Trigger was a 15.3 hands palomino horse made famous in American Western films with his owner and rider, cowboy star Roy Rogers.
Roy Rogers and co-star Lynne Roberts with Trigger, in the 1938 film "Billy the Kid Returns"
Publicity photo of Roy Rogers and Trigger
Roy Rogers and Trigger prints on the sidewalk in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood
Palomino is a genetic color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail; the degree of whiteness can vary from bright white to yellow. The palomino color derived from the inter-breeding of Spanish horses with those from the United States. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called the cream gene working on a "red" (chestnut) base coat. Palomino is created by a genetic mechanism of incomplete dominance, hence it is not considered true-breeding. However, most color breed registries that record palomino horses were founded before equine coat color genetics were understood as well as they are today, therefore the standard definition of a palomino is based on the visible coat color, not heritability nor the underlying presence of the dilution gene.
A palomino mare with a chestnut foal. This golden shade is widely recognized as palomino.
A light palomino. This shade is at the lighter end of the color range for a Palomino horse, but as the eyes and skin are dark, the horse is not a cremello.
Classic palomino coloring is said to be that of a "gold coin", as shown with this horse.
Darker gold palomino horses may appear sooty.