A Long Standing Tradition 

Cymro Llwyd.   Cardi Llwyd, Caradog Llwyd, Llanarth Braint.   
Coed Coch Madog, Lyn Cwmcoed. 
All instantly recognisable names in our world, whose impact on the sections can hardly be underestimated. So what do they all have in common? They are all “single dilutes”, and every cob and pony of cob type with a single or double dilute on this page has inherited its special colour from one of the three founders Cymro Llwyd, Cardi Llwyd, and Coed Coch Madog  (I’m thinking of his birth colour as oppose to what he “greyed out” to).  I want to leave grey for another day...

Cymro Llwyd, 1850 is the furthest back I have been able to trace "a dilute", with Isfryn Bess, 1918 a direct descendent of him,  the earliest dilute mare that I can find, who introduced the “cream” into Tyngwndwn Cream Boy, her grandson, but I am sure there are many other early contributors, for my knowledge is not as encyclopaedic as some, but I always welcome any enlightenment … (Hoho, a little pun!). Anyway, the point is they have been with us since the beginning of our recorded history.

Sadly, I don’t possess the copyright to any photos of the late great examples, but may I politely mention whilst we are on the subject of copyright, many people (listed at the bottom of the page) have generously contributed photos to this article. Please respect the laws of copyright and do not reproduce photos from this page.

The Easy Bit
At first glance it would seem that the world of dilutes is a relatively simple one. And on the whole, provided the photographer hasn’t gone mad with the filters, a palomino looks like your first Barbie pony: all silky white mane and honey golden body. I suppose that with the large number of flaxen chestnuts we have in the welsh sections, and if the sun was in your eyes, you might have to think twice as to whether a pony is flaxen chestnut or palomino. But normally there is always a hint of red in the mane or tail, as well as too much richness in the body colour for the confusion to arise very often. The best example I have come across so far is Trewalchmai Sion Ap Sian pictured below left, who is fairly near in colour to Soden Lleu Llaw Gyffes, pictured directly below him.  I have come across some extraordinarily confusing terms to try and describe sooty palominos "Black Duns" "Black Creams", but I believe palomino should suffice for all.  There is a reason for the sooty marks (more genetics) but again, I would prefer not to confuse the issue for now.

Modernising our terminology
And there can’t be a much more simple colour to identify than that which we almost come to associate with Trevallion and more recently Danaway. (not forgetting Menai of course). But what do you call that colour? The correct term is buckskin and not dun, as dun is now considered to be the term we apply to horses and ponies with “primitive markings” such as the black line down the back, or stripes on the leg, not seen that frequently in the welsh breeds, but readily visible in Przewalski's Horse or Fjord Horse.

I’m afraid the time has probably come for us to fall into line and counter that they are indeed buckskins. I haven’t changed the wording over on the rest of my site yet…..and if the old guard wish to keep calling them duns, then I expect they always will, but the more consistent we are about terminology the quicker we'll all get up to speed.

Degrees of Dilution
There are three differing amounts of diluting genes that any horse can have. No dose. One dose. Two doses. In the manner of a genetic test these are written in the following way: nn, nCr and CrCr

The cream dilution gene is called an incomplete dominant gene, this means that even if there is only one dose of it (nCr) it will lighten the coat colour of the horse. So for example if your mare looks bay or chestnut she is definitely not “secretly” carrying a dilute gene, regardless of who or what colour her parents were.

If you think of the dilute as like adding milk to your hot drink, then the colours chestnut, bay and black are what your coffee or tea or chocolate look like before you get going with the cow juice.

One dash of dilution will turn chestnut to palomino, bay to buckskin, and black to smokey black. The first two as previously mentioned are easy enough to identify just as your tea or coffee can easily be seen as being “lightened by the milk”, but the smokey black (also called smoky or dilute) is quite difficult to determine, just as you’d be hard pushed to see if someone had sploshed milk in your hot chocolate and smokey black can look quite chocolatey. The wide variety of liver chestnuts and dark seal browns, together with sun fading factors all add to the confusion of true colour identity, but there are two ways you can categorically tell whether you possess a smokey black. 

The quickest way is to pluck a few hairs out of the tail and send them off to a lab, where the cream dilution can be tested. A result of nCr will mean he/she is a confirmed dilute. This test has been carried out by the owners of Danaway Ali (Danaway Flashjack x Rhosygarreg Brenhines) & Jebeth Dark Star (Jebeth Milky Way x Martleaves Brenhinnes)   

Animal Genetics UK and Animal Genetics Incorporated (UK / Europe and USA branches of the same firm, do these for £16 / $25 each.  
** The UK branch have offered to do the tests for £15 for anyone who mentions "welsh welsh cobs" when ordering the kits up.  (This offer runs until the end of April 2008). 

The alternative way of confirming dilution is by seeing what he/she produces: Karnarth Daria (Glynwyn Dyfydol, [palomino] x Hardys Damsel, [bay]) produced a palomino foal when put to Persie Sir Russell,[chestnut]. The dilution can’t have come from the sire, so it must have come from the dam, previously assumed to be liver chestnut. The same applies to the now sadly deceased Ionos Dawn (Llyfni Hebog [black] x Ionos Daisy [buckskin]), dam of Soden Lleu Llaw Gyffes [palomino] where the sire, Soden Macsen Weldig, was a rich bay.

Taiforgan Cariad has produced a double dilute foal when put to the Palomino stallion Janton Meredith. If she was just a sun bleached black, it would not have been possible for her to have produced a double dilute foal. The same applies to Paith Magical Meredith who produced a double dilute filly when he covered Paith Flying Rosalind.

Of course, I’m sitting here with the benefit of matching foals back to their dams or sires, the reality is that your smokey black mare will happily produce you a succession of bays and chestnuts when you put her to your bay stallion, but the minute you put her in the autumn sales you can almost see the law of sod moving into position to reward the next owner with a beautiful little palomino filly or buckskin colt!  Not that I in anyway hold one colour as being more precious than another. It is merely a current reflection of the markets enthusiasm that they sell so well...

I am extremely grateful to Caroline Lacey-Freeman of the Jadehanna Ranch in the USA for emailing me the great photos of the confirmed smokey black (or smoky black for this US based cob!)  and very stunning Danaway Ali who features on this page. It is very useful to be able to see such good quality close ups in order to see the amber eye and reddish hue that is cast over the body as well as the mane and tail. He doesn’t look particularly black does he? I would have guessed liver chestnut prior to doing this article.  I find the smokey black the most intriguing of all the dilute colours because I can imagine quite innocent matings in the past producing a variety of expletives in an era when welsh ponies and cobs were supposed to come in three colours only or possibly 5 at a pinch….

But if even now you don’t really like the look of the animals on part two of this feature, and you happen to have a slightly mysterious coloured mare who has the potential breeding to be a dilute, well either test her to be sure, or be careful not to put her to a stallion who is also one of the six dilute colours.

Many thanks also to:
Tara Coppins, Taraco 
Sian Ioan, Soden
Jean Smith, Jebeth Stud
Megan Jones,Tai Forgan
Anthony Booth,Rainhill Welsh Cobs
Simon Cooke@   The Event Photographer

As well as Sarah Page, Floreat Stud  
& Kris Gee Oldeworld Stud 

So that’s your single dilutes, you with me so far? I’m afraid we’re going Americana again in a minute…you ready for the hardcore photos now (chuckle)!!