RARE: includes both homozygous & heterozygous listings Zeulners Sunka Wakan, 1998 Morgan stallion, confirmed (brown-based) Silver Dapple (heterozygous). Zeulners Morgan Horses, Central Point, OR.      Genetic discussion of Silver Dapple (SD) dilute gene Sometimes called "Taffy" or "Chocolate Flax." The gene symbol is "Z": This is a particularly gorgeous coloration when exhibited on a black (or mostly black-coated like the brown pictured above) horse, producing a deep dark chocolate colored horse with a silver mane & tail. SD dilute gene affects the black pigmented hair, and exhibits strongest dilution on the mane & tail. A reverse dappling (a spotted rather than a cobweb dapple) is also a sign of the SD gene. Silver Dapple dilute does not affect red hair much if at all, and a sorrel or chestnut horse with the SD gene can often go undetected. If you have a bay or black foal produced by 2 "sorrel or chestnut" parents, then you have evidence one may be carrying the Silver dilute. The Silver Dapple bay usually has a tell-tale silver mane & tail, and silvering on its points.      Wikipedia definition: In horses, the silver dapple gene, also known as the "Z" gene, dilutes the black base coat color . It will typically dilute a black mane and tail to flaxen, and a black body to a shade of brown or chocolate. Red based horses, such as chestnut, palomino, and cremello, may carry the silver dapple gene, and are capable of passing it on to their offspring, but will not express the gene in their own body color. The lower legs of a silver dapple horse tend to be incompletely diluted. The black lower leg is usually able to be distinguished when the silver dapple gene is present on a bay base, but the coloring is less-defined. However, one must not confuse the silver dapple gene with the gray or smutty genes, which may produce a similar coloration except the black of the lower leg will continue up past the knee and hock, onto the flanks or shoulders.      GOOD NEWS!  The silver dilute gene has been isolated, and a long write up on the genetic study says that ASD (the genetic eye problem) appears to not necessarily be silver-linked, but something unique to Mountain horses due to a common ancestor - and it has not been found in all other breeds as previously thought, with silver! UC Davis has now begun testing for the Silver Dilute gene. Starbucks Iced Cappuccino "Cappie" is a genuine chocolate silver dapple sabino Tennessee Walking Horse stallion w/ a flax/silver mane & tail. His color has been tested by The Univ of CA, Davis. He gets his silver dapple gene through the bloodlines of Diamond Jim Starr. He is extremely well bred, with Pride's Generator and Ebony Masterpiece bloodlines. Cappie is a gentleman, whether it's being handled & worked with or just out with his girls. He has such a laid back personality that it is hard to believe he is a stallion. Cappie is producing big, very well gaited, very pretty, well put together, excellent tempered foals. High Plains Walkers, Forsyth MT. Dblcrk Bad As I Wanna Bee, DOB May 2004. Registeries: RMHA, KMSHA. "Bee" is believed to be a homozygous silver dapple Rocky filly. We suspect her to be homozygous partly because an opthamologist says she is AA for ASD, and also because she is a very light chocolate dapple (when kept out of the sun, she actually looks very dark with a greyish cast) and her mane and tail are pure white, as opposed to interspersed with grey hairs. She was the color of hay when she was a youngster, instead of a grey color as is normal for a single gened dapple. She will be tested now that the silver dapple test is available. Logan Isle, Middleburg FL. Wilson's Smoky Jo, homozygous black, and a very rare (herterozygous) silver dapple Missouri Foxtrotter stallion. Consider Smoky Jo to put some glide in your ride and some color on your next horse! He is 15.1 hands high, with substantial bone, and a "let's see what's over the next hill" attitude. He has been stamping his foals with a ton of 'chrome' or white markings, perhaps indicating he carries a 'splash' or sabino gene. Lawrence & Kim Wenzinger, Silver Gaits Ranch Estacada, OR Dustys Royal Flush, aka "Chance," silver dapple buckskin Tennessee Walking Horse stallion. Heterozygous for 1. silver dapple 2. red/black 3. agouti 4. cream, and might carry the dun dilution. Bill Martin, Ph.D. & Sandy Martin Running Arrow Farm TB Accredited & Brucellosis Certified Herd Registered Longhorns & Gaited Horses Wellington, TX   A few links that discuss homozygosity in silver dapple & ASD in Mountain Horses: (Remember that some of the information in these articles is outdated, since equine geneticists now believe that the ASD gene is NOT necessarily present with all silver dapple dilute gene horses.) http://www.triple-s-ranch.com/about_color.htm http://ramseywm.tripod.com/sdl/ http://www.thedreamhorse.com/asd.htm   agouti  |  black  |  champagne  |  creme  |  curly  |  dun  |  grey  |  pearl roan  |  sabino  |  silver  |  spotted (LP gene)  |  tobiano  |  weird  |  email ©2006  Homozygous-Horses.com;  All rights reserved.