Smoky black

Smoky black is a hair coat color of horses in which the coat is either black or a few shades lighter than true black. Smoky black is produced by the action of a heterozygous (single copy) cream gene on an underlying black coat color. Therefore, smoky black is a member of the cream family of coat color dilutions, and found in horse populations that have other cream gene-based colors such as palomino, buckskin, perlino and cremello. All smoky blacks must have at least one parent with the cream gene, and a smoky black can be verified through DNA testing. Smoky black has been mistaken for faded black, dark bay or brown, grullo or even liver chestnut.

A smoky black horse usually appears to be a black horse and the dilution gene dilution factor is not visible. However, the coat may be somewhat more prone to fade to a brown shade if weathered or sun-bleached. Conversely, just because a black horse may fade in the sun does not necessarily prove or disprove that it is a smoky black.

Two copies of the cream gene on a black base coat produce a smoky cream, a cream-colored horse which is visually difficult to distinguish from a perlino or cremello, but can be identified through DNA testing.

Smoky black foals must always have at least one parent with the cream dilute gene and at least one parent that carries the "E" extension gene associated with black coloring. This could occur one of two ways: A foal could have a smoky black parent or a buckskin parent carrying both genes within a single horse. A smoky black could also be produced by breeding one horse with only the cream dilution, such as a palomino, to a bay or black horse carrying only the extension gene, but no cream dilution. As foals, smoky blacks are typically quite silvery, and may be mistaken for grullos, especially when born with primitive countershading. Smoky black foals are sometimes born with reddish tufts of hair in their ears. However, both traits are also seen in many true black foals as well.

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