What wrong with this article on Double Overo Dilute Colt horse?
He doesn’t have two copies of the overo gene – he has two copies of the cream gene. He’s not a “double-overo dilute colt,” he’s an “overo double-dilute colt.” It’s the dilute gene (aka the cream gene) that’s doubled, not the overo gene. Two copies of the cream gene would make him either a perlino, cremello, or smoky cream. He can’t be a palomino because that would only be one cream gene. If you enlarge the picture, you can see his white belly spot (overo) and pink skin (double dilute).
Yes, double overo is lethal white. The ad isn’t misleading, because they’re talking about his color. One cream dilute gene on a sorrel/chestnut can make a palomino. Two cream dilute genes on a sorrel/chestnut can make a cremello. (The term ‘double dilute’ in the ad) One cream dilute on a bay horse can make a buckskin. Two cream dilutes on a bay can make a perlino. Here’s a great website to answer all the questions about dilutes.
Anyone who has has a cremello or a perlino or a horse with lots of white around eyes or muzzle that has seen their hosre with those terrible cracks on the muzzle and sunburn drippy sick looking eyes because of sunburn would call him a mistake. Lots of folks who have them are having a hard time selling them because thay take so much doctoring if they are out in the sun. A lot of the skin damage from sunburn can turn into cancer.
I think it means that he’s Overo, with double dilute genes (dilute genes result in buckskins, palominos, cremellos etc). Horse gets one set genes from sire, one from dam, this means he’s inherited dilute genes (this one would be Cream) from sire AND dam (which gives the double) which also means he’ll always produce dilute foals (he’ll always pass on atleast one dilute gene). There’s 2 main base coat colours, black and chestnut, then there’s ‘modifiers’ or ‘dilutes’. The Agouti gene in blacks produces bay. One cream gene in a black produces buckskin, one cream gene in chestnut produces palomino, TWO (or double) cream genes in chestnut produces Cremello (which is what that horse is). The double refers to the ‘dilute’, not the ‘Overo’. So his colour, he’s a creamy/cremello white (like an off white), with pure white overo patches.
