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Dun Horse Color

Red Dun horse color picture

Dun horse color is perhaps something that will remind you of autumn. You can see variations of the shade from tan, light yellow and sandy yellow to grayish gold, reddish brown and even steel gray!

A Powerful Gene in Action

The gene behind this distinctly autumn-like shade is no other than the dun gene. This dilution gene is so powerful that it can lighten both the black and red pigments of the horse coat! This means that whether the horse is black, chestnut or bay, it can’t escape the lightening action of the gene on its coat color. If there are any areas “spared” from this lightening action, those areas would be the animal’s mane and tail, and legs.

Geneticists consider the dun allele as very dominant. The parent-horse needs only one copy of the gene to produce a dun offspring. When you compare the dun gene with others, it is far stronger than a silver dapple gene that acts exclusively on black base coat and definitely more prevalent than a cream gene that acts on chestnut or bay horse coats.

Loving the Stripes

Just observe all dun horses closely, and you’re sure to notice a dark stripe that runs a bit below the middle portion of their backs. In addition, you’ll find that their legs, face, mane and tail are much darker than their base coat. They also have plenty of primitive markings. These markings, you see, are created by the dun gene.

MarkingLocationOccurence
Dorsal stripeAlong the horse’s spine, from center and downwardsSeen almost universally
Zebra leg stripeAt the back of the horse’s forelegsSeen commonly
Shoulder blade stripeAt the horse’s shoulder bladeSeen rarely, faintly visible for longer hair coats


A Tricky Matter

Although all duns have dorsal stripes, not all horses with dorsal stripes are really duns. For instance, Thoroughbreds and Arabian Horses never have the dun gene but these breeds have faint dorsal stripes on their bodies – thanks to counter shading.

The phenomenon actually produces shades that are much darker than the body color. Believe it or not, it’s quite common to confuse these darker shades (created by counter shading) as black points and primitive markings. Only a DNA test or a pedigree analysis can definitely tell you if the marks are indeed because of the dun gene.

Look-Alikes

Dun horse color is often mistaken for some other color, especially when you’re comparing red duns with perlinos, or bay duns with buckskins. Well, if you’re up to some techniques on telling the real dun from its look-alike, read on!

  • Perlino

    • Compared to perlino, red dun horse color is definitely much darker. You’ll want to view the horses side by side though in order to spot the difference in shading. If the horse coat color comparison won’t satisfy you, try observing other areas. In addition to its typically reddish mane and tail, the perlino has blue eyes.

  • Buckskin

    • Compared to the creamy or golden buckskin, the dun horse color is a much duller tan. You should also check for primitive markings, because all dun horses are expected to have some. In a few cases, a buckskin horse may have some primitive markings too, but these are because of counter shading and not because of the dun gene.

    Remember: Bay horses with a dun gene and primitive markings are your typical bay duns, while, bay horses with a cream gene and no primitive markings are your typical buckskins.

    When a horse has both dun and cream genes (and the complete set of markings too), then presto, you have a buckskin dun! There’s a more endearing name to this creature actually. Call the horse a “dunskin” and every horse lover will know what you’re referring to!



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