Color has definitely been a fun part of our breeding program, making each spring an exciting time to welcome new healthy foals and discover the results that started eleven months previous.
GMR's RMH stallion, Kentucky Tornado is a breeder's dream for his foundation qualities of producing sensible, well-gaited foals.
Through genetic testing Kentucky Tornado is homozygous black - red gene negative 'EE' (will not produce chestnut) and carries one copy of the silver dapple gene 'nZ', we can expect chocolate, black, bay and red chocolate (silver dapple bay) from Kentucky Tornado's genotype.
Some of our mares add a little extra color potential with the cream gene and the possibility of a silver buckskin, buckskin or smoky black.
Our latest addition will offer champagne to our breeding program. GMR breeding foundation lies in the sought after traditional qualities of the Mountain Horse in temperament, conformation and gait ~ these are our first priorities ... color just adds a little 'Tornado Twist!
We are looking forward to this breeding season with the addition of our upcoming Buckskin Stallion, GMR Major Comfort! More information will be posted soon, he is very naturally gaited and loaded with character - we are anticipating the the rich colors and amazing foals he will produce!
What about Color?
Chocolates (Silver gene Zz) - The color that is most recognized in the RMH is the Silver modifying gene (or 'Chocolate'). This section addresses only the Silver (chocolate) color as it tends to be one of the main attractions to many who are just discovering the breed and because the color gene is also linked to a breeding concern with ASD (Anterior Segment Dysgenesis) ~ a condition where the front part of a horse's eye is incorrectly formed.
Does that mean Silver is a 'bad' color or are 'unsound' horses? No, but with caution!
It is education ... and means that breeding should be carefully managed to not double up on the this genetic (two copies in one horse, 'AA') that can produce a severely affected to full syndrome foals with mild to extreme eye issues. Like breeding for (or not breeding for) certain other traits, responsible breeding programs will work to minimize risk.
There are about 20 other breeds that carry the Silver gene; however, they have not specifically bred to produce this color. It is not an exact science yet and there are still developments, speculations and good theories ... research is available to support responsible breeding programs and the importance of maintaining a healthy spectrum of color with these treasured horses.
Undeniably, we as humans are visual and pretty much all of us have a 'favorite' color for one reason or another. It is important to note that the RMH was not intended to be a 'color' breed and should never become one. Mountain Saddle Horses are unique horses set apart for many fundamental reasons including willingness, affinity for people, amazing dispositions, smooth gait and more.
Color is fun when the fundamentals are taken care of. We hope you enjoy this section as much as we have in studying the world of color genes and anticipating each foal crop.
Silver Black (a.k.a. Chocolate / Silver Dapple) - is a black based horse where the Silver dilution changes black hair pigment to varying shades of Chocolate and lightens the mane and tail. (flaxen to white)
Silver Bay (a.k.a. Red Chocolate /Silver Dapple Bay) - is a bay based horse where the dilution has no effect on the red body but changes the black points of the bay to chocolate and lightens the mane and tail - the same effect as a the black base.
Hidden Silver ~ Chestnut/Palomino - as the Silver gene does not express (show / change) the pigment of red based horses, its presence is visually undetectable. In the past few years, a genetic color test has been developed so that now these horses can be tested.
With the addition of a second modifier such as the cream/dun/roan genes we get silver buckskins, silver grulla and silver roans etc.
Silver Black ~ Yearling |
Silver Bay ~ 2 year old |
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Articles and Links:
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Breeding for Color, a detailed article by Kathy Parrish, chairperson of the RMH Genetics Committee that simplifies color genetics.
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Foal Color Calculator by Animal Genetics ~ This site gives you possible offspring coat colors and their probabilities of foal coat combinations from the parent coat color and pattern information. Homozygous information can even be added to narrow potential percentages.
- Less Guess, More Science - Silver gene can now be tested for at:
When we first started in the breed very little information was easily found about ASD, now we have many more tools, research and better understanding about what breeding choices affect the possible outcome of ASD. It is important to note that more research is continuing to happen and as we learn more, we'll understand more giving us the ability to improve breeding practices.
Here at GMR we do not want to take any chance of having an ASD foal and have made sure that only one parent is non-silver. As Kentucky Tornado carries one copy of the silver gene (Aa) our mares have been carefully selected to be bay, black or non-silver chestnuts.
It should be noted that breeding an Aa horse to another Aa or AA horse, you need to accept a that there is a 25% of producing a foal with affected vision. Table 4. Expected Outcome of Typical Breeding Crosses in Breeding for Color by Kathy Parrish gives a much more detailed breakdown on percentages.
The rainbow of colors(and good horses) within Mountain Saddle Horse breeds (RMH/KMSH/MPH) is something to be proud of, it is GMR's breeding practice not to take an known risk purely for color. We have to say that our few personal horses (stallion aside) have been a rich chestnut and palominos. Of note is that the KMSHA is less dominated by silver based horse and the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association (MPH) have a very limited number.
A little marketed fact is that the majority of white manes and tails in Silver horses will darken to some degree over time and with age. There is only a small percentage that actually remain white their entire lives. The reason for this is still unknown - it may be related to the Silver gene, concentration of the Silver gene, dapple gene or even other dilute genes such as the flax gene.
*Here at GMR, we have experienced that foals produced out of our chestnut mares with the flax gene tend to have whiter m/t foals and maintain color to a higher degree over the years.