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Iberian Pearls in the USA
The Pearl gene in Andalusians and Lusitanos (and crosses of those breeds) was
first identified in horses of those breeds living in the USA.
To get to know some of them, especially the "major players" in its discovery
in those breeds, just CLICK (!) on the horses' names on the buttons, left.
A summary is also available, in the tables below.
Pearl is a
recessive dilution gene that reacts to the cream gene. There are no known
homozygous pearls in the Iberian breeds in the USA as of this writing. (The only
known homozygous [double] pearls in the USA are in the Barlink line of American
Paint Horses.)
There had been noticed, and documented, several startling cases of a
cream dilute horse being crossed with a base color horse (chestnut, bay, black, brown) and
producing a foal that looks like a double cream dilute, in two Andalusian
"families" in the USA, as detailed below.
When these foals were color tested, without exception they were found to have
only one cream gene, as expected by their parentage. (This parentage is
almost always DNA verified because of the regulations of the Iberian breeds involved.)
Now, most of these foals have also been tested for Pearl, and those who have
been tested all carry it.
The cream dilutes never produced these colors except when bred to the same
particular dark-colored horses. That's how it was first noticed.
Chica & her "string of
pearls"
Chica : dark liver chestnut Andalusian mare with one "pearl"
gene
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Majodero Ee aa Crcr (DNA), smoky
black pearl son of Chica by Q, perlino stallion
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Guindaleza palomino pearl
ee N/Prl N/Cr daughter of Chica by Saphiro ,
ee CrCr (DNA) cremello stallion
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Querida dark colored
daughter of Chica by El Altivo (bay). Querida was first believed to
carry the pearl gene because of one of her colts, Mateo, by
Saphiro.
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Bravio & his "string of
Pearls"
Bravio : bay Andalusian stallion
with one pearl gene. Sadly,
deceased.
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Mia Fantasia daughter of Bravio out of a
buckskin mare
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Tequila son of Bravio out of a sooty
palomino QH mare
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Luna
del Bravio, a gray Bravio daughter (out of the Axis mare,
Ametza) tested
positive for a single copy of pearl. Owned by Necka Alves, leased back
to Suzan Sommer this year, in foal to
Xerox, her
double dilute….so Sommer Ranch could very well have another cream pearl on
the ground in 2007! PHOTO: Luna del Bravio at about 15 months left; both
photos courtesy Dr. Rebecca B. (Hope to have her own page up eventually)
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Balitor,
bay son of Bravio, was DNA tested and is Ee Aa N/Prl – so he
will be able to produce a whole array of colors. Plans are to breed
him to Guindaleza, daughter of Chica, next year. PHOTO: Balitor; photo from
Sommer Ranch web site (he wants his own newdilutions page, too!)
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