Welsh D Derivative Reg No: PWS-2185
Dual registered with UPWBDA Ltd - Silver Registry of Australia Registration No: SS001
Colour: Classic Silver Dapple TAFFY
Squire is by the Multi Supreme winning Welsh D stallion Derwen Dakota (Imp) out of the wonderful Australian Pony Neva-Tia Ninniella. He has brilliant movement and an exceptionally calm, gentle and trainable temperament which would be an asset to any breeding program. He is a silver dapple taffy.
What is the 'Silver' gene?
The Silver gene is a diluting gene and is also referred to as "Silver Dapple" gene. This gene has been known for 25 years or more, but is only recently becoming better understood. In Australia the colour is called "Taffy", but the term has never caught on elsewhere. This dilution primarily affects black pigment, changing it to a chocolate/liver color, or sometimes to a pale buff/ gray color. It usually also produces a silver mane and tail which can range from a sunburned look to almost white. Dilute genes are dominant. The gene symbol is "Z". Only one Z gene is necessary to give the colour. With this particular gene, like the Cream gene, the Silver gene is pigment-specific. They are basically opposites -- while Cream dilutes only red pigment, Silver dilutes only black pigment. Thus, the Silver gene can be carried and "hidden" by a chestnut horse (since it has no black pigment to be diluted) just as the Cream gene can be carried and "hidden" by a black horse which has no red pigment to be diluted). In this way it can appear to skip generations, even though, like any dominant gene, one parent must have the gene in order for the foal to have it. This dilution accounts for the "chocolate palomino" colours like our stallion Trapalanda Downs Esquire. Our buckskin stallion Itsa Shamrock Golden Syrup carries the Cream dilution gene which produces Palomino's and Buckskins when applied to red pigmented horses and is carried hidden with a black horse. |
