Cream gene
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The cream gene is responsible for a number of horse coat colors. Horses that have the cream gene in addition to a base coat color that is chestnut will become palomino if they are heterozygous, having one copy of the cream gene, or cremello, if they are homozygous. Similarly, horses with a bay base coat and the cream gene will be buckskin or perlino. A black base coat with the cream gene becomes the not-always-recognized smoky black or a smoky cream. Cream horses, even those with blue eyes, are not white horses. Dilution coloring is also not related to any of the white spotting patterns.
The action of the cream gene on a chestnut base coat produces palomino.
Rosy pink skin and pale blue eyes are characteristics of cremellos, or "double-dilute" chestnuts.
Cream dilutions may have seasonal color variation between winter and summer coats, as seen in this palomino
Smoky black foal
Equine coat color
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Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings. A specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them.
Three horses with different coat colors
Bay (left) and chestnut (right) mustangs.
A black horse
A dapple gray