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Originally Posted by SMApup  Thank you... I used to own a cremello quarter horse. I had intended on breeding her but she was only registered as a foundation quarter horse. AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association) only accepted single dilutes in their registry at the time so had to be very selective if I wanted to do so.
It is only in the past 6-7 years I believe that AQHA has started to accept Cremellos and Perlinos in their full registry. This was done so after a whole lot of petitioning from owners who wanted to exhibit their beautiful examples of the breed. Yes, many people thought the same as people do with yorkies... the dilutions are markers for genetic flaws.
However, it all takes time. And no they did not change the rest of the standard to incorporate color... QH must still have a very specific body type.
There has been more research done on horse colors and their variants than any other animal in the world. There are some very good websites that explain the inheritance of color out there for them. It can be applied to any animal and make sense. The only thing that changes is the locus and minor phenotypical expression.
Here are a few sites I like: Color Calculator (this one is my favorite) Home Page Equine Color - Horse & Pony Color Genetics Information |
The Morgans had the same High white/blue eye rule that the AQHA had. This rule denied registration for horses with white above the knee or horses with blue eyes. Lucky for me, our rule was repealed in 1996, and 3 months later my mare gave birth to an apron blazed colt with stocking over the knee and belly spots ... I named him High White Revolution, aka. "Rebel" (evil grin). From that day on, I was hooked on color genetics!
At least one of my morgans are pictured on the equinecolor.com site you posted, her name is Neverland Tiger Lily, she's pictured under the birdcatcher spots section
Equine Color - Horse & Pony Color Genetics Information
Yes there was a lot of ignorance about cremellos and perlinos in the morgan world ... in 1998 in an interview in the Horse Illustrated magazine about color, the director of the registry was quoted in the piece saying "by breeding 2 palominos together, you could produce a lethal white." Two overos bred together can produce a lethal white; palominos bred together may produce a cremello. Oh, my, that was an embarrassing moment for us Rainbow Morgan owners.
Again, glad you are here ... your genetic knowledge far exceeds mine!