Palomino

What is a Palomino?

A colour, not a breed. A palomino is a chestnut horse carrying one copy of the cream dilution gene, which lightens the red coat to gold and the mane and tail to white or near-white.

A palomino can be a Quarter Horse, a Welsh pony, a Morgan, a cob or a moggy of a horse. Everything that matters about the animal - its temperament, its health, its suitability, its price - comes from what breed it actually is, and that is the first question to ask about any horse advertised this way.

Britain has palomino societies that register on colour and run showing classes, and several breed societies register palominos within the breed.

The genetics, briefly

The cream gene (Cr) is incompletely dominant.

• Chestnut + one cream = palomino (gold coat, white mane and tail)
• Chestnut + two cream = cremello (near-white coat, blue eyes, pink skin)
• Bay + one cream = buckskin; bay + two = perlino

Two palominos bred together produce roughly 25 per cent cremello, 50 per cent palomino and 25 per cent chestnut. There is a DNA test for zygosity, which matters if you intend to breed.

Palomino cannot breed true, which is why it has never become a breed in its own right.

History and origins

Gold horses appear in art from antiquity and were prized in Spain, reaching the Americas with the conquistadors. Queen Isabella of Spain is traditionally credited with promoting them, and the colour was called Isabella in parts of Europe.

The Palomino Horse Breeders of America was founded in 1941; the British Palomino Society in 1946.

Appearance and size

Whatever the underlying breed dictates - anything from a 12hh Welsh pony to a 16.2hh Quarter Horse.

The coat should ideally be the colour of a newly minted gold coin, with a mane and tail at least 85 per cent white. Shade varies with season, diet, sunlight and age, and a horse that is pale gold in summer can be noticeably darker in winter coat. Buyers who expect a fixed colour are often disappointed.

Temperament and personality

Determined entirely by breed and by individual. There is no palomino temperament, and any seller who describes one is selling you a colour.

Intelligence and trainability

As above - it depends on the breed. Ask what the horse is.

Children and other pets

Depends on the breed and the individual. A palomino Welsh Section B and a palomino Thoroughbred are completely different propositions.

Health problems

The cream gene itself causes no health problems in the single dose. Two specific points apply:

Sun sensitivity. Pale skin around the muzzle and eyes burns, and a palomino with a pale face needs sun cream or a fly mask with a nose flap through the summer.

Double dilutes. Cremellos and perlinos have blue eyes and pink skin and are more light-sensitive again. They are not "albino" - that does not exist in horses - and they are perfectly healthy, but they need shade and sun protection.

Everything else depends on the breed. A palomino Quarter Horse needs the five-panel test; a palomino Welsh needs laminitis management; a palomino cob needs its feather checked. Look up the breed's own guide.

Daily care routine

As for the breed, plus sun protection in summer for pale faces, and rather more washing than a bay if you show.

Grooming and coat care

The white mane and tail stain and yellow, and keeping them clean is a real job if you show. Coat shade responds to diet and sun: some owners rug and stable to prevent bleaching, which is a choice rather than a necessity.

Exercise needs

As for the breed.

Feeding and diet

As for the breed. Copper and zinc levels in the diet affect coat shade in some horses, which is why you will see supplements marketed at palomino owners; the evidence is thin and the breed's actual nutritional needs come first.

Price

There is frequently a colour premium of 20-40 per cent over the same horse in a plain colour, and it buys nothing but the coat.

Beyond that, the price is whatever the breed and the schooling are worth.

Buying advice

Ask what breed the horse is, and buy on that. Then read the guide for that breed and apply its tests, its health checks and its questions.

If you intend to breed, get the cream zygosity DNA test so you know what you have.

Do not pay a premium for gold on a horse that is otherwise unremarkable, and do not let the colour distract you from the vetting. A striking coat on an unsound horse is still an unsound horse.