Cream Dilution
The Cream Dilution Gene is responsible for 'diluting' the carrying horse, to lighter coat shades and colours. This is often considered a highly desirable trait, Cream dilution is the gene responsible for the likes of Palominos, Buckskins, Cremellos and many more (see below chart).
Cream Dilution works in 'doses'. A horse carrying one 'dose' of the cream dilution gene will have a diluted coat, but a horse with two doses will be even lighter. When bred, a single dilute horse will pass a copy of cream dilution to its offspring approximately 50% of the time, therefore has the potential to produce non-dilute foals. However, Double Dilute horse will always transmit the Cream Dilution gene hence guaranteeing diluted offspring. The 'diluted' colour of the offspring will depend entirely upon it's base colour, which interacts with the cream dilution gene directly.
The effects that these doses have on the horse's base colouring are outlined as follows:
Animal Genetics offers genetic testing for the gene mutation responsible for Cream Dilution. We report results as listed above (Negative, Single Dilute or Double Dilute.) Testing is useful where genetic confirmation is required, or to define Cream Dilute horses aside from other genes with similar effects (such as Champagne Dilution.)
Running this test will confirm if a horse is Cream Dilute, as mentioned the Cream Dilution gene has varying affects on different base colours, to obtain the exact 'type name' of Cream Dilute of the horse (ie: Buckskin, Palomino etc) it is reccomended you run this test in conjunction with Red Factor and Agouti.
Double-Dilute Perlino. Courtesy of Tawny Dun Stud
Single-dilute Palomino. Courtesy of M. Fraser.
Pricing:
£20.00 per test (inclusive of tax, certification included free of charge)
Turnaround time: 5-7 business days.
Results: Phoned, faxed or e-mailed. Testing certificate dispatched after conclusion of test.
