Bay Pearl
Bay pearl is a bay base that has been lightened by two copies of the pearl alleles. The result is a soft apricot or light tan coat, with darker points on the mane, tail and lower legs.
Looks Like (Phenotype)
A bay pearl horse has a warm, apricot-like body colour. The mane, tail and legs are still darker than the body, but they are softer and more muted than a typical bay.
The skin is often pinkish or lightly mottled, and the eyes may appear amber.
Homozygous pearl (prl/prl) dilutes red pigment to gold, and black to tan or light brown, which is why you can still see a difference between a chestnut- or bay pearl horse.
Variations
Some bay pearl horses appear very pale overall, while others retain clearer dark points. The intensity of pearl can also vary between breeds and bloodlines.
You can find a wide range of bay pearl examples in our game Horse Reality, where coat variations are visible across different breeds.
Behind the Colour (Genotype)
The pearl gene is recessive, meaning a horse needs two copies of the allele for the dilution to show on a bay coat. If a horse has only one copy (prl/n), it is called a pearl carrier, and the coat remains the same as its normal base colour.
Pearl and cream are located on the same gene. A single pearl allele does not lighten the coat, but it will interact when together with cream. Horses with one cream and one pearl allele (CR/prl) often appear lighter than chestnut pearl horses, often resembling the soft, pale look of double cream coats.
The pearl gene is sometimes called the Barlink Factor in Quarter Horses and Paints, named after the stallion Barlink Macho Man, who carried the mutation.
Related Colours
Chestnut Pearl | Black Pearl | Cream Pearl