Breed Information
Colour Coat Genetics - Brown
  

WHAT DOES A BROWN LOOK LIKE?
There is somewhat of a variation within the colour BROWN. SEAL BROWN horses are consistently dark or 'seal coloured' over the entire body. They may or may nor have distinct black points, although almost all BROWNS do. A BROWN horse with brown coloured points (nor black in appearance, bur generically still black) is often confused with CHESTNUT. Some horses registered as BROWN may actually be 'smutty' BAYS (See BAY), very 'smutty' BUCKSKINS (See BUCKSKIN), diluted BLACK horses (See BLACK), or BLACK horses with coats that fade anywhere from a brownish red to a brownish tan, oftentimes giving them the appearance of BAYS or dark BUCKSKINS.

CAN A BROWN HORSE PRODUCE A SOLID BLACK HORSE?

A horse that is a solid BLACK or has black points can potentially produce a solid BLACK horse. This includes the BROWN, which must have at least one parent that is BLACK, BROWN, or a colour with black points. In fact, depending on the parentage, a BROWN horse can be homozygous for the BLACK gene. For this to be possible, each parent of the homozygous BROWN must carry the BLACK gene, usually having black points. Both a stallion and a mare can be homozygous for the colour black. This means that the parent homozygous for the BLACK gene will always produce a foal that is either solid black or has black points no matter what colour the other parent is.

Sometimes a foal that will be BROWN is born with anything from a silvery, greyish coat to a smoky, tan-coloured coat complete with a dorsal stripe. The mane and tail will be black or dark brown. This combination of colour and dorsal stripe is very commonly confused with a GRULLO. However, once the foal sheds its first coat, the dorsal stripe will no longer be visible in most cases.

IF A BROWN HORSE HAS A DORSAL STRIPE, DOESN'T THAT MAKE IT A DUN?

A BROWN with a dorsal stripe is not related to DUN. The dorsal stripe is usually inherited from a non-DUN diluted parent. Some foals that will be mature BROWNS are often born with characteristics which can be confused with DUNS or GRULLOS. They may have distinct dorsal stripes (which they may or may not keep after the first shed) and some shading of darker hair over the withers. These characteristics are not related to the DUN DILUTION gene, even though are often confused with DUNS or GRULLOS, and is considered as a type of camouflaging (much in the way that a fawn has spots on its coat) which was necessary before the horse was domesticated.

WHAT ARE SOME OTHER ASPECTS WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BROWN?

It is possible for the BROWN to express the ROAN gene. Usually this is considered as BLUE ROAN which is recognized as a separate coat colour with AQHA. (See BLUE ROAN).

A BROWN may have white hair scattered throughout the body or have white hair concentrated in specific areas. These areas are usually the flanks, between the fore legs, the root of the tail and sometimes over the barrel, usually in vertical patterns directly over each rib. It is most often confused with ROAN but is neither the result of the ROAN nor GRAY genes. This distinct pattern of white is sometimes called rabicano (pronounced rab ih CON oh), a word of Spanish origin meaning "brush tail," referring to the bands of white hair at the root of the tail. It is also referred to sometimes as "ticking." One way to determine the difference between the 'classic' BLUE ROAN and a BROWN with white hair due to the rabicano or ticking trait is to notice the colour of hair once the 'roan' areas have been scraped or rubbed off. On a 'classic' ROAN, the ROAN hair does not grow hack once scraped off-only the base colour of the body will grow back. On the rabicano affected horse, the hair that is scraped off will usually grow back solid white, the same that would happen if the horse was a solid BROWN.

Some BROWNS have a PALOMINO or BUCKSKIN parent. In many cases, these BROWNS will also carry the CREAM DILUTION inherited from one of these parents. These BROWNS will then have the colour genetics similar to BUCKSKINS and can produce any of the DOUBLE DILUTE foals if bred to a PAWMINO, BUCKSKIN, or parent known to carry the CREAM DILUTION. BROWNS carrying the CREAM DILUTION may develop dappling on the coat if they are left in the sun for lengthy periods of time.

Some GRAY horses may have started out as BROWN. These horses may keep their black points and much of their BROWN coat (or a variation) for an extended period of rime. They still retain the colour genetic information to produce BROWN foals as well as many other colours, depending on the pedigree, regardless of the colour of the other parent. (See GRAY).

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