Seal brown is a shade variation of the base colour bay.
¶ Phenotype
Seal brown is a dark variation of bay, sometimes appearing to be almost black. However, areas around the muzzle, eye, flanks and other soft parts of the body are lighter coloured, often more yellowish. The back and crest of the neck are (nearly) black, and these dark hairs move downwards until they meet the lighter areas. Every time a horse sheds, it can appear to be slightly darker or lighter than the previous season.
Seal brown is sometimes prone to some very pronounced dappling. This adds to the fact this it can sometimes be hard to distinguish seal brown from sooty bay horses. An important difference to note is that seal brown foals are born with their dark colouring, while sooty is a trait that increases with age.
| Seal Brown - Various breeds | |
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Genotype
Since it is a variation of the base colour bay, all seal brown horses will also have at least one dominant E (extension) and A (agouti) allele. The genetic cause for the colour has not yet been discovered in real life. For a while, a DNA test existed for seal brown. Unfortunately, no scientific papers were published and when DNA tests returned with inconclusive results, the test was withdrawn. In-game, however, seal brown is still caused by the hidden At-allele of agouti. The presence of dominant agouti can be tested at the Laboratory, but the seal brown (At) allele is hidden and not testable and will be displayed as just A in test results.
The At-allele is dominant over a, but recessive to A and A+, the wild bay allele (A+ > A > At > a). This means the following genotypes will lead to seal brown:
- E/_ + At/a
- E/_ + At/At
¶ Breeds
Seal Brown is quite common and can be found in many breeds on Horse Reality. The following table lists all breeds that can currently have the seal brown (At) allele in-game:
| Breeds |
| Akhal-Teke Horse |
| Arabian Horse |
| Brabant Horse |
| Brumby Horse |
| Camargue Horse |
| Cleveland Bay |
| Exmoor Horse |
| Finnhorse |
| Fjord Horse |
| Friesian Horse |
| Haflinger Horse |
| Icelandic Horse |
| Irish Cob Horse |
| Kladruber Horse |
| Knabstrupper |
| Lipizzaner |
| Lusitano |
| Mongolian Horse |
| Mustang Horse |
| Namib Desert Horse |
| Noriker Horse |
| Norman Cob |
| Oldenburg Horse |
| Pantaneiro Horse |
| Pura Raza Española |
| Quarter Horse |
| Shetland Pony |
| Shire Horse |
| Suffolk Punch |
| Thoroughbred |
| Trakehner Horse |
| Welsh Pony |
¶ References
- Bellone R., Sponenberg D. P., Equine Color Genetics, 4th Edition, 2017, Wiley-Blackwell
- Pet DNA services of AZ; https://web.archive.org/web/20090522151520/http://www.petdnaservicesaz.com/Equine.html