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Colour Coat Genetics - Black
  

WHAT DOES A BLACK HORSE LOOK LIKE?
BLACK horses fall into one of two categories as far as appearance. Some BLACK horses will appear 'true' black year round, retaining a black mane and rail as well as a black coat that will nor sun-fade, regardless of the length of rime left in the sun. Some BLACK horses may appear 'true' black if left indoors, bur, if left outdoors for a lengthy period of time, the coat will then fade anywhere from a brown to reddish to a colour so light it may appear a very dark or 'smutty' buckskin. Some horses which are genetically BLACK may appear as a BROWN horse with brown coloured points (not black in appearance, but genetically still black).

A foal that will be BLACK is not born BLACK. It is usually born with anything from a silvery, greyish coat to a smoky, tannish coat complete with a dorsal stripe. The mane and tail will be black. This combination of colour and dorsal stripe is commonly confused with a GRULLO. However, once the foal sheds its first coat, the dorsal stripe will disappear. BLACK horses do not have dorsal stripes. They neither carry nor express the DUN DILUTION gene.

WHAT ARE THE colour GENETICS OF BLACK?

A BLACK horse must have at least one parent that is BLACK, BROWN, or a colour with black points. BLACK horses will either carry one copy of the BLACK gene (represented as Ee, meaning that it also carries one copy of the recessive RED gene) or it will carry two copies of the BLACK gene (represented as EE, meaning that it carries the BLACK gene only with no recessive RED gene), Ee BLACK horses may produce a foal with no black points if bred to another Ee BLACK or if bred to a horse with no black points, However, EE BLACK horses will produce a solid BLACK foal or a foal with black points 100 percent of the time, regardless of the colour of the other parent.

Some BLACKS have a PALOMINO or BUCKSKIN parent. In many cases, these BLACKS will also carry the CREAM DILUTION inherited from one of these patents. These BLACKS will then have the colour genetics similar to BUCKSKINS and may produce any of the DOUBLE DILUTE foals if bred to a PALOMINO, BUCKSKIN, or parent known to carry the CREAM DILUTION. BLACKS carrying the CREAM DILUTION may be slightly diluted themselves, usually giving them a colour more classified as BROWN. However, some diluted BLACKS will also have their points diluted from 'true' black to a brownish appearance, at times being confused with the colour CHESTNUT.

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

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

A BLACK 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 rail 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 not 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 BLACK 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 back once scraped off-only the base colour will grow back, in this case, BLACK. 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 BLACK.

Whereas the coat of a roan horse will not grow back roan (white) hair on areas where hair has been removed, BLACK horses with non-roan white hair on the body will oftentimes grow back white hair only on areas where hair is removed. In such cases, these areas of white are described under the markings area of the registration certificate.

Some GRAY horses may have started our as BLACK. These horses may keep their BLACK points and much of their BLACK coat for an extended period of time. They still retain the colour genetic information to produce BLACK 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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