Perlinos and Cremellos Increasing in Popularity
The following is quoted from the March 2005 SouthWest Horse Trader magazine.
View the breeding color chart below to see the color possibilities.
While Perlinos and Cremellos have been accepted across various horse associations as a coat color not genetics gone bad, the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) put their foot down when it came to accepting these coat colors into their registry.
With the removal of rule 227(i) from the AQHA handbook in 2003, breeders and owners of Double Dilutes who once were forced to register their horses as Paints, even though they were 100% Quarter Horses, can now relax and enjoy their breeding programs. Where once it seemed only a few existed in the Quarter Horse world, Perlinos and Cremellos are seen advertised in virtually every Equine magazine throughout the United States and for what they truly are, American Quarter Horses.
Four women, Natalie Nelson, Wendy Bockman, Robin Mitchell Forrest, and Milynda Milam, took on AQHA at the AQHA Convention in March of 2000 to try to get the rule changed. Their mission was to plea for the removal of Rule 227(j) at that time and allow the Double Dilutes into the association for registry. What they learned was that convincing the AQHA that accusations of health issues were false and simply wives tales was going to take a lot of time, hard work and many people for support.
In June 2000, Wendy Bockman established the Cremello and Perlino Educational Association (CPEA) and created the website, www.doubledilute.com. This gave the group an opportunity to educate the public about these horses and as the group continued to grow, so did the support to continue to fight AQHA. Eventually,over 300 members went to the website daily to discuss issues to overcome the registries objections as well as put together ideas to educate the public. The website also did a great job of providing information on color genetics and how they work.
At the 2001 Convention the Committee Chairman recommended that the phrase "commonly called albino" be removed from rule 227(j). However, it was the belief of the Committee that cremello and perlinos have health and eye problems, therefore the rest of the rule would remain intact. AQHA Rule 227(j) was then revised to AQHA rule 227(i) in 2002.
On Monday October 7, 2002, the AQHA Stud Book & Registration Committee had a specially scheduled meeting at the AQHA Headquarters in Amarillo. They met to discuss several issues including rule 227(i). The Committee voted to eliminate Rule 227(i)! The new chairman said they had reviewed the information CPEA had presented and had reviewed the follow-up research done by Gary Griffith. They discussed it and felt there were no longer any valid reasons to continue to exclude cremellos and perlinos from registration. The Committee's recommendation for removal of the rule was put on the agenda for the next convention. At the convention in March of 2003, it went to the Board of Directors and General Membership and was approved.
With two years of registrations in the books, the statistics are showing that there is approximately one Perlino born for every four Cremellos. According to the AQHA registration department, there were 898 Cremellos and 281 Perlinos registered in 2003, the first year they were eligible for registration, and there were 809 Cremellos and 218 Perlinos registered in 2004.
It took several years of hard work and education to change how the public and AQHA perceived Cremellos and Perlinos. The final reward for the hard work of those four women as well as a dedicated group of believers — AQHA papers on their Cremello and Perlino horses.
Forrest Has Success With Perlino Stallion
Robin Mitchell Forrest, owner of the 1995 Perlino stallion Invest In Rodeo, has been involved in this breeding program for 10 years. Robin is one of the original four women who flew to the AQHA Convention in March of 2000 in reference to try to get the rule changed.
"I have raised many Perlinos and Cremellos in the past few years and have proven they are no different than any other horse,"says Robin. "This has been the most exciting breeding program I have ever experienced. My stallion, Invest in Rodeo, has over 100 offspring. I have bred him to a variety or colors and breeds and I can tell you for a fact that he will sire Palominos and Buckskins every time when bred to Sorrels, Chestnuts, and Bays. That is the neat thing about this breeding program, there is a 100% guarantee that you are going to get one including brown eyes and dark skin just like any other Palomino or Buckskin."
"Invest In Rodeo is the proven double dilute sire to date. Siring multiple PHBA World Championships, Buckskin Congress winners, and U.S. Nationals Top Ten, he has proven that a Perlino or Cremello can produce Champions as well as any other Quarter Horse. I am so glad to have his AQHA papers so he can continue his legacy."
Breeding Double Dilutes
What would the result if you bred two double dilutes together such as Cremello to Cremello or Cremello to Perlino?
The resulting offspring would be another double dilute. Many people think you will get a lethal white but that is not true, unless they both carry the lethal white gene from Overo Paint bloodlines. Breeding a double dilute to a double dilute is no different than breeding a Sorrel to a Sorrel as far as health issues are concerned.
Can You Breed To Gray Horses?
The answer is yes you can. The only reason there is an exclusion in stallion ads when breeding to Grays is that the Sire owner cannot guarantee the resulting foal will not turn gray. When breeding a Gray to a Double Dilute, you will get Buckskin or Palomino, but because of the way the Gray gene works, 50% of those foals could turn gray. If the Gray parent is homozygous for Gray, then the offspring will definitely turn gray. The exclusion is to not hold the stallion owner responsible for something they have no control over.
The Cross Color Combinations
All horses have two locations in its genetic code where a certain type of color modification gene resides. These genes are known as 'crème genes'. Most horses like Sorrels, Bays, and Blacks have no crème gene. These are the basic colors.
Horses like Palominos, Buckskins, and Smokey Blacks have one crème gene. They are called single dilutes. The crème gene diluted the base color from red to yellow or gold. These genes make the horse's base color one or two shades lighter, depending on whether there are one or two of them present. When two crème genes are present you now have double dilutes. These horses would be Cremellos, Perlinos, and Smokey Crèmes.
Crossing Cremellos & Perlinos to Sorrels, Chestnuts or Bays yields a Buckskin (left) or Palomino (right).
Robin Mitchell Forrest
4202 Danek Road • Crosby, Texas 77532
Cell: (281) 932-4233 • Farm: (281) 839-1251 • Work: (281) 837-8454
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