How Do You Breed A Perlino Horse?
Breeding for color is a tricky business and producing horse colors is like playing genetic dice. Sometimes you get what you want and sometimes you don’t. Your results will be living, breathing creatures that need care and good homes, so it is a serious game you are playing. Here are the basics on how to go about breeding a horse with the Perlino coat color. Finding a perlino is no easy task. Genetically, a perlino is a bay horse with two copies of the “dilute” gene, making the Perlino a “double dilute” (essentially an albino). What this means in the breeding world is that the perlino will always throw one copy of the dilute gene, and either one copy of the bay or one copy of the chestnut gene. Sometimes a perlino will be “homozygous” for the bay gene as well as the dilute gene. Visually identifying a Perlino is not a guaranteed way to make certain of its genes. Although they are fairly recognizable with their pale coats (creme), possibly slightly pinkish manes and tails, and blue or pi
