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Cremello horses are a unique and stunning breed that is often misunderstood due to their distinctive appearance. These horses are known for their gorgeous cream-colored coat, blue eyes, and pink skin. However, there is much more to the Cremello horse than just their appearance. In this text, we will dive into the interior and exterior of the Cremello horse, as well as their rich history.
Cremello horses are known for their gentle and kind disposition. They are generally easy to handle and have a calm and willing temperament. These horses are intelligent and sensitive, making them highly trainable and versatile. They are known for their ability to excel in various disciplines, such as dressage, jumping, and western events. Cremello horses have a strong work ethic and are eager to please their owners. They are often used as therapy horses due to their calm nature, making them ideal for individuals with special needs. Overall, Cremello horses are loving and devoted companions that are highly valued by their owners.
The most striking feature of the Cremello horse is their coat color. They have a light cream-colored coat, which is often mistaken for white. They also have blue eyes and pink skin, which can be sensitive to the sun. Cremello horses have a distinctive appearance that sets them apart from other breeds. They are typically medium-sized horses, standing between 14 and 16 hands tall. They have a refined head with a straight or slightly convex profile, and their ears are set close together. Their neck is arched and muscular, and their body is well-proportioned with strong, straight legs. Cremello horses are known for their elegance and grace, and their unique appearance makes them a popular choice for many horse enthusiasts.
Cremello horses are thought to have originated in the United States, where they were bred by the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). The breed was created by crossing Palomino horses with other breeds, such as American Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. Cremello horses were originally bred for their distinctive coat color, which was highly valued in the show ring. However, they quickly gained a reputation for their gentle disposition and versatility, making them popular with horse enthusiasts around the world. Today, Cremello horses can be found in many countries, and they are often used for a variety of purposes, including pleasure riding, showing, and as therapy horses.
"Many famous American breeds include individuals who are carriers of the Cremello dilution gene. Morgans, Saddlebreds, Quarter Horses and Tennessee Walking Horses are all breeds that have had superlative performance horses with spectacular Cremello looks. Cremello and Perlino are also seen in the Missouri Fox Trotter. It can be a somewhat controversial topic, as some breed descriptions do not include Cremello in their list of accepted coat colours and others exclude it completely. There are Cremello individuals in some Iberian breeds. Unsurprisingly, beautiful Cremello examples are found among the gleaming coat colours of the Akhal-Teke. Many pony and small horse breeds, including miniature horses, have individuals with this colouring too. Some Kinsky Horses, a warmblood breed from Czechoslovakia, also produce Cremello offspring that are highly successful sports horses. There are even a few Thoroughbreds with this colouring.
One of the most famous horses in literature to have Cremello colouring is in Mary O’Hara’s popular book “Thunderhead”. In this story, the wild and ghostly stallion, son of Flicka, is tamed and ridden in a race by Ken McLaughlin. Now that breeders understand something of how genes work, they can selectively breed for unusual colours. People realised that the genes producing these unusual colours were not those involved in another serious condition, “fatal white”, and that Cremello horses have no particular genetic disorder associated with them. This means that there’s growing interest in this horse colour, and it has no detrimental affect on the horse’s performance. Cremello horses are distinctively different in appearance from other grey or “white” horses. Most white horses start out as grey, or even black, and lighten as they age. They have dark eyes and dark skin. Cremellos do not. On a chestnut (red) base coat, two copies of the gene produce a homozygous cream chestnut, the true Cremello. On a bay, the effect of the gene can produce a slightly redder tinge to the tail and mane, making the horse a homozygous cream bay, or Perlino. They often have striking greenish-coloured eyes. In the case of black horses, it can be hard to tell that an individual is a carrier of the Cremello dilution gene since they maintain the black colouring, but are strictly speaking “smoky black” horses rather than “true black”. However, two copies of the gene will produce a homozygous cream black that can appear identical to either a Cremello or Perlino. 2008 was a landmark year internationally for Cremello Horses, with the first Thoroughbred with this colouring to ever be accepted by the famous Weatherbys International Thoroughbred Stud Book Committee. Electrum, a yearling colt, was imported from the USA as a Palomino, and subsequently tested as a Cremello.
Cremello, in some instances called perlino, is considered to be a colouring, rather than a breed. All Cremello Horses are the outcome of the effect of a dilution gene on either a red, a bay or a black base coat. In order to produce a true Cremello Horse, with pale coat colour, light (usually blue) eyes, and pink skin, there have to be two copies of a Cremello allele present, hence the term “double-dilute”. When only one is present, there is an effect on the coat colour, but it is not always obvious. Selecting parents that pass on Cremello dilution genes will always affect the coat colouring of the offspring; the degree simply depends on the number of genes passed on.