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Cremello Horse Color

Cremello horse color picture

Cremello horse color is a deliciously creamy look. Call it golden, if you like. These darlings have a creamy or golden coat, white tail, white mane, blue eyes and pinkish skin. Cremello horse color often results when the horse has a cream gene that acts on a base coat of chestnut red. Many foals of this hue eventually “fade” and look white as they grow older.

The Real Cremello

There are at least two colors that this hue is often mistaken with: white and albino. Your misconceptions about the color end here!

  • White

    • Although white horses have a cremello’s pinkish skin and blue eyes during birth, they don’t have the cream gene. The cream-colored horses don’t have the white horse’s “lethal white” syndrome either.

  • Albino

    • Cremellos are not albinos for the simple reason that an albino’s eyes are non-pigmented while a cremello’s are bluish. If you also examine horse coats, you’ll see that the cremello horse color is several shades different from the albino’s white.

    Note: Did you know that true albinism doesn’t really exist among horses? According to experts, the gene responsible for albinism is lethal!

Cremello vs. Palomino

As with many things, the comparison between cremello and palomino may not boil down to looks but to genetics. You see, both hues may look very identical upon ocular inspection. Except for the palomino’s typically darker eyes, both palomino and cremello horses have golden coats, and white manes and tails. The difference lies with the genes. Experts classify cremellos as homozygous (born with two copies of the same genes) and palominos as heterozygous (born with a dominant gene and a recessive gene).

Interestingly, when a heterozygous horse has a chestnut coat and a cream gene, the animal may sport a golden coat and you can call the animal a cremello based on the horse coat color. Now, when a heterozygous horse has a bay coat and a cream gene, the animal will be a (golden) buckskin. If you’re interested to know the effects of the cream gene on a bay coat, feel free to read the section on perlino horse color.

Morgan horses and American Quarter horses all have the cream gene, and as you will find with these breeds, common horse coat colors are palomino and buckskin.

The Cream Gene vs. Other Dilution Genes

There are some genes that mimic the effect of the cream gene. Two are tabled below, including some defining characteristics of the horses that have the genes:

Dilution GeneHorse Appearance
Champagne geneStriped hooves, dark horse coat (at birth), golden horse coat (at maturity), possible eye colors: hazel, blue, yellow-green
Pearl geneDiluted or undiluted horse coat color, pseudo-double dilute cremello horse coat, blue eyes


If you still doubt which gene is responsible for the animal’s cremello horse color, you can always opt for DNA testing.

You’ll be surprised that there are some cremello horses born with more than one dilution gene!

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