Welcome to the Genetics Office!

If you've ever gotten confused about genes or genetics, you've come to the right place! Here you can finally understand just what genetics are!

The Genetics Office is run by LvSoulFriend. If you have any questions or are confused, please contact her on PonyIsland!

What are Genetics

The scientific definition of genetics is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms. What that means in simple terms is the science of how genes are passed onto offspring and how genes change over time.

Genes are like a code, with varied alphabet that lets you know just what your Hros' colors, patterns, and modifiers are, and what hidden colors, patterns and modifiers your Hros might carry. It also lets you know what genes your Hros will pass onto his offspring. All Hrosen have two copies of each gene, called gene pairs.

The Basics

Don't understand genetics at all? Start here!

Genetics is all about these little things called genes. Genes are shown by a single letter, grouped in sets of two, called gene pairs. Each gene pair has one dominant gene, shown by a capital letter, and one recessive gene, shown by a lowercase letter. Dominant genes always, always, always hide recessive genes if they are present. If no dominant genes are present, then the recessive genes can show. Gene pairs code what colors, patterns, and modifiers your Hros visibly shows, and if he has any hidden colors, patterns, and modifiers that might show up in his offspring.



There are three different types of gene pairs, the color pairs, the pattern pairs, and the modifier pairs.


There are two basic color pairs. The color pairs are the A gene pair (A,a), and the E gene pair (E,e). Whether the letter is capitalized or not is important.

If the Hros has the color pairs AAEE, then the Hros will be visible bay, like #004, "Wachusett". If the Hros is AaEE, AaEe, or AAEe, the Hros will still be bay, like "Wachusett" above. Bay is characterized by having at least one uppercase in the A gene pair and at least one uppercase in the E gene pair.

If the Hros has the color pair ee, then the Hros will be visible chestnut, like #003, "Louie". It does not matter whether the A gene pair is capitalized or not. That gene pair is only visible when there is a capital E present in the E gene pair. Chestnut is characterized by having two lowercases in the E gene pair.

If the Hros has the color pairs aaEE, then the Hros will be visible black, like #002, "Jippy". If the Hros is aaEe, the Hros will still be black, like "Jippy" above. Black is characterized by having two lowercases in the A gene pair and at least one uppercase in the E gene pair.



There are seven pattern pairs. The pattern pairs are the Lp gene pair (Lp,lp), the O gene pair (O,o), the R gene pair (R,r), the Rb gene pair (Rb,rb), the S gene pair (S,s), the Spl gene pair (Spl,spl), and the T gene pair (T,t). Again, whether the letter is capitalized or not is important.

If the Hros has the pattern pair LpLp, or Lplp, then the Hros will be visible appaloosa, like #007, "Sally". Appaloosas can range from a solid white blanket, to a blanket with spots, to having white spots on them, to being all white with colored spots, to being solid with Appaloosa characteristics. Appaloosa characteristics are having mottled skin, striped hooves, and white showing in their eyes all the time. The color gene pairs don't matter. Appaloosa is characterized by having at least one uppercase in the Lp gene pair.

If the Hros has the pattern pair Oo, then the Hros will be visible overo, like #029, "Rosie". Overos can range from a few spots of white, to having color only from the withers to the base of the tail, with the rest of the Hros being pure white. The color gene pairs don't matter. Overo is characterized by having only one uppercase in the O gene pair. A Hros with two uppercases in the O gene pair will not live, it is known as a lethal white foal, and will die.

If the Hros has the pattern pair RR, or Rr then the Hros will be visible roan, like #005, "GT". Roans can range from a dark roan to a light roan, from looking almost solid colored to looking white. Roans have solid points (head, lower legs, mane, tail, and ears) and a body with mixed hairs (colored and white mixed together). The color gene pairs don't matter. Roan is characterized by having at least one uppercase in the R gene pair.

If the Hros has the pattern pair RbRb, or Rbrb, then the Hros will be visible rabicano, like #053, "Blue" (she also has tobiano, sabino, and roan). Rabicanos can range from just a few white hairs on the flank, to a white barrel with colored vertical striping. Most rabicanos also have "skunk tails", white stripes of hair at the top of the tail. The color gene pairs don't matter. Rabicano is characterized by having at least one uppercase in the Rb gene pair.

If the Hros has the pattern pair SS, or Ss, then the Hros will be visible sabino, like #079, "Oxford". Sabinos have at least two of the following characteristics: wide face white, odd white spots on the face, white on the chin or nose, white on the legs that comes to a point, white on the jaw or throat, roaning with NO roan parent, lacey or feathery body spots, body or belly spots, lightning marks, partial leg white, odd white patches, and an all white foal from colored parents. The color gene pairs don't matter. Sabino is characterized by having at least one uppercase in the S gene pair.

If the Hros has the pattern pair SplSpl, or Splspl, then the Hros will be visible splashed white, like #071, "Bean". Splashed whites look like the Hros has run through a vat of white paint, with minimals having a bottom heavy blaze and leg white, and maximums being almost all white. The white starts on the underside of the belly and comes up onto the sides. The color gene pairs don't matter. Splashed white is characterized by having at least one uppercase in the Spl gene pair.

If the Hros has the pattern pair TT, or Tt, then the Hros will be visible tobiano, like #014, "Magick". Tobianos are characterized by having white crossing the topline, from the withers to the base of the tail. The have normal face markings, star, snip, stripe, blaze, with no extreme face white (bald faces). They almost always have white legs. The white looks like it was poured onto the Hros from the top. The color gene pairs don't matter. Rabicano is characterized by having at least one uppercase in the Rb gene pair.



There are six modifier pairs. The modifier pairs are the C gene pair (C,c), the Ch gene pair (Ch,ch), the D gene pair (D,d), the F gene pair (F,f), the G gene pair (G,g), and the Z gene pair (Z,z). Once again, whether the letter is capitalized or not is important.

If the Hros has the modifier pair C, three different things can happen. The Hros will have either the gene pair CC, which results in a normal colored Hros, the gene pair Cc, which results in either a buckskin, palomino, or smokey black Hros, or the gene pair cc, which results in either a perlino, cremello, or a smokey cream Hros. Normal colored Hros will look like the bay, chestnut and black Hrosen above. Buckskin Hros look like #019, "Require". Palomino Hros look like #006, "Tequila". Smokey black Hros look exactly like a normal black Hros. The only way to tell if your black Hros has the gene pair Cc is through either breeding or genetic testing. Perlino Hros look like #072, "Blizzard". Cremello Hros look like #064, "Devil". Smokey cream Hros look like #065, "Snowy". Hrosen with one cream gene will always have any red on their body diluted to a golden cream color. Any black on them will remain black. That's why smokey black and black Hrosen look alike. Hrosen with two cream genes will have any red on their body diluted to an almost white color, and any black on their body diluted to a very pale brown or pale red.

If the Hros has the modifier pair Ch, two different things can happen. The Hros will have either the gene pair ChCh or the gene pair Chch, which results in either a amber champagne, gold champagne, or classic champagne, or the gene pair chch, which results in a normal looking Hros. Normal colored Hros will look like the bay, chestnut and black Hrosen above. Amber champagne Hros look like #074, "Thumbelina". Gold champagne Hros look like #075, "Darian". Classic champagne Hros look like #068, "Dex". Champagne Hrosen sometimes have a metallic sheen to them, and any black is diluted to a dark brown. Any red on them is diluted to a golden color. They also have hazel or green eyes, and pink skin mottled with brown freckles. This is not appaloosa skin mottling, or palomino skin, it's completely different.

If the Hros has the modifier pair D, two different things can happen. The Hros will have either the gene pair DD or the gene pair Dd, which results in either a bay dun, chestnut dun, or black dun, or the gene pair dd, which results in a normal looking Hros. Normal colored Hros will look like the bay, chestnut and black Hrosen above. Bay dun (also known as zebra dun) Hros look like #028, "Pride". Chestnut dun (also known as red dun) Hros look like #076, "Brenna". Black dun (also known as grulla or grullo) Hros look like #067, "Na'ay". Dun Hrosen have a dorsal stripe (dark stripe down the backbone), zebra markings (striping around their knees and hocks), mane and tail frosting (lighter hair in the mane and tail), and barred or tipped ears (darker ears with lighter tips). Sometimes the following characteristics will appear as well: wither barring (darker shading going from one shoulder to the other over the wither), and cobwebbing (darker mask or lines on the face).

If the Hros has the modifier pair F, two different things can happen. The Hros will have either the gene pair FF or the gene pair Ff, which results in a normal looking Hros, or the gene pair ff, which results in a flaxen chestnut. Normal colored Hrosen will look like the bay, chestnut and black Hrosen above. Flaxen chestnut Hrosen look like #021, "Jack". Bay or black Hrosen with the flaxen genes will look like regular bay and black Hrosen. Flaxen chestnut Hrosen have a chestnut body, with a lighter chestnut mane and tail.

If the Hros has the modifier pair G, two different things can happen. The Hros will have either the gene pair GG or the gene pair Gg, which results in a grey Hros, or the gene pair gg, which results in a normal looking Hros. Normal colored Hrosen will look like the bay, chestnut and black Hrosen above. Grey Hrosen look like #009, "Baha". Grey Hrosen can be any shade of grey, with or without dapples, and with or without fleabits. "Baha" above has faint dapples on his hips, #022, "Skittles" is fleabitten, and #030, "Sterling" has obvious dapples. Some Hrosen who are grey look as though they have a pink or reddish cast to them, like #040, "Sandman". He is what we call a rose grey.

If the Hros has the modifier pair Z, two different things can happen. The Hros will have either the gene pair ZZ or the gene pair Zz, which results in either a silver black or a silver bay, or the gene pair zz, which results in a normal looking chestnut Hros. Normal colored chestnut Hrosen will look like the chestnut Hrosen above. Silver black Hrosen look like #069, "Daffy". Silver bay Hrosen look like #073, "Silver". Silver Hrosen will have any black on their body diluted to a flat brown color, while the manes and tails are diluted to a white color. Any red on them is left alone, because the Z gene pair doesn't affect the red color.

Hros Genetic List

This is a listing of all the known Hrosen genes. They are not made up, they are based on real horse genes. As horse genes are discovered, new Hrosen genes will be discovered too.

Gene Letter	Gene Name	Dominance	Gene Description
A	Agouti (Bay)	Dominant.	Makes Hros bay when E is present.
a	Agouti (Black)	Recessive.	Makes Hros black when E is present.
E	Extension (Bay or Black)	Dominant.	Makes Hros either bay with A, or black with a.
e	Extension (Chestnut)	Recessive.	Makes Hros chestnut, doesn't matter if agouti is A or a.
C	Cream (Bay, Black, or Chestnut)	Dominant.	Doesn't change Hros' base color.
c	Cream (Buckskin, Smokey Black, or Palomino; Perlino, Smokey Cream, or Cremello)	Recessive.	When one copy of c is present, Hros is partially diluted, bay to buskskin, black to smokey black, and chestnut to palomino. When two copies of c are present, Hros is double diluted, from bay to perlino, black to smokey cream, and chestnut to cremello.
Ch	Champagne (Amber, Classic, or Gold)	Dominant.	Dilutes Hros' color from bay to amber chmapagne, black to classic champagne, or chestnut to gold champagne.
ch	Champagne (Bay, Black, or Chestnut)	Recessive.	Does not dilute the Hros' color.
Lp	Appaloosa Complex (Blanket, Snowcap, Leopard, Snowflake, Varnish Roan)	Dominant.	Creates aa appaloosa pattern over the Hros' base color. Can be any one of the patterns listed.
lp	Appaloosa Complex (Non patterned)	Recessive.	Doesn't create an appaloosa pattern over the Hros' base color.
O	Frame Overo	Dominant.	Creates a white pattern over the Hros' base color. White does not cross over the back of the Hros from withers to base of tail. Upper legs are usually white. Abundant white of the face is common. Hros almost always have at least one blue eye. Hros with two O genes are rare. Most die shortly after birth.
o	Frame Overo (Non patterned)	Recessive.	Doesn't create an overo pattern over the Hros' base color.
R	Roan (Bay, Black/Blue, or Chestnut/Red)	Dominant.	Hros' body hair will be mixed with white evenly. Points of Hros (head, lower legs, mane, and tail) will be solid colored.
r	Roan (Non patterned)	Recessive.	Doesn't create a roan pattern over the Hros' base color.
Rb	Rabicano	Dominant.	Creates a roan-like effect on the flanks of the Hros, sometimes includes the barrel of the Hros as well. Tail often has white "raccoon barring" at the base as well.
rb	Rabicano (Non patterned)	Recessive.	Doesn't create a rabicano pattern over the Hros' base color.
S	Sabino	Dominant.	Creates a white pattern over the Hros' base color. White usually doesn't cross over the back of the Hros. White is more feathery and jagged than Overo. Upper legs usually have some white on them. Hros do not usually have blue eyes.
s	Sabino (Non patterned)	Recessive.	Doesn't create a sabino pattern over the Hros' base color.
Spl	Splashed White	Dominant.	Creates a white pattern over the Hros' base color. Hros looks like it has run through a large vat of white paint. Color is usually present on the top part of the Hros.
spl	Splashed White (Non patterned)	Recessive.	Doesn't create a splashed white pattern over the Hros' base color.
T	Tobiano	Dominant.	Creates a white pattern over the Hros' base color. White looks like it has been poured on from above the Hros. Color is usually found in patches on the flanks, head, neck, and lower tail of the Hros. Legs have high white on them, usually blending into the white on the body. Hrosen that are homozygous for Tobiano usually have small spots of color in their white patches, called tracking, paw prints, or paw marks, however, it is not a guarentee. Only testing can determn if a Hros is a homozygous tobiano or not.
t	Tobiano (Non patterned)	Recessive.	Doesn't create a tobiano pattern over the Hros' base color.
D	Dun (Bay/Zebra Dun, Black/Grulla Dun, Chestnut/Red Dun)	Dominant.	Dilutes Hros' body color from bay or chestnut to tan, and black to mouse-grey. Points are not diluted. Dorsal stripe down the spine is also not diluted, as are zebra striping on the legs. Wither barring is sometimes apparent. Ear barring, cobwebbing (stripes on the forehead), and ear tips are also apparent. Barring and cobwebbing are not diluted, ear tips are white.
d	Dun (Non diluted)	Recessive.	Does not dilute the Hros' color.
F	Flaxen (Non diluted)	Dominant.	Doesn't dilute the Hros' mane and tail color.
f	Flaxen (Chestnut)	Recessive.	Dilutes chestnut manes and tails to light tan or white. Doesn't affect black or bay manes and tails.
G	Grey	Dominant.	Lightens the Hros' color over time, from the base color to white. Hrosen will go through stages where they look like they're roaning or have dapples or fleabits.
g	Grey (Non greying)	Recessive.	Doesn't lighten the Hros' base color.
P	Pangare	Dominant.	Lightens the bay Hros' color on the flanks, armpits, upper inner legs, belly, neck, and parts of the head. Only visible on bay Hrosen. Doesn't affect chestnut or black Hrosen.
p	Pangare (Non diluted)	Recessive.	Doesn't lighten the bay Hros' flanks, armpits, upper inner legs, belly, neck, and parts of the head.
Z	Silver (Black Silver or Bay Silver)	Dominant.	Dilutes the black body hair of the Hros to a flat brown. Dilutes black manes and tails to white or silver. Chestnut and red body colors are not affected. Dapples may or may not be present.
z	Silver (Non silvering)	Recessive.	Doesn't affect the black color of a Hros' base color.

Breeding & Genetics

So know that we know what gene pairs will do what to our Hrosen, let's take a closer look at what happens when two Hrosen breed.

When two Hrosen breed, each of them will pass on one gene from each gene pair to the foal, so that the foal ends up with complete gene pairs. For example, let's take a closer look at the gene pairs for a black Hros. We'll use the Hros "Jetsetter's Time to Fly" (aka "Blue") #053 for the mother, and "In a Jippy" (aka "Jippy") #002 for the father. Both of these Hrosen are visible black, #053 also has patterns and modifiers on top of her black color. We'll get back to those pattern and modifiers later.

"Blue" has the black gene pairs aaEe. This means that she can, if paired with the right stallion, produce a chestnut foal. Half of her foals will get the E gene, half of the will ge the e gene. She can only pass on the a gene, so unless the stallion is bay, and only sires bay foals, "Blue" can never produce a bay foal. She can only produce a black or chestnut foal.

"Jippy" has the black gene pairs aaEE. This means that he can only pass on an a gene and an E gene to his foals. All of his foals will get one a gene and one E gene. So he will only sire blacks or bays, depending on the mares that produce his foals.

Together, "Blue" and "Jippy" can only have black foals. All of their foals will have two aa genes, and one E gene. What we don't know, is what the second E gene will look like. Will it be an E, or an e? Let's see what the options are, shall we?

We're going to take a brief moment to review Punnett Squares. Punnett Squares are used to determine what the outcome of a breeding could possibly be. They look like this:



The dark green is where the mother's and father's names will go. The light green is the genes from a single pair that they can pass on. The yellow is what the foal's gene pair could possibly look like.

Here's what "Blue"'s and "Jippy"'s Punnett Square for the E gene pair looks like:



Their foals will either by homozygous for black, EE, or heterozygous for black, Ee. Homozygous is when they have two of the same letters, either dominant or recessive. Heterozygous is when they have one dominant gene and one recessive gene. Either way, any foals from "Blue" and "Jippy" will be black, like their parents.

Right now, the genes that any foal from them will have are one of these two possibilities:
-aaEE - homozygous black
-aaEe - heterozygous black

Let's take a look at the pattern genes for "Blue" and "Jippy" now. "Blue" has the gene pairs: Rr~Rbrb~Ss~Tt. She's heterozygous for roan, rabicano, sabino, and tobiano. So half of her foals have the chance of being one of more of those four patterns. "Jippy", on the other hand, has the following gene pairs: rr~rbrb~ss~tt. He doesn't have any pattern genes! So if their foals get a pattern at all, it's from their mom, and they will be heterozygous like her. Here's what the Punnett Squares for their pattern genes look like:

Roan		Rabicano
Sabino		Tobiano

So now the genetic possibilities for the foals are:

-aaEERrRbrbSsTt - blue roan rabicano sabino tobiano -aaEERrRbrbSstt - blue roan rabicano sabino -aaEERrRbrbssTt - blue roan rabicano tobiano -aaEERrRbrbsstt - blue roan rabicano -aaEERrrbrbSsTt - blue roan sabino tobiano -aaEERrrbrbSstt - blue roan sabino -aaEERrrbrbssTt - blue roan tobiano -aaEERrrbrbsstt - blue roan

-aaEErrRbrb~SsTt - black rabicano sabino tobiano -aaEErrRbrbSstt - black rabicano sabino -aaEErrRbrbssTt - black rabicano tobiano -aaEErrRbrbsstt - black rabicano -aaEErrrbrbSsTt - black sabino tobiano -aaEErrrbrbSstt - black sabino -aaEErrrbrbssTt - black tobiano -aaEErrrbrbsstt - black

-aaEeRrRbrbSsTt - blue roan rabicano sabino tobiano -aaEeRrRbrbSstt - blue roan rabicano sabino -aaEeRrRbrbssTt - blue roan rabicano tobiano -aaEeRrRbrbsstt - blue roan rabicano -aaEeRrrbrbSsTt - blue roan sabino tobiano -aaEeRrrbrbSstt - blue roan sabino -aaEeRrrbrbssTt - blue roan tobiano -aaEeRrrbrbsstt - blue roan

-aaEerrRbrbSsTt - black rabicano sabino tobiano -aaEerrRbrbSstt - black rabicano sabino -aaEerrRbrbssTt - black rabicano tobiano -aaEerrRbrbsstt - black rabicano -aaEerrrbrbSsTt - black sabino tobiano -aaEerrrbrbSstt - black sabino -aaEerrrbrbssTt - black tobiano -aaEerrrbrbsstt - black

So that's 32 different genetic combinations that "Blue" and "Jippy" could produce. Luckily, there's only 16 different ways that those combinations can be expressed. And I say luckily, because if "Jippy" or "Blue" had a hidden cream gene, then the combinations would have be doubled or quadrupled.

Hros Genetics

This is a listing of all the Hrosen and their color genetics. As their owners request the genetic test done on their Hrosen, the results will be listed below. Only owners are able to get this test done, and only on their own Hrosen.

The fee for this testing is 10,000 PG for each Hros, and should be sent to LvSoulFriend, along with a PM with the title "Genetic Testing". In the body of the PM, list the number of the Hros being tested, the owner name, and the stable name. Include this in the PM for each Hros being tested. You don't need to send multiple PMs, just one works. Make sure to send the fee for each of the Hrosen being tested!

#	Barn Name	Owner	Breed	Gender	Color	Genetics
001	Susie	Zhuria	Standardbred/Percheron/Appaloosa	filly	Black	aaEE
002	Jippy	Zhuria	Thoroughbred	stallion	Black	aaEE
003
004	Wachusett	LvSoulFriend	Morgan	stallion	Pangare Bay	AAEEPP
005	GT	LvSoulFriend	Draft mix	stallion	Blue Roan Sabino	aaEERRSbSb
006	Tequila	LvSoulFriend	Miniature Horse	gelding	Palomino	AaeeCc
007	Sally	LvSoulFriend	Colorado Ranger	mare	Bay Appaloosa	AAEeLpLp
008
009
010
011
012
013
014
015
016
017
018	Manny	LvSoulFriend	Paint	stallion	Chestnut Tobiano	aaeeTt
019
020
021	Jack	Karasu	Belgian Draft	stallion	Flaxen Chestnut	aaeeff
022
023
024
025
026
027
028	Pride	LvSoulFriend	Highland	stallion	Bay Dun	AAEeDd
029
030
031	Tens	LvSoulFriend	Quarter Horse	gelding	Palomino	AaeeCc
032	Star	LvSoulFriend	Paint	mare	Chestnut Tobiano	AaeeTt
033
034
035
036
037
038
039
040
041
042
043	Pilgrim	LvSoulFriend	Morab/Quarter Pony	gelding	Bay Roan	AaEeRR
044
045
046
047
048
049
050	Nova	Zhuria	Fjord	gelding	Bay Dun
051
052
053	Blue	LvSoulFriend	Pintabian	mare	Blue Roan Rabicano Sabino Tobiano	aaEeRrRbrbSsTt
054
055
056
057
058
059	Rory	Karasu	Iirsh Draft x Thoroughbred	gelding	Chestnut Roan	AaeeRR
060
061	Jaqk	Zhuria	Clydesdale	stallion	Bay Minimum Sabino	AAEESbSb
062
063
064
065	Snowy	LvSoulFriend	Paint	stallion	Smokey Cream Minimum Tobiano	aaEeccTt
066	Mona	LvSoulFriend	Fjord	mare	Uls Dun (Smokey Cream Dun)	aaEeccDD
067
068
069	Daffy	Zhuria	Rocky Mountain Pony	mare	Black Silver	aaEeCcZZ
070
071
072
073
074	Thumbelina	LvSoulFriend	Tennessee Walking Horse	mare	Amber Champagne	AAEEChCh
075
076
077
078
079	Oxford	Zhuria	Paint	stallion	Chestnut Sabino	AaeeSbSb
080	Penny	Zhuria	Paint	mare	Chestnut Tobiano	AaeeTT
081
082	Sierra	Rhaevin	Arabian	mare	Rose Grey (chestnut)	aaeeGg
083
084
085
086
087
088
089
090
091
092
093
094
095
096
097
098
099
100