What color?

[JumperDreams]

Hi All-

What do you think color wise? I know he is a dun based on his dorsal stripe but what variation of dun? What would the brown spot on his back be attributed to?

Always looking to learn more and expand past all my bays

[Bluey]

My guess would be a dilute similar to cream or pearl:

https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/test/cream

https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/test/pearl

[ThreeWishes]

Dunskin. Dun plus crème

[colorfan]

Do you know the breed? The black spot is just a random black spot. He could be cream + dun for a dunskin but it doesn’t seem quite right to me.

[JumperDreams]

He is a mini. Parents are known but not reg.

[chestnutmarebeware]

He’s adorable!

If you add a second post in Off Course, a lot of the COTH color experts will see it there.

[jvanrens]

Or @Moderator_1 could move it there.

I’d like to see some more pictures of him, especially of his full tail, because I can’t tell if the dorsal runs right down his tail or just into it.

I’m leaning towards a silver buckskin.

[Leather]

@jvanrens

I’d like to see some more pictures of him, especially of his full tail, because I can’t tell if the dorsal runs right down his tail or just into it.

Yup agreed. This site has some good reference info - as noted it’s likely not completely up to date but has good examples of dun-factor dorsal stripes vs. countershading.

Dun Factor Markings

[JumperDreams]

Thanks everyone! Good info and resources . Here are a couple more pictures of him. Unfortunately I don’t have one right now showing the dock of the tail.

[jvanrens]

Thanks for more pictures, but do you have a clear picture of him straight on from the back? Like he’s a QH and you want to show off his booty?

[BWP]

@jvanrens

I’m leaning towards a silver buckskin.

Agree, with nd1 causing the dorsal

[JB]

Also not seeing Dun. While the full dorsal, meaning to the end of the tail bone, is really the only requirement for markings, I don’t think I’ve seen a Dun that didn’t have at least another identifier - ear tips (different from normal rimming), face masking, leg bars, shoulder bars

The “dun gene” has 3 variations:

D - true Dun. Heterozygous and homozygous don’t look different

nd1 - dilutes the hair a little, often not noticeable, usually produces a clear dorsal stripe but it ends at the top of the tail. Homozygous usually dilutes the hair noticeably but not nearly as much as D, and may have some additional dun-like markings. nd1 and especially nd1/nd1 also allows sun fading no matter what you do (unless maybe you never let the horse out in any light, ever). It’s VERY common in horses as a whole, even breeds where D doesn’t exist (like TBs)

nd2 - aka d, not dun in any form

Silver Buckskin is where my bet lies.

The spot on his back is a Bend Or spot, not uncommon, most common with red-based colors, but not rare on black or bay variations

[JumperDreams]

Oh interesting JB! Thanks again all- and sorry for the delay. Here is a picture of his full tail.

[JB]

Definitely not a Dun dorsal, it doesn’t continue into the tail, where it would be very obvious. So, silver buckskin

Here’s a great site showing dun factor markings, including the difference between dun ear tips, and regular ear rimming, and shows several examples of the dun vs not-dun dorsal into the tail
https://www.grullablue.com/colors/dun_factor_markings.htm

[BWP]

This is my young un’s dun bum, you can see that the dorsal continues right through the tail.

[JumperDreams]

Oh can you ever! Thanks for the comparison BWP!