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# Palomino
- URL: https://equinecolors.com/palomino/
- Published: 2025-11-12T09:10:40.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-10T09:58:55.000Z
- Description: Palomino is a horse coat color caused by one copy of the cream dilution acting on a chestnut base. The coat is golden with a creamy or white mane and tail.
- Author: Hannelore Roodhooft
- Tags: Colors, Dilutions, MATP, #Import 2026-08-12 09:42

## Appearance

| Foals | ![Palomino foal](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/11/palominofoal.png) | Usually born with a **light coat, mane and tail**. Palomino foals can sometimes appear very **similar to [chestnuts](https://equinecolors.com/chestnut/)**. The lighter mane and tail can take some time to grow out. These palominos  tend to have a more **peachy-toned** coat shade, but in some cases, only time or genetic testing can tell. |
| ----- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

| **Chestnut base** diluted to a yellow or gold colour. The **coat** shade may range from **pale yellow** to a **dark chocolate** color. **Mane and tail** are turned into a light **creamy** shade and can be **nearly white**. | ![Palomino horse](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/11/palomino-1.png) | Adults |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ |

### Chestnut variations

| Sootypalomino | ![Sooty palomino](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/sootypalomino.png) |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |

### Mimics

A light palomino could be confused with gold champagne or even [cremello](https://equinecolors.com/cremello/), while the darker shades could be mistaken for flaxen chestnuts or [silver bays](https://equinecolors.com/silver-bay/).

![CTA Image](https://equinecolors.com/content/images/2025/12/Equinecolors_Icon_MagnifyingGlass-3.png) 

Champagne horses can be recognised by their typical freckled, pink skinSilver bay horses can be identified by looking at their dark points (ears, lower legs).

## Genetics

Palomino is the result of a **chestnut 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_DNA1-10.png) 

****Palomino:**  
Chestnut (e/e) + CR/n

**Read more:**  
[Chestnut](https://equinecolors.com/chestnut/) | [Smoky black](https://equinecolors.com/smoky-black/) | [Buckskin](https://equinecolors.com/buckskin/) | [Cremello](https://equinecolors.com/cremello/) | [Smoky cream](https://equinecolors.com/smoky-cream/) | [Perlino](https://equinecolors.com/perlino/)

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

## 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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