"Light Black"

This page only refers to horses that have been DNA color tested and "should look black", but don't.

We know of at least 3 kinds of puzzles among horses that test E_, aa, crcr (true black with no cream gene) and don't keep their pink foal skin color.

1. Some look brown all over, all of the time.  (not the agouti color "seal brown" but the generic color brown -- brown to the eye.)

2. Others have black points but their bodies never look black, but rather they look like bays, buckskins or duns.

3. Then there is the "fading black" classification where the horse grows every coat (seasonally) pure black, but within weeks or months it fades drastically to brown or even tan.

Most have blue eyes at birth and in many if not all cases the irises remain a light (tan) color.

Links to pages about individual "light black" horses are at left.

Below are two horses who have not yet been DNA tested to eliminate all known dilution genes.  Until I find a better place for them, I'll include them in "light black", here, since they seem to follow those "rules" more than any known dilutions.

<= PRE foal, picture provided by Celeste Plitz.  Awaiting further details.

Above: Dutch Draft horse foal. Dam is a roaned bay, sire is bay. Pictures provided by (its owner, through) Mariska Doorn-Komen-Van, who writes that the owners have noticed that:

    "- The skin around the eyes and anus etc. was pink at birth, and is turned black
now Also the base of the tail is turning darker now
    - There is a black ring growing on the outside of the iris that looked to
get bigger
    - The hooves are white, also the hard parts next to the knees on the
inside are white" (I thought these were the chestnuts until I saw the last pic, above - Barb)

Her sire:   (With) her dam:  

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