| The term Palomino refers more to a colour, or rather a | | | | In plain English this means that the parents of Palomino |
| range of colours, than to a certain breed. The term | | | | horses will not always produce Palomino foals. It all |
| Palomino itself is a Latin word with an original meaning | | | | depends on which genes are passed on from the |
| of paleness. Today, the description Palomino horse | | | | parents to the foal. A cream colour producing gene |
| depicts a golden coated horse with manes and tale of | | | | from one parent combined with a chestnut colour |
| a remarkably lighter colour. | | | | producing gene from the other will give a Palomino foal. |
| There are several ranges of gold colours and in order | | | | This does not mean however that the foal will have |
| to get an official recognition as Palomino, the horses | | | | the exact same colours as its parents. However, even |
| "coating" must fall exactly in a well defined range, going | | | | with the aforementioned combination of cream and |
| from light cream over blonde to more copper like. The | | | | chestnut genes, some horses come out spotted or |
| only places where a Palomino may have white | | | | dappled or in a array of patterns and although these |
| markings is below the knee and on the face. Just | | | | animals are still extremely beautiful horses, Palomino |
| because of their vigorous and vivacious colours they | | | | registries will not list them. |
| are very successful as show horses. Both Mr. Ed and | | | | The Famous Registry |
| Roy Rogers' horse Trigger were Palominos. | | | | Horse enthusiasts will often choose to list their animals |
| Palomino and Genetics | | | | in the official registers of their breed. Having your |
| The specific coat colour of the Palomino horse | | | | Palomino listed in the registry proves your horses |
| originates from its genetics: they are hybrid horses and | | | | bloodline and also tells a potential buyer the horse is |
| have genes from both a chestnut brown and a cream | | | | above suspicion. The biggest registry in the United |
| parent. If you want the scientific term for this it is | | | | States is the Palomino Horse Breeders of America. |
| "heterozygous" - meaning that their blended colour | | | | They made up a list of over one hundred rules to |
| comes from both parents' genes. | | | | determine whether or not a horse is a true Palomino. |