[ThirdCharm]

How heritable is Knabstrupper color? Is it just like Appaloosas where a leopard is heterozygous for the 'app' (varnish) gene which is required for spots in the first place, and a few spot app is homozygous (and both have the PATN1 gene), and blanket and snow caps are the same but with the PATN2 gene?

Shoulda googled first.... Apparently they are. So is there any way to tell if a stallion is homozygous for the varnish gene (so you at least get color of some sort)? Are there any Knabstrupper stallions with documented color production figures?

Jennifer

[Sonesta]

Like with Appaloosas, homozygous Knabstruppers are the "white born" or "few spot" stallions. In the U.S. there are only a few of these available and only one that is available fresh. Pegasus is in California. And Melyni Worth has frozen for the few spots, Ecuador and Halifax Middleson.

[JB]

Knab and Appy color genetics are identical - LP and PATN1/PATN2 genetics If you look at the Appaloosa Project at Current Research you'll see all the combinations.

Varnish is separate from LP or PATN, and seems to be more expressed in homozygous form than hetero. There's no way to know though whether the horse is hetero or homo for it.

PATN hides unless/until LP is present, so you can have a solid horse who carries PATN and not realize it until you breed.

The only semi-guarantee of spots is to breed to a fewspot or snowcap, as they are homozygous for for LP. But you still need to get a PATN, and there's no test

[summerhorse]

LP IS varnish. How much the horse roans out depends on other factors (suppressor genes, booster genes, etc). But it is one and the same. It is the switch that turns the pattern genes on. No LP, no color even if the horse carriers the pattern genes.

[ThirdCharm]

Right, so you can tell if a spotted horse is homozygous PATN1 or 2 (few spot or snowcap) but you can't tell if it is homozygous LP, can you? So you would have to see what the stallion throws and then hope :-)

Jennifer

[JB]

Huh, guess I'm a bit behind on varnish

Did that come to light when they developed the LP test? I knew that had happened but hadn't thoroughly read up on it

[Melyni]

Right, so you can tell if a spotted horse is homozygous PATN1 or 2 (few spot or snowcap) but you can't tell if it is homozygous LP, can you? So you would have to see what the stallion throws and then hope :-)

Jennifer

Er no other way around. You can tell if the LP gene is present, few spot or spots or varnish, but you can't tell if PATN1 or 2 are present UNLESS LP is also present.

We have 4 stallions in the USA that are homozygous for LP and who have a record of color production.
Halifax Middelsom --so far all offspring have been nr leopard or few spot
Ecuador (frozen only)- mix of blankets and leopards
Ravaldi (frozen only)- all have been leopard or nr leopard so far.
Pegasus v Niehaus-Hof, mixture of color patterns in his off spring including some blankets and a few varnishes, and a few leopards.
MW