Dun vs. Buckskin - The Color Controversy

Both have yellowish body color (although the shade of yellow can vary tremendously). The International Buckskin Horse Association (IBHA) says that "buckskin" should be the color of "tanned deerhide" with dark points (mane, tail, and legs). Dun is a similar color although, according to the IBHA, it is a "duller shade than buckskin." In the past, the dun color was often considered to be more sooty or smutty. A horse with a mane and tail that wasn't black was also called dun.

Recently scientists have determined that there are separate genes that are responsible for the buckskin and dun colors. Buckskin is one result of the "c cr" dilution gene, while dun is one result of the "dun" dilution. Either dilution gene will lighten the body color of a horse, much like adding a little white to a darker color of paint. Therefore the bay color would become buckskin or dun color. And just as there are many shades of bay, from a pale sandy bay to a dark blood bay, there are many shades of buckskin and dun, from a pale buttermilk to an almost chocolate color.

Bay is not the only color affected by the dilution genes. A sorrel or chestnut base color would become red dun (pinkish or flesh-colored with red or chestnut points) when combined with the "dun" gene or palomino (golden body with a lighter or white mane and tail) when combined with the "c cr" gene. A black or dark brown base color would become grullo (pronounced grew-yah) with the "dun" gene and a dark to almost black buckskin when combined with the "c cr" gene. Grullos are not very common, but can be a mouse gray to a camouflage-olive, often with a metallic-like sheen. This color should not be confused with gray or blue roan. Each hair on a grullo is the diluted color, not a mixture of white and dark hairs.

Primitive Markings:

Dorsal Stripe - The color of the stripe will depend on the body color - can vary from black or dark brown to a sorrel or peach color.

Leg Barring - These are horizontal stripes across the hocks, inside and on the front of hind legs, and on the back of the forearms and across the knees.

Shoulder Stripe or Shadowing - A stripe, or sometimes, several stripes, over the withers in varying widths and lengths. Occasionally several stripes will merge together giving a shadow effect.

Ear Tips - The tops and sometimes the sides of the ears are darker than the body color. Occasionally there are also horizontal stripes on the backside of the ears.

Neck Shadowing - Occasionally dark shadows will appear on the crest of the neck or extending into the hollow of the shoulder.

Cobwebbing - Lines of varying lengths over the forehead and face resembling a spider web. Occasionally the lines extend from the eye somewhat like an eyebrow. Sometimes the lines merge to look like shadows across the bridge of the nose or around the lips and nostrils.

Mane and Tail Frosting - Light hairs in the mane or at the top of the tail. The light hairs can run throughout the length of tail.

Mottling - Similar to dapples, however the mottling color is darker than the body color (as opposed to the lighter dappling). Additionally the mottling is usually only found on the forearms, shoulders, gaskins, and stifles, whereas dappling is usually on the barrel and hips.