grey (born frame overo cremello dun)
gris (né frame overo cremello dun)
Description
Very pale cream to ivory coat with blue eyes. Results from two Cream gene copies on a chestnut base. Often confused with albino, cremello is genetically distinct — it has pigmentation, just very diluted.
Visual traits
Very pale cream body · Cream mane and tail · Blue eyes · Pink skin
Genetic basis
Extension e/e and double Cream CrCr — two MATP gene copies intensely dilute red pigment.
The Dun gene dilutes the base coat and adds primitive wild-horse markings: a dorsal stripe along the spine, leg barring, and sometimes shoulder stripes.
The Frame Overo pattern adds irregular white patches to the base coat. Crossing two Frame horses is dangerous: 25% of foals will be homozygous O/O (OLWS) and will not survive.
This horse also carries the Grey gene, but it has no visible effect here: an already double-diluted coat is born as pale as progressive greying would eventually make it. Only DNA testing can reveal its presence — the melanoma risk associated with Grey still applies.