This message is from: Mary Thurman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--- Mary Wood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> This message is from: Mary Wood
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> I was just wondering, do the white and yellow
> (diuted) fjords have pink skin
> and blue eyes like my cremello quarterhorse, or do
> they have dark skin and
> eyes?
All of the white(uls) dun Fjords I have seen have dark
skin and some shade of brown eyes(from dark brown to a
golden brown) I don't believe pink skin and blue eyes
is exactly acceptable in Fjords - except on very rare
occasion. When it happened in Norway at the turn of
the century they stopped breeding for Ulsdun(white
dun) because they did not understand how it happened.
It seems to be a "fluke" caused by too much cremello
factor. In Norway they are called "kvit", which means
white, while regular "white" duns are called "ulsdun",
which means wool colored(creamy). I think there is
one kvit - or white- fjord in our Registry, and it is
a gelding.
If bred to a darker dun fjord, will they
> always dilute the color?
No, not always. However, the accepted way to get an
ulsdun foal is to breed an ulsdun mare or stallion
(which obviously HAS the cremello gene) to a brown dun
partner - preferably one with either an ulsdun
ancestor or ulsdun offspring already on the ground.
Then you can get either a lighter brown dun foal or an
ulsdun foal - usually.. sometimes this results in a
VERY DARK brown dun. Why this happens I haven't a
clue. I just know it does. My ulsdun mare obviously
passes her cremello gene on to her brown dun
offspring(as well as her ulsdun ones) at least part of
the time, as they tend to produce lighter brown
dun(lysbrunblakke) foals. I have recently learned
that his can be the result of the foal having a
grandparent which is ulsdun - hence, a parent that
carries the gene recessively. Confusing, no? I
currently own a light brown dun gelding - the grandson
of my ulsdun mare - whose parents are both fairly dark
brown duns. So far as I know his sire has no ulsdun
in his background, so the lightness must come from his
dam - who has one ulsdun parent.
I have only seen one yellow dun - Faksi(born to my
mare Line while she was still in Norway.) From the
pictures I have of Faksi, her eyes are definitely dark
and her skin appears to be black. Hoofs are dark
brown/black, also. This is an EXTREMELY rare color -
almost produced by an accidental "roll of the genetic
dice" - there being only two Fjords of this color in
all of Norway's Fjord population. Possibly, there are
two in North America as well. The Nowegians are
disappointed that Faksi has not so far produced
another yellow dun to replace herself. I wonder what
would have happened had Line remained in Norway and
been bred back to the same stallion that produced
Faksi. Would the match have produced a yellow dun
again? Probably not, but it is interesting to wonder.
Hope this helps.
Mary
=====
Mary Thurman
Raintree Farms
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com
