What is a dunalino?

At first glance, the stallion pictured here looks like a palomino. But click on the photo to view a larger version and you start to see more characteristics than you’d find on a palomino.

First, he has some dark coloration on his legs, especially around his knees and hocks, and darker shading on his withers. Palominos sometimes have darker shading, which is described as “sooty” and may be accompanied by lots of dapples, but it generally originates at the spine and goes down the sides of the horse in a uniform way. Sooty areas also tend to be larger than the shaded parts on the stallion pictured here.

When you take a look at the second picture of Major Hearts Desire, you can see that he has a distinct dorsal stripe. Palominos don’t have dorsal stripes, but duns do.

So what exactly is Major Hearts Desire’s color? He’s a “dunalino,” or a horse that carries the dun gene and the palomino gene on a basecoat of chestnut. His lovely golden color is the result of the cream modifier, palomino, on chestnut, and the dun gene gives him very faint leg barring (the darker coloring on his legs), a dorsal stripe, and shoulder bars (the shading on his withers).

Now…if Major Hearts Desire had the darker areas on his knees, hocks, and withers only with no dorsal stripe, you’d have to rule out dun. A distinct dorsal stripe is a dead giveaway for the dun gene.

Major Hearts Desire stands at Circle P Ranch in Washington.