The horses pictured and discussed here were either registered as dun, or were recorded as having produced duns. The information provided here is for the purpose of providing the most accurate and correct information possible.

The differences and similarities between buckskin and dun have been a source of confusion for breeders, registries and historians for a very long time. Until recent times, many people thought dun was nothing more than a darker shade of buckskin. The two terms have been used interchangeably and believed to be basically the same 'color', depending upon breed, region, and even country. Thanks to color genetics research, we now know that they are separate, unrelated dilution genes. There is the cream dilute gene and the dun dilute gene. We also now have a very clear understanding of how each dilution gene works on the respective base coat colors, and even how they work when they are both present on the same horse.

One fact that is true of all the dilution genes is that they are dominant genes. This means that in order for a horse to have the gene, one of its parents must have also had it and passed it on to that offspring. They cannot skip generations. We also know that the dun dilute gene affects both black and red pigment, unlike the cream gene which does not dilute black pigment when in its heterozygous form (only one copy of the gene). Since the dun dilute gene dilutes both black and red pigment, it is always expressed regardless of the base coat color. It does not hide on black horses like the heterozygous form of the cream gene does.

We now know that some cream dilutes can have false dun (counter shading) markings that mimic true dun factor! These false dun markings still create much confusion for a lot of people. We won't go into the how-to of discerning false dun markings from true dun factor markings in great detail in this article, as that is an article in itself. But the unfortunate result of this confusion is that there are horses in the Morgan breed that have been misidentified as having a dun gene.

The majority of these horses are being credited with having a dun gene through their bloodlines to certain Cross Ranch Morgans. This article is meant to dispel these inaccuracies and set the records straight the best that we can. It is the purpose of this article to help all of us in our color education.

A few terms should be briefly defined for clarity:
Dunalino: a chestnut based horse with both the cream dilute and dun dilute genes.
Dunskin: a bay based horse with both the cream dilute and dun dilute genes.
Smoky Grulla: a black based horse with both the cream dilute and dun dilute genes.

Another important item to cover is that it has been noticed by those studying the colors that combine both a cream gene and a dun gene together on a chestnut or bay based horse, that the resulting color is paler than a straight dun dilute or a straight cream dilute horse normally would be. In all cases of a combination of two unrelated dilution genes, the coat color is paler than either dilution gene's color would be if not paired with another, unrelated dilution gene. This would include combinations of silver dapple and dun; silver dapple and cream; cream and champagne; champagne and dun; and other possible combinations. While these combinations of dilution genes on a horse do not have a true double dilute effect as we see in the double cream dilutes (cremello, perlino and smoky cream), there does certainly appear to be what I call a 'pseudo double dilute effect' to the coat color.

The coat of a dun/cream is also more of a flat color, lacking the true gold coloring of either palominos or buckskins. The presence of a cream gene with the dun gene does not inhibit the expression of true dun factor markings to any great degree when the cream gene is in its heterozygous form. In other words, the dun factor markings of a dun/cream dilute horse are almost always still be very clearly visible and defined. We have even seen a double cream dilute with a dun gene whose dun leg bars are still very visible. It is believed that dun markings that are quite pale are due to the horse having a very pale base coat color.

To prove that the suspected duns of the Cross Ranch were not actually duns, we should first start with a key Cross Ranch mare. We begin with this mare because most of the Cross Ranch horses' colors that we cover in this article all hinge upon this mare's true color.

There has been speculation that Yellow Girl was a dunalino, rather than a palomino as she was registered. As you'll see in the color plate photos, she was very golden. Dunalinos tend to have a flatter coat color and lack the true golden coloring of palominos.

While even dunalinos can vary in shade, from very pale to approx. as dark as Yellow Girl, their color will have taken on the flatter, more tan tone from the addition of their dun gene. A couple of darker shade dunalinos can be seen on the McQuay's Stables web site. By visiting each of the two dunalino stallion's pages, you should be able to see that their coloring along their bodies exhibits a rather typical peachy or tan tone. It is a somewhat subtle difference in color tone between dunalino and palomino, to be sure, and it can take time and examining a number of horses in the flesh, or many good quality photos to pick up on this difference.

More examples will be posted at a later time and as they become available.

The other photos of Yellow Girl show just enough of her back and rump that it does not appear that she had any sort of dorsal stripe. Since Yellow Girl is clearly a very golden color and lacks the presence of even a counter shading stripe, she was almost certainly not a dunalino, thus she could not have produced any dun or dun/cream foals unless she had been bred to a dun or dun/cream stallion. Yellow Girl was just as she was registered - palomino.

Now that we have established that Yellow Girl was not a dunalino, therefore did not have a dun gene and could not have produced any form of dun dilute offspring, we will move on to some of her offspring.

The most important fact here is that Dunn Lady has no dun parent, so she could not have been dun. We established above that Yellow Girl was indeed palomino, and it is widely known that Warhawk was black. The photo shows Dunn Lady to be a deep, golden buckskin. Duns are a flatter color, lacking the golden quality of the buckskin coat color. Even when the dun gene is present with a cream gene (dunskin), the coat lacks true gold coloring. Instead, the color is generally paler than either a dun or a buckskin would be, with a flatter, more yellow color.

Haager had no dun parent, so she could not have been dun. Haager was the dam of Chingadero. Although his sire, Ketchum, was registered as chestnut, we now know that he was actually a smoky black. Since Ketchum and Haager produced the double cream dilute, Chingadero, it is obvious that both parents had a cream gene. The only photo available of Haager is a black and white, shows her in winter coat, and it is very difficult to tell exactly what color she was. She was probably a dark, smutty buckskin or a brown based buckskin.

As with her above full sibling sisters, Dunce has no dun parent, so she could not have been dun. The photo shows her to be the same deep, golden buckskin color as Dunn Lady. Part of her back and the top of her rump are shown, and there appears to be no stripe at all. Not even a false dun (counter shading) stripe is present.

Although we don't have any pictures of Sara, being a full sibling to Dunn Lady, Haager, and Dunce, we really don't need pictures to know she couldn't have been dun. We know that she did not have a dun parent.

There were also some Cross Ranch horses said to have produced dun offspring.

Cinna produced 1 palomino, 1 buckskin and 1 registered as dun. So we know she definitely had the cream gene. Although Cinna had the one offspring recorded as dun (by a chestnut stallion), I doubt Cinna was a dunskin. Dunskins are generally quite pale in body shade, lacking gold tones; and this photo, though the quality is not great, shows her to be quite dark ... probably a very smutty buckskin, or a brown based buckskin. Her lack of paleness in her shade is a strong reason for ruling her out as a dunskin.

Other Cross Ranch Morgans of interest ...

Cinder's dam, Smokie, was by Glider and out of the unregistered mare, Buck, who was recorded as buckskin. Buck was the dam of Yellow Girl, the palomino at the beginning of this article. The photo of Cinder shows her to be 'brown' looking. On her muzzle there is some very golden-tan hair. Her coloring alone indicates smoky black or brown buckskin, rather than brown. Plus, she produced buckskins when bred to non-cream dilute stallions, so that proves she indeed had a cream gene.

This makes two full siblings from Warhawk and Smokie that we have photos of to show - neither of which indicate any dun gene coming from Smokie.

Chingadero did have a few offspring registered as dun. But everything in their pedigrees points to the cream dilution gene, and not the dun dilution gene. No hard evidence to support any claims that the dun gene came from any of these lines has yet surfaced. All of the dilute colored horses from these lines have been golden in coloring. Any dorsal stripes they've shown have fit the criteria for counter shading (false) dorsals, not the criteria for true dun dorsals. The lack of flat dun coat color and proper true dun factor markings would seem to prove that only the cream dilute gene exists in these lines.

All this author has seen to date has been a lot of false dun (counter shading) stripes, including false dorsals and 'pseudo' leg bars that come and go with seasonal coat changes and sun fading. True dun factor markings do not disappear with seasonal coat changes, and are not susceptible to sun fading, but false dun (counter shading) markings are prone to sun fading and their presence generally comes and goes with seasonal coat changes.

This spring (2004), the buckskin mare that I have on lease, shed out with a dark false dorsal (counter shading) stripe, and she even presented a couple of leg bars on her hind legs. Within about 2 weeks, her leg bars disappeared and her false dorsal began to lighten and fade. This mare, Saint Claire, is the same deep golden coloring of Dunn Lady and Dunce. She is a daughter of Black Panther (Chingadero x Zula Queen), who was a smoky black.

The Cross Ranch lines are certainly very well known for passing on their false dun markings, also known as counter shading. Many horses from these lines also tend to be very sooty/smutty, as well. But their lack of producing true dun dilute shades and true dun factor markings, and a lack of grulla and red dun offspring as well, are vital points in proving the absence of the dun gene in these lines.

The only photo we've found of CUTE #08903 (Ketchum x Smokie Brown), who was registered as black, shows that she was most likely a smoky black, or even a brown based buckskin. You can see that she seems to show some lighter, golden highlights on her muzzle and around her poll area, yet her body remains very dark. Her coloring is actually rather similar to Cinder. So once again, given the lack of dun dilution effects on her body, she doesn't seem to be the source of the dun gene, either.

It is still a bit of a mystery as to just exactly where the dun gene in the one proven line originated. We know that ROBBI SUE MISALERT #030050 (Robbi Sue Moralert x Pendleton Buck Missy) is a dunskin. She has proven this without a doubt through her own color and markings, as well as what she has produced. And we know for sure that her dam, PENDLETON BUCK MISSY #013876 (King Richard x Cute), was at least a grulla. And more than likely, she was a smoky grulla (dun and cream genes). Pinpointing the exact line that contributed the dun gene has been a source of much frustration because photos of the horses involved who would be in question have simply not become available to us yet ... if any even exist.

At this time, the ONLY proven line of dun in the Morgan breed comes directly from Pendleton Buck Missy. We hope one day to be able to at least come close to figuring out just which parent contributed the dun gene. For now, though, we can only use Pendleton Buck Missy as an origination point.

Author's note: All of the information regarding parentage and recorded colors in this article came from either the AMHA Registry cd-rom or the Calvin Hanson Project cd-rom.

The photos included in this article are courtesy of Julie Ploof, whom we own a great big thank you for her generosity! Julie had photocopied the photos and mailed that photocopy to Gerald Hess. The photos in this article were scanned from the photocopy of those old photographs. The quality of some of the photos is not great, but most of them are good enough quality for the purposes of this article. The photos and the basic information within this article were originally compiled and exhibited on The Lineback Morgan Stud's web site on the following web page: http://www.thelinebackmorganstud.com/CrossRanchFalseDuns.html.

It is with the permission and cooperation of Gerald Hess, owner of The Lineback Morgan Stud, that this information was reformatted for the purpose of this article. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are the copyright of Julie Ploof, and used here with her permission.