Perlino Horse Color
Perlino horse color is another shade that will dazzle your eyes. The color is soft, light and almost white in fact. A Fair-Skinned BeautyThis equine creature has blue eyes that nicely complement its fine pastel coat. Compared to its body, the perlino horse typically has a darker mane and horse tail. The lovely creature also has a few dark points, particularly in the ear tips and lower legs. By dark, imagine a rusty orange or reddish chestnut shade – not mahogany brown or black. Do take care not to confuse a perlino with a dun! The perlino horse doesn’t have the dun’s dark eyes and legs, dorsal stripes and primitive markings.If you’ve read the section on cremello horse color, you’ve already guessed perhaps that a cream gene acting on a bay horse coat is responsible for the perlino shade. The horse has to be homozygous (or has to have both pairs of the same dilution gene) in order to become a perlino. If not, you’ll end up with a buckskin – horses with a golden body coat and dark skin, legs, eyes, mane and tail. Now, the same cream gene is actually responsible for producing palomino or cremello horse coats too, but the gene needs to act on a base coat that’s chestnut or red. The Truth About WhiteAlthough the perlino horse color can almost pass off for white, it’s incorrect to label a perlino horse as a true white horse. This is because true white horses have to possess the W gene as a dominant gene and not just any dilution gene (like the cream gene), which the perlino horse has. In a few cases, there are pinto horses that look completely white when they are “fully expressed” – but this is another story! You may want to visit the section on pinto horse color for additional readings.Return to Perlino Horse Color
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