Silver dapple gene

The term Windfarbgen is a slang term that is used in the German language for the genetics "Silver" that affects the coat color of the horse in the domestic horse. The official genetic name "Silver" was based on the English term Silver Dapple, which is the name for the generated by the gene coat color selected. Even the term Silver locus of the term " Silver" will be taken up again. The term " Wind Colors" is a German translation of the Icelandic term " Vindótt " which describes the same coat color. Since there is no German term for this coat color, then either either to the English term " Silver Dapple " or the translation " wind colors " back.

Genetics

The Silvergen the domestic horse is a mutation of a gene locus corresponding to the locus Silver Pmel17. The responsible gene is represented by Z. The research results of genetic identification of Silver were released in 2006.

The mutation is inherited as an autosomal dominant. This Silver only affects horses whose color is genetically black or brown and leads these to a lightening in Haarkeit. Silver is therefore considered one of the color genes of whitening. Silver can lighten the black mane of brown to white and the black fur of sable to chocolate brown with light long hair. Silver has no effect on phaeomelanin, so that horses are genetically foxes ( red) show no changes in color or bright spots in the skin. However, foxes can inherit the color of their offspring when they themselves are carriers of the Silver gene.

Horses are wearing the Silver homozygous often brighter than horses in which Silver is present only heterozygous.

Silver interacts with other color genes. It describes interactions with the genetics of the mold and the cream gene.

The gene is quite common in the Iceland horse, the American Miniature Horse, Comtois or at the Rocky Mountain Horse. In other breeds it occurs less frequently.

Appearance

There is no uniform appearance of Silver, since the phenotype depends meet what color and what color modifying genes in a horse. A Silver Bay, looks different from a Silver Black or Silver Cream. Roughly speaking, one can say with the foal Windfarbgen are fairly bright and have brightened up gray long hair ( mane and tail ). You have conspicuous white eyelashes. The hooves of pups are black and white stripes until about the end of the first year, then darker and losing streaks.

The hoof of foals with Silver dapple gene is often striped for about the first year of life.

A fox -colored Morgan Silver dapple gene: No influence of the gene is identified.

History of Silver

Rapp wind colors or Silver Dapple Black

As Rapp wind colored horses or English Silver Dapple horse will be referred to, which are brightened by the Windfarbgen. You can have a dark body color with silver mane and tail, others are uniformly chocolate brown, sometimes with a significantly lighter mane, but sometimes not. Many horses with Silver dapple have actually geäpfeltes fur ( tan), but this feature is not necessarily available. In part, it also occurs only in the change of coat and is not visible all year round.

Two Rocky Mountain horses with Silver- gene

Rocky Mountain Horse

Brown Wind Colors / Silver Dapple Bay

As Brown Wind -colored horses or English Silver Dapple Bay Brown are called, which are brightened by the Windfarbgen. Brown with Silver dapple can also have bright long hair. Her legs are brightened, the rest of the body remains unchanged as it ( unless it is a Black-Brown ) has no black fur.

Icelander

Legs of a bay horse with Silver dapple

Other color options

Since the Windfarbgen only eumelanin but not pheomelanin brightens, not all can be lightened by derived foxes colors by this gene. Check Fuchs, Palominos, roan (regardless of whether they genuine mold or stitchhaired horses are ) and foxes remain so if they carry the gene, unchanged.

All colors that are derived from brown or black horses, are influenced. Fallows, light sable, Rapp Check or brown with spotting and mold, as long as they are not quite white, so can also be brightened by Silver dapple.

Silver Dun

Combination of Silver and Falbgen

Silver Cream

Combination of Silver and Cream gene

Possible confusion

The most common horse color Silver or wind colors to be confused with foxes. Misleading, they were even partially entered by the breed associations as foxes. Foxes can " Flaxen " lightened hair long show ( mane and tail ). The colors are for the untrained eye perhaps similar, but not identical, actually. Although foxes or Palominos are obscured by Sooty, they were wind -colored horses confused because of the gray shares in the coat, which occur in this color. A further possibility of confusion is the coat color Mushroom, which was demonstrated in the original Shetland pony. Mushroom is the coloring of Silver so close that you can not partially optically pure may differ from Silver dark versions of the color. The difference, however, can be detected genetically.

• Darker Palominos can be just as or very similar look as brown with Windfarbgen
• Light Foxes are sometimes hard to distinguish from brown -colored horses wind

Even the color of the Black Forest cold blood is due to Flaxen. Here are a dark chestnut with Flaxen

Wind -colored Rocky Mountain Horse

In comparison, a dapple gray

• Wind colored have also been confused with apple mildew. The mold has a mix of black and white hair in the gray coat areas.
• Foxes can remember rapping wind -colored horses, but usually act less gray.

Health

Rocky Mountain Horses often have abnormalities of the eyes and it was assumed that they are related to the Windfarbgen. It has now been demonstrated in crossing experiments that there is a connection. In another study came out that the company responsible for the damage to eyes gene must lie exactly in the region where the Windfarbgen and there is only responsible for the wind color mutations have also been found. It was also found that for the Windfarbgen homozygous horses have serious eye damage, while heterozygous horses have only minor abnormalities that are not apparent to the layman and have no appreciable effect on vision of the horses.

Breeds

From the following breeds is known that there exists the Windfarbgen: Iceland horse, Shetland pony, Comtois, American Miniature Horse, Rocky Mountain Horse, Ardennes, Quarter Horse, Morgan ( horse), Swedish Warmblood, Welsh A, Irish Tinker, etc.