Flaxen is one of the different modifiers that can affect the colour of horses.
¶ Phenotype
Flaxen only affects chestnut-based horses and lightens their mane, tail and feathering to a yellow or nearly white colour; the degree of expression is variable between horses.
Flaxen chestnuts may sometimes look similar to silver bay or silver black horses. A trick is to look at the points of the horses - bay and black-based horses have black points, while those of flaxen chestnuts have a reddish colour.
Flaxen chestnut could be confused with palomino or gold champagne as well. The cream and champagne dilutions both also lighten the mane and tails of chestnut horses, as well as the coat. A palomino with a deeper shade may look similar to a light flaxen chestnut. Gold champagne can be differentiated from flaxen (and palomino) by the mottled skin and amber-coloured eyes.
| Flaxen comparison - Mustang Horse | ||
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Genotype
The genetic cause of flaxen is currently still unknown in real life. It is suspected to be a recessive, possibly polygenic (multiple genes) trait. On Horse Reality, flaxen is caused by the recessive f-allele (also called fl) of the hidden flaxen gene on a chestnut (e/e) base. This can't be tested in-game, since there isn't a test for it in real life yet.
Below, the resulting phenotype of each genotype is listed:
- e/e + f/f = Flaxen chestnut
- e/e + F/f = Chestnut
- e/e + F/F = Chestnut
¶ Breeds
Flaxen is widespread among horses, appearing in almost every breed. In some breeds, such as the Haflinger Horse, all horses are exclusively flaxen chestnuts. The following table lists all breeds that can currently have the flaxen (f) 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 Horse |
| 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