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Step 1
Breeding for the palomino coat color is actually a very simple process. The difficult part is verifying the true genetic color of the parents. Palomino is actually the gene for "chestnut" matched with the "dilute" gene. The horse carries one copy of the chestnut genetic marker and one copy of the dilute genetic marker. If the dilute gene is not present, the horse is not a true palomino but rather a very light golden chestnut with an ultra-flaxen mane and tail.
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Step 2
Identifying a true "Double Dilute" is usually fairly easy. In the old days, these horses were called "albinos." They have pink skin under creme colored coats, and their manes and tails are usually the same creme as their body, sometimes with a hint of pink. Their eyes are usually blue or pink. What is trickier is determining whether the horse is a "cremello," a sorrel with two copies of the dilute gene; or a "perlino," a bay with two copies of the dilute gene. Sometimes the only way to tell for sure is to have the horse genetically tested to see what base color the genetics are.
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Step 3
Breeding a "cremello" to any chestnut horse will produce a palomino, as both parents carry the chestnut gene and the "cremello" parent will give one copy of the dilute gene to the coat color, producing the golden palomino with a white mane and tail. Breeding a "perlino" to a chestnut will either produce a palomino or a buckskin, as the buckskin color is a bay horse who carries one copy of the dilute gene.
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Step 4
Another way to breed a palomino horse is to have one parent be a palomino and the other parent be a chestnut. Since the dilute parent is NOT a "double dilute" (it only carries one copy of the dilute gene), the resulting foal will only have a 50 percent chance of carrying the dilute coat color. You can also breed a buckskin to a chestnut and have a chance of producing palomino but keep in mind you may produce another buckskin as well.
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Step 5
Do your research beforehand. Ask for genetic tests of the parents before deciding on a final mating. If you are absolutely determined to get that golden palomino coat color the genetic tests can save you a lot of time and effort.
