Olivia Farm

Registered Norwegian Fjord Horses

Fjord Color

Brown Dun

Brunblakk

Anvil’s Pluto

Grey Dun

Grå

OH Sadie

Red Dun

Rødblakk

Kjor Elianna

White Dun

Ullsblakk

Silvia

Yellow Dun

Gulblakk

Anvil’s Solskinn

Basic Fjord Color Genetics

 

All Fjords carry the DUN gene; from there, the interplay of red (E), grey (A), and cremello (cr) account for the five accepted, and one discouraged, Fjord colors. 

 

** Your basic Brown Dun Fjord is a dun with  “limited black” genes (A-, E-) - meaning the black color is limited to the points (legs, face, ears, etc). 

**If you take away the limited black gene and allow for the black to be throughout the coat, it becomes a Grey Dun (aa).  If you take away the gene for black entirely, it becomes a Red Dun (ee). 

**By adding a cremello gene to a brown dun, it lightens the brown coat to white, making a White Dun (E- cr).  When you add a cremello gene to a Red Dun, it lightens the body color to white and has no black points, making a Yellow Dun (ee cr).  The full grey color masks the cremello gene, although it probably lightens the coat to some degree.

 

AA - brown, Aa - brown, grey recessive, aa - grey

EE - brown, Ee - brown, red recessive, ee - red

CC - no cremello (brown or red), Ccr - cremello (white or yellow), crcr - double cremello, or KVIT, a discouraged Fjord color.

 

The A, E, and cr genes are all independent of one another; hence, you can have a red dun/grey recessive, a white dun/red recessive, etc.  While a grey can mask a cremello gene, the red (by removing ALL dark hairs) can mask a full grey.

 

Both a and e genes take both sets of the recessive to become apparent, however the cremello functions in a single dose.  This is why to get red and grey dun Fjords, both parents have to have at least one  recessive in the gene pair (passing one, each, to their offspring), but a horse with the cremello can pass it on directly to their offspring, no matter the color of the other parent.  If the cremello is “lost” from a line, it cannot be bred back by recessives - it must be passed DIRECTLY from parent to offspring.  In other words, two brown duns out of whites will never produce a white dun when bred to one another. 

 

For more detailed information please see the NFHR web-site, www.nfhr.org. 

 

Contact Information

 

Olivia Farm, Inc.                                                                                                           (509) 258-7348

PO BOX 157                                                                                                                     (360) 631-3562

Ford, WA 99013                                                                                                info@oliviafarm.com