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# Buckskin
- URL: https://equinecolors.com/buckskin/
- Published: 2025-11-12T11:10:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-10T09:59:51.000Z
- Description: Buckskin is a horse coat color caused by one copy of the cream dilution acting on a bay base. The coat is yellow/golden, while the points remain black.
- Author: Hannelore Roodhooft
- Tags: Colors, Dilutions, MATP, #Import 2026-08-12 09:42

## Appearance

| Foals | ![Buckskin foal](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/11/buckskinfoal.png) | Buckskin foals usually have a **golden coat** color, but the coat can also be very dark on [seal brown](https://equinecolors.com/bay/#:~:text=Bay%20shade%20variations) foals. Similar to bay, they usually have **greyish** or lighter [points](https://equinecolors.com/dictionary/#:~:text=Horse%20Terms-,Points,-The%20mane%2C%20tail) and [soft parts](https://equinecolors.com/dictionary/#:~:text=into%20their%20surroundings.-,Soft%20parts,-The%20soft%20parts) because of[foal camo](https://equinecolors.com/dictionary/#:~:text=a%20bay%20horse.-,Foal%20Camo,-Foals%20are%20often). The points can take a long time to darken fully. |
| ----- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

| The coat of [**bay-based**](https://equinecolors.com/bay/) horses is diluted to a yellow  or gold color. The **shade** can range from **creamy to**a **very dark** (in seal brown horses) color. Lightbuckskins are sometimes called "buttermilk". The**points** remain **black** in color and are not diluted.Buckskins can have [**frosting**](https://equinecolors.com/dictionary/#:~:text=into%20their%20surroundings.-,Frosting,-White%20or%20pale%3E) in their mane and tail. | ![Buckskin horse](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/11/buckskin-1.png) | Adults |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ |

### Bay shade variations

| Seal brownbuckskin | ![Silver seal brown](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/sealbuckskin-1.png) |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

| Sootybuckskin | ![Sooty buckskin](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2026/01/sootybuckskin.png) |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |

### Mimics

The shade of buckskin horses can look similar to that of bay horses diluted by [dun](https://equinecolors.com/baydun/). Very dark/ seal brown buckskins can be easily mistaken for a regular bay or [seal brown](https://equinecolors.com/bay/#:~:text=Bay%20shade%20variations) horse when the number of yellow hairs is only minimal.

In young horses, buckskin could be confused with [palomino](https://equinecolors.com/palomino/) if the points haven't turned dark yet.

![CTA Image](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/Equinecolors_Icon_MagnifyingGlass-4.png) 

****Dun** also causes ****primitive markings**, which aren't present on buckskins.  
Bay ****dun** horses also tend to have a more ****peachy** tone. Adult buckskin horses have a more yellow tone with dark points.

## Genetics

Buckskin is the result of a **bay base** diluted by **one copy of cream**. The cream (CR) dilution is an allele of the [**MATP**](https://equinecolors.com/matp-gene/) gene.

![CTA Image](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/Equinecolors_Icon_DNA1-11.png) 

****Buckskin:**  
Bay (E/\_ A/\_) + CR/n

**Read more:**  
[Bay](https://equinecolors.com/bay/) | [Palomino](https://equinecolors.com/palomino/) | [Smoky black](https://equinecolors.com/smoky-black/) | [Cremello](https://equinecolors.com/cremello/) | [Smoky cream](https://equinecolors.com/smoky-cream/) | [Perlino](https://equinecolors.com/perlino/)

[Back to Cream](https://equinecolors.com/dilutions/)

## Articles

1. Locke, M. M., Ruth, L. S., Millon, L .V., Penedo, M. C. T., Murray, J. D., & Bowling, A. T.; ***The cream dilution gene, responsible for the palomino and buckskin coat colours, maps to horse chromosome 21***. Animal Genetics (2001); doi: [10.1046/j.1365-2052.2001.00806.x](https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2052.2001.00806.x?ref=equinecolors.com)
2. Mariat, D., Taourit, S., & Guérin, G.; ***A mutation in the MATP gene causes the cream coat colour in the horse.*** Genetics Selection Evolution (2003); doi: [10.1051/gse:2002039](https://doi.org/10.1051/gse:2002039?ref=equinecolors.com)

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