Genetics - I'm Clueless (Answered)

So, all you peoples know the jumble of letters next to "Genotype" on a horse's page? I know it means something, I just don't know what specifically. Can anyone enlighten me?

Last edited on 2016-02-18 at 17:26:04 by The Monochromatic Cloud

Prepare yourself XD

Pair 1 is the extension gene, which determines the base color of the horse (black or chestnut). EE is black. Ee is black carrying chestnut. ee is chestnut.


Pair 2 is the agouti gene, which restricts black pigment on the coat. A+ is the mutation for wild bay. A is the mutation for bay. At is brown. a is non-agouti. Those are listed in order of most to least dominant. Agouti only affects black horses, but can be carried by chestnut-based horses.

A+A+ is wild bay, A+A wild bay carrying bay, A+At wild bay carrying brown, A+a wild bay carrying non-agouti.

AA is bay, AAt bay carrying brown, Aa bay carrying non-agouti.

AtAt is brown, Ata brown carrying non-agouti.

aa is non-agouti.


Pair 3 is the grey gene, which causes the coat color to fade into white-grey over the horse's life. GG is grey. Gg is grey carrying non-grey. gg is not grey.


Pair 4 is the cream gene, which is an incomplete dominant gene. This means one copy of the allele affects the coat differently from two copies. crcr is non-cream. Crcr is one cream allele, diluting the coat once (ex. palomino). CrCr is two cream alleles, diluting the coat twice (ex. perlino).


Pair 5 is the dun gene, which lightens the coat (except for the mane, tail, and lower legs) and adds various types of camouflaging primitive markings like leg barring, shoulder stripes, and dorsal stripe. DD is dun. Dd is dun carrying non-dun. dd is not dun.


Pair 6 is the champagne gene. It dilutes the coat like cream does, but the number of alleles doesn't change how diluted the coat is. Champaagned are noted for their coat's sheen and freckled, pigmented pink skin. ChCh is champagne. Chch is champagne carrying non-champagne. chch is not champagne.


Pair 7 is the flaxen gene. Unlike the other genes, flaxen only affects the horse when it is recessive. Flaxen only lightens the mane and tail of chestnut-based horses, but can be carried by black-based horses. FF is not flaxen. Ff is not flaxen carrying flaxen. ff is flaxen.


Pair 8 is the silver (or silver dapple) gene. It only affects black-based horses, and is essentially flaxen for black and bay horses. It dilutes the mane and tail, may lighten and dapple the coat, and in bays can lighten the fetlock area of the legs. ZZ is silver. Zz is silver carrying non-silver. zz is not silver.


Pair 9 is the pangare or mealy gene. This is the coloring you see on a lot of wild horses like Fjords, with the really light belly, muzzle, etc. PP is pangare. Pp is pangare carrying non-pangare. pp is not pangare.


Pair 10 is the sooty gene. This gene darkens the coat and gives a dappled appearance. StySty is sooty. Stysty is sooty carrying non-sooty. stysty is not sooty.


Pair 11 is the rabicano gene. Rabicano is a roaning white pattern that originates in the flank area and spreads outward. In the game is ranges from very slight roaning to slight ribbing on the abdomen of the horse. In real life it can be as intense as looking like a full-on true roan and can include white hairs at the head of the tail, often called skunk tail. RbRb is rabicano. Rbrb is rabicano carrying non-rabicano. rbrb is not rabicano.


Pair 12 is the KIT gene, which has various mutations on it. These include white, tobiano, sabino, and roan. They can be in any combination of two.

White in real life causes a varying appearance from looking like a sabino to entirely white horses. WW is not in the game, though real life tests have confirmed that some mutations of white are not lethal when homozygous. W+ (Ww) is white carrying non-white and no other KIT mutation. ++ (ww) is not white.

Tobiano is a dorsal, white pattern which often crosses the back and moves vertically over the body. TT is tobiano. T+ (Tt) is tobiano carrying non-tobiano and no other KIT mutation. ++ (tt) is not tobiano.

Sabino is a white pattern that tends to move horizontally over the body and is characterized by feathery edges. SbSb is sabino. Sb+ (Sbsb) is sabino carrying non-sabino and no other KIT mutations. ++ (sbsb) is not sabino.

Roan is a white pattern that disperses white hairs evenly throughout the coat, creating an almost velvety appearance. Roans have a dark head, mane, tail, and legs. RnRn is roan. Rn+ (Rnrn) is roan carrying non-roan and no other KIT mutations. ++ (rnrn) is not roan.

WT (TW) is white and tobiano. WSb (SbW) is white and sabino. WRn (RnW) is white and roan. TSb (SbT) is tobiano and sabino. TRn (RnT) is tobiano and roan.


Pair 13 is the (frame) overo gene. It is a horizontal white pattern that gets its name from the appearance of white patches being framed by the horse's color. OO is always lethal (and I believe not possible in the game). Oo is frame overo carrying non-frame. oo is not frame overo.


Pair 14 is the splash gene. It is a ventral white pattern that moves vertically on the body from the belly upwards. SpSp is splash. Spsp is splash carrying non-splash. spsp is not splash.

Pairs 15, 16, and 17 are the leopard complex and pattern genes that create the "appaloosa" patterns. Different combinations of the genes do different things.

Lp is the leopard complex and controls whether or not white patterns will show as well as whether or not they will have spotting. LpLp allows white patterns to show, but with no colored spotting. Lplp allows white patterns with colored spotting. lplp does not allow for the white patterns.

PATN1 is the first patterning gene. This is the "leopard spot" gene. It allows for white to cover the entire body. LpLp with PATN1PATN1 is a few spot leopard. LpLp with PATN1patn1 is a leopard with slightly more spots. Lplp with PATN1PATN1 is a leopard with more spots. Lplp with PATN1patn1 is a leopard with a lot of spots. LpLp or Lplp with patn1patn1 is a varnish roan.

PATN2 is the second patterning gene. This is the "blanket" gene. It allows for a smaller portion of the body to be white. LpLp with PATN2PATN2 is a snowcap blanket. LpLp with PATN2patn2 is a limited snowcap. Lplp with PATN2PATN2 is a spotted blanket. Lplp with PATN2patn2 is a limited spotted blanket.


Note: Some of these genes are only theorized and are not particularly known in real life as of yet. They are included for ease of game play.

@ Vos - Thank you so much! Your post answered all of my questions.

And one more thing - now that my question has been answered, what do I do with this topic?

It can just hang around until it's pushed back in the forums.

Okay, thanks. :)

Vos' post is my new favorite thing for the next 15 minutes.