horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s, referring to a color that resembles certain shades of tanned

deerskin Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs ...

. Similar colors in some breeds of dogs are also called buckskin. The horse has a tan or gold colored coat with black points (mane, tail, and lower legs). Buckskin occurs as a result of the

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

dilution gene acting on a bay horse. Therefore, a buckskin has the Extension, or "black base coat" (E) gene, the

agouti gene Agouti-signaling protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ASIP gene. It is responsible for the distribution of melanin pigment in mammals. Agouti interacts with the melanocortin 1 receptor to determine whether the melanocyte (pigment ...

(A) gene (see bay for more on the agouti gene), which restricts the

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

base coat to the points, and one copy of the

cream gene The cream gene is responsible for a number of horse coat colors. Horses that have the cream gene in addition to a base coat color that is chestnut will become palomino if they are heterozygous, having one copy of the cream gene, or cremello, if ...

(CCr), which lightens the red/brown color of the bay coat to a tan/gold. Buckskins should not be confused with

dun A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognat ...

-colored horses, which have the dun dilution gene, not the cream gene. Duns always have primitive markings (shoulder blade stripes, dorsal stripe, zebra stripes on legs, webbing). However, it is possible for a horse to carry both dilution genes; these are called "buckskin duns" or sometimes "dunskins." Also, bay horses without any dun gene may have a faint dorsal stripe, which sometimes is darkened in a buckskin without a dun gene being present. Additional primitive striping beyond just a dorsal stripe is a sure sign of the dun gene. A buckskin horse can occur in any number of different

breeds A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...

. At least one parent must carry the

, and not all breeds do. Since 1963, the

American Buckskin Registry Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

(ABRA) has been keeping track of horses with this coat color, and although Buckskin is sometimes classified as a

color breed A color breed refers to groupings of horses whose registration is based primarily on their coat color, regardless of the horse's actual breed or breed type. Some color breeds only register horses with a desired coat color if they also meet speci ...

, due to its genetic makeup that depends on having one, not two copies of the dilution

allele An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution. ::"The chro ...

, coat color cannot ever be a consistent true-breeding trait.

References

"Horse coat color tests"
from the

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

Veterinary Genetics Lab
"Introduction to Coat Color Genetics"
''from'' Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis. Web Site accessed January 12, 2008 {{Equine coat colors Horse coat colors Color breeds

See also

References