Cremello
Cremello is a chestnut-based coat with two copies of the cream gene. This creates a very pale cream coat, often paired with pink skin and light blue eyes. Horses with two cream copies are often called double cream horses.
Looks Like (Phenotype)
At first glance, cremello horses may appear nearly white. Up close, the coat has a soft ivory or butter-cream tone, and the mane and tail are very light as well. The skin is pink, especially visible around the eyes, nose and under the tail. Whereas their eyes are pale blue, lighter than the bright blue sometimes seen in horses with large white patterns.
Cremello is often confused with Perlino and Smoky Cream, because all double-cream coats appear very similar. Genetic testing is the most reliable way to confirm the coat colour.
Variations
Cremello horses can look:
- Warmer cream in summer
- Very pale, almost white, in winter
- Slightly darker in the mane and tail if dust or sun exposure changes the tone
Behind the Colour (Genotype)
To call a horse's coat colour cremello, it needs to have a chestnut-base and two copies of the cream-allele. You can also say "homozygous for cream" if the horse has two copies.