a stallion shoot at a California ranch. During a break in the shooting, Karen wandered over to the Mare and Foal paddock, where stood the most perfectly balanced, beautiful golden Buckskin filly she had ever seen. Karen bought her on the spot. A year later, Karen and Bob bought her full sister. Together, "the sisters" swept all the Grand Championships at Northern California Buckskin shows.

Around the time the sisters came of breeding age, Karen and Bob bought a ranch in Herald, CA, from a gentleman who had seen many great horses in his time. He'd raised a famous horse known as Approval, whose qualities Bob and Karen sought in a breeding partner for their mares. They found the conformation they were looking for in a son of Approval and they bred both sisters to him. The resulting foals, a combination of the best traits of Approval and both parents, were extraordinarily well conformed—one was a buckskin and one was a Perlino.

A what and a what?" they wondered. How could two full sisters, both buckskins, bred to the same stallion, produce such different foals? Such was their entry into the study and education of equine color genetics. They soon realized the reward for this hard work as they began to enhance their already handsomely conformed horses with rich, beautiful color.

Those two foals, now five years old, are the foundation breeding stock of Mountain Oaks Ranch. Approvn' The Blues is a Perlino. Tardee Would Approve is a homozygous black gene buckskin. Another Perlino stallion, named Earning The Blues, will be starting his breeding career in 2004.

Karen and Bob would love to share with you what they have learned, as they understand it. Give them a call, send them an e-mail or visit their web site to learn more.

Mountain Oaks Ranch is a Horse Husbands' Feature Farm. Learn more about its unique breeding program and their outstanding stallions.

Mountain Oaks Ranch
Bob and Karen Spector
11983 Borden Rd.
Herald, California
95638 USA
209.748.2277
E-mail: mountainoaks@earthlink.net
Farm Website: http://www.mountainoaksranch.com