A Study In Dilution: The Pangare Gene (aka Mealy)

[BlackOak2]

A Study In Dilution
The Pangare Gene
aka Mealy

Alright, so I finally got this one done. A bit of pc issues, and not finding just the genes I'm looking for, it made for quite a long study, from the time I started, to the time now, that I've decided to end it.

As a pre-note, I wanted to also include pseudo-pink with just pangare, but, I was unable to hunt down just which AC breed carried it. It may actually be a rare form that takes both the gene itself, as well as building it up, before it'll even show.

So, now I'll get right to it.

Pangare is a dilution gene. That's right! Just like cream, pearl and champagne. But here, on HWO, we don't generally group pangare in with cream, pearl and champagne. So, perhaps, it gets forgotten a bit, that it's a dilution. For a quick review, a dilution gene takes the original coat color and bleaches or lightens it. Sometimes it's quite subtle, sometimes it's quite aggressive. Pangare, however, only works on colored hair, which means a horse with black hair or a black horse will not show pangare. Black horses hide pangare; they become carriers. And black hair on bays and browns, simply do not change hue, the pangare dilution simple stops short at the black edges.

From my work with pangare, I have noticed an interesting number of things. First, it's a buildable type of gene. What this means, is that you can force it to 'become more'. In pangare's case, this 'becoming more' is simply by becoming stronger. So I've included both weak versions of pangare (nearly cryptic in some cases) and strong versions, so that you can see the buildable style.
Second, it appears there are at least two different versions of pangare. I've mentioned them below and have explained a bit more about what I've found out.
Third, that these different versions don't really appear to be dependent on each either and also don't appear to be recessive to each other. I could not figure out which one overlayed the other and I couldn't figure out how each was chosen. What I could find is that if the parents showed one of each (one with the one type and the other with the other type), they would throw foals of either, plus, a type found in the pedigree of one or the other, could again make an appearance in a foal later on.
Fourth, an interesting and clearly helpful note, is that the foal's pangare is the same type as what they would have as an adult... should they carry pangare. What this little tidbit also explains, is that the type of pangare a horse has, may be written into the foal form and 'turned off' if the horse doesn't actually have pangare itself, as an adult. I was unable to use this information to my advantage though.
And finally, I was able to partially find some of the pangare genes that some of the AC breeds do carry. They are as follows.

1. Belgians contain both styles and generally appear to have mostly strong versions. They do not appear to have many or any weak versions. So, no cryptics.
2. Arabians appear to have weak versions and may hide some cryptics. Although I did not come across any foals through breeding, with cryptic versions, it wouldn't take long to produce these from this cross.
3. Caspains straight from the AC can have cryptic versions, although it appears rare and also can be found with very weak versions, also straight from the AC and it's also rare.
4. Turkmenes have weak versions and a version that doesn't appear to be cryptic but has no expression at all. So, perhaps there is a pangare switch itself. I did not work further with this to pin it down, but did work enough to see there appeared to be something else at work. Almost all foals required a build-upon breeding schedule to show much of anything.

Types & Examples

There are at least two types of pangare. Why do I not suggest three right off the go? Because as I tried to locate the pseudo-pink variety of pangare only, I began to suspect if all of our pseudo-pinks might in fact be dun and pangare horses. After many, many generations and suspect AC horses added in to the search and carefully breeding out unwanted genes (cream, dun, etc.), I was still not seeing a pseudo- pop up. It may still exist, but trying to come across it from the AC end, instead of breeding back from an already confirmed pseudo-pink, my luck was just not with me. Without genetic testing, we may not be able to confirm if there is in fact, a pseudo-pink of just pangare.

So, as I said before, black doesn't show any pangare, not in the foal stage and not in the adult stage.

Newborn


Yearling



Chestnut is usually quite easy to see. Take notice of the foal picture and the yearling picture, how they show similar pangare types.

Newborn


Yearling



Bay is fairly obvious as well, whether you have wild bay or regular bay (only regular bay is sampled, wild bay samples can be seen below).

Newborn


Yearling


Also, take notice of how pangare butts up against the black color on the legs.

Front Legs


Back Legs

Pangare can reach all the way down to the hooves, so only affects non-black hairs on the bay horse's legs, thus resulting in an unusual graying-effect. Part of this graying-effect is likely also created by the 'plume' that affects my herd.


Offered as a second example, a tall-black-stockinged bay

Front Legs


Back Legs



Brown is a little of a different problem. Unlike chestnut and bay, brown has a lot more body-black hair. Thus pangare has a lot less other-colored hair that it can affect. So identifying a pangare brown from a non-pangare brown can be a little more tricky. But if you remember your pangare coloring areas, it becomes a bit easier.

This first example is a horse that had NO pangare.

I used a brightly colored brown, for easier recognition, below I have examples of both dark browns (almost or are pseudo-blacks) and bright browns for references.

And here is a brown WITH pangare.


And because I offered it for the others and for reference, here is the newborn image of the brown WITH pangare.




Some of these horses, aside from the cryptics, can themselves be difficult to identify for pangare. But if one remembers to look in the pangare areas, an eye can be trained to pick up on the subtle differences.
Take notice of the areas that pangare affects. elbow area, stomach line, flank area, lower legs and nose (stomach area is highlighted among multiple images). Please take note that these images are newborn images
Elbow Area & Stomach Line



On horses of other-than-brown colors, this stomach line extends much further, because the black hair is nonexistent.




A closeup of the Flank Area

Also take note of the pangare coloration on the rear of the leg.


And, because it's important, I need to offer a NO pangare brown with a closeup of the same Flank Area.

There are times that on browns, this flank area is the ONLY spot that will reveal pangare.


Lower Legs

Wild bay example. Chestnut will extend right to their hooves. Bay will always end when it encounters the black stockings and brown don't have pangare on their legs at all, because their legs are entirely black.


And finally, the Face



And also on a Bay.

Both the nose and around the eye area will color with pangare. The stronger pangare the horse has, the more of the face that expresses it, with a tear-line or a lower facial flushing, or both. Depending on the type, the face can color in two different ways.


Tear-line streak in a stronger expression.



Not too much really differentiates the two types that I found, just where the edge exists. But that is enough and because it's two very different outcomes. I've coined these two types the 'Hard Line' and the 'Full Body.' Had I found the pseudo-pink variety, I would've called them just that: 'Pseudo-Pink'.

The Hard Line always ends very low. Strong, weak, somewhere in-between, the Hard Line will always show the same ending.



On the reverse side, the Full Body flows up the horse and doesn't appear to have an exact ending, but does taper out somewhere on the upper side of the barrels.




So, without any further ado, I give you your horse examples of the basic colors (minus, of course, black) in both weak and strong expressions, with some flaxen's tossed in for good measure.


Hard Line

Chestnut
Gentle - near cryptic


View the flank area that has a slight flush of color.


The face, however, appears solid.


Strong




Bay
Gentle


Strong




Wild Bay
Gentle


Strong




Brown
Dark-phase used. I was unable to acquire a light-phase brown, light enough with a hard edge that was visible.
Gentle


Strong





Full Body

Chestnut
Gentle - With Flaxen


Gentle - Without Flaxen


Strong - With Flaxen


Strong - Without Flaxen



Bay
Gentle - two different black-stocking lengths



Strong



Wild Bay
Gentle


Strong



Brown
Since the brown in it's natural dark-phase, cannot be differentiated between full body & hard line, I have left off the dark-brown expressions of it.
Gentle


Strong