Welcome to Tempered Calamity! For as long as horses can remember, this place has been their santucary far removed from the presence of any humans. Well protected and abundant in food and space, equines of all kinds have called these lands home. Over time, the original horses who settled here spread out to explore and established the territory boundaries known today.
On the surface things appear peaceful between the different bands as well as the free roaming horses, but all is not as it seems. The inhabitants here are under constant threat. Not only do they have to survive the elements and natural disasters and outwit predators, they must also face rival herds or individuals looking to steal land or other horses.
Tempered Calamity is a semi-realistic wild horse rpg inspired by old school play by post forums. Low word count and minimal activity requirements, come check us out or say hey on our discord!
a semi-realistic wild horse rpg
year 01
spring
updates
04.10
We're officially open to members! Check out some of the quick links above to get started on all the need-to-know information. If you find any issues, feel free to PM Oxy on here or discord!
DATE HERE
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Height Horses are measured in hands. A hand is equal to 4 inches or 10.16cm. When calculating the height in hands, you only go up in quarter increments. So you can have a horse who might be 15.1, 15.2, or 15.3, but adding the final quarter increment will go up to the next hand: 16, instead of 15.4.
Eyes Horses normally can only have brown, blue, hazel, or green eyes. Most horses will have brown eyes but some genes can influence the colour. Famously, double cream horses such as Cremello, Perlino, or Smokey Cream, all have blue eyes. Here on Tempered Calamity, you are able to have horses with other colours such as gold, amber, etc. which can be purchased from our shop!
Age Horses usually live between 20-30 years, though there are records of horses living up to 50 or even 60 in some very rare cases. In the wild however, horses only live to 15-16 on average. Here on Tempered Calamity horses will live a typical lifespan between 20-30 years old.
Bald Face A wide marking that often covers the eyes and extends down over the nostrils.
Medicine Hat A small area of pigment over the ears and in between the ears on an otherwise white horse.
Badger Face A bald face that has been interrupted with a large patch of pigment giving it a distinct "outline" appearance over the face. Usually over the eyes and over the muzzle.
Inverted Badger Face A large, often blaze shaped patch of pigment over the face on an otherwise white horse or white face.
Apron Face A bald face that extends over the muzzle and chin or lower jaw.
Bloody Shoulder An area of unaffected pigment on a Gray horse, usually occurring on the shoulder or neck.
Reverse Bloody Shoulder An area of depigmentation on a horse, usually occurring on the shoulder or neck.
Not sure what breed type your character would fall under? Check below for a list of breeds that fall into each grouping! [break] *Note: This is not a complete list of every existing horse breed. Some sources I found said there are more than 400 recognised breeds worldwide and that's just a few too many to include here. If you don't see the breed you had in mind listed and weren't sure, PM a staff member to ask what type they would fall under!
Whether you are creating a horse, or deciding to put two horses together for a foal, the genetic factors take an important role. Genetics can be exciting as they explain why two black horses can produce a chestnut foal, or why a seemingly solid coloured mare only produces splash offspring. Genetics, or more specifically the genotype, can be infuriatingly confusing as they are extremely complex as well as diverse. This guide serves to help break it down to the basics and help you when creating your characters.
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So What is a Genotype?[break] The genotype is essentially the genetic code of any particular traits that an organism (ie. A horse) has. For example, the agouti (the bay gene) uses the letter A, while the extension, or black/red factor gene uses the letter E. The combination of these two genes can be written as EE/aa, Ee/aa, EE/AA, EE/Aa, Ee/AA, Ee/Aa, ee/AA, ee/Aa, or ee/aa and is the genotype.
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So What is a Phenotype?[break] The phenotype is simply the physical appearance of the organism. Or the way the genes in charge of colour appear outwardly to anyone looking. Often the phenotype is unreliable when determining what genes are involved as genes can "hide" or express in new or unexpected ways.
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Dominant vs. Recessive[break] To simplify, Dominant genes are going to express themselves over any present Recessive genes. They are written with a capital letter. Recessive genes, are therefore, written with a lower case letter. This is not to say that Dominant genes are more common, however.
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Some genes are only expressed when there are two recessive copies. The most common example of this is probably the extension gene, or red/black factor gene. A horse will only be chestnut if it carries (ee) in its genotype.
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Homozygous vs. Heterozygous[break] Homozygous is basically any two copies of an either dominant, or recessive allele. Heterozygous is any one dominant copy and one recessive copy of an allele. For example, you might have heard the term “homozygous black”. This means that a horse’s genotype would be EE/aa. In this case, homozygous refers to the dominant pair of alleles, as a recessive homozygous pair (ee) would result in a chestnut horse.
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"Hidden" Genes[break] Some horses can have a genetic code for flaxen hair, or the silver gene but not express it. This is what we call carriers. With these specific examples, they only express themselves on certain base colours. Flaxen on chestnut and silver on black/bay. Alternatively, some white patterns have minimal expressions or none at all and can thus remain "hidden" until the parent produces a patterned foal. Sometimes this can take generations for the gene to reappear.
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Base Colours
All horse's genotypes will start with the following genes. For the Agouti gene, even if the horse does not carry the gene, it is still usually included in the genotype as "aa". For example, a solid black horse would have the genotype "EE/aa or Ee/aa" not just "EE or Ee".
{Extension} Every horse has a base colour which can be black or red that is controlled by the Extension gene. This gene controls the production of black or red pigment throughout the coat.
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Black [break] The black variation of the extension gene is dominant. This means that it will affect the coat colour in both the homozygous (EE) and heterozygous (Ee) variations. A homozygous black horse (EE) will only be able to give a dominant copy of the black gene, resulting in only black or bay foals. A heterozygous horse (Ee) will pass either black (E) or red (e) to its offspring. This explains how two black horses are able to produce chestnut foals.
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Possible Alleles: [break] EE or Ee
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Chestnut [break] The red variation of the extension gene is recessive. This means it is only expressed if a horse carriers two copies of the recessive extension gene (e). When using a genotype calculator, the recessive expression of the extension gene is sometimes referred to as the red factor because of this. Interestingly, the red factor only affects coat colour. A chestnut horse will still have black or dark grey skin.
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Chestnut horses come in a variety of shades: light chestnut, liver chestnut, red chestnut, and standard. The cause of these variations is not known but all are identified the same genetically.
{Agouti} While technically the bay gene is a modifier that only affects black or black-based horses, most people consider it to be included as its own base colour. The bay gene, or more commonly known as the Agouti gene is dominant. This means that it will express itself in both the homozygous (AA) and heterozygous (Aa) variations. The Agouti gene controls the distribution of black pigment. It can be uniform, or simply distributed to the “points” on a horse. For those who don’t know, the “points” refers to the ear tips or rims, lower legs, mane and tail.
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Bay horses come in a variety of shades: seal, wild, blood, standard, light, etc. The cause of these variations is not known but all are identified the same genetically.
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Possible Alleles: [break] AA or Aa
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Dilutions
Dilutions as the name would imply dilute the base pigment in lighter colours and variations. Most of them also interact with each other for even lighter dilutions.
{Cream} The Cream gene is dominant and is responsible for "diluting" the base colour. Because the gene is dominant, only one copy is needed for it to express. Notably however, the cream gene is what's known as "incomplete dominant" which means that when two copies are present, the expression is stronger.
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This is why a single copy of cream results in Smokey Black (black), Buckskin (bay), or Palomino (chestnut) and two copies results in Smokey Cream (black), Perlino (bay), or Cremello (chestnut). It's also why sometimes horses with only one copy are referred to as "Single Dilutes" and horses with two copies are referred to as "Double Dilutes".
{Dun} Dun is dominant and affects all base colours to some degree by lightening the coat. It is most commonly identified by the primitive markings that can be seen such as the dark stripe down a horse's back, darker face, sometimes known as a mask, striping, also known as leg barring, around the hock and knee joints, or rarely shoulder striping.
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The darker areas of the coat are normally the shade of the undiluted base colour. Different shades of Dun include Blue Dun or Grullo/Grulla, Classic Dun or Bay Dun/Zebra Dun, or Red Dun.
{Champagne} The Champagne gene is dominant and only one copy is needed for it to express. This gene dilutes coat pigment from black to brown and red to gold. Champagne on Black is called Classic, Champagne on Bay is called Amber Champagne, and Champagne on Chestnut is called Gold Champagne.
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Gold Champagne horses are often mistaken for palominos due to the gene also causing a lightening of the mane and tail but Champagne horses can be distinguished by their pinkish/lavender skin that often mottles or speckles with age, a metallic sheen, and hazel eyes.
{Pearl} Pearl is recessive which means a horse needs two recessive copies "prlprl" in order to express or affect the base colour. Horses with only one copy of the gene are considered carriers and can potentially have pearl offspring even if they don't express the gene themselves.
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Notably, Pearl shares an allele location with Cream. This means that a horse cannot carry two copies of Cream and Pearl. They may only have one of each, or two of Cream or two of Pearl. Due to the shared allele, Pearl has been known to interact with Cream and create pseudo-double dilute phenotypes.
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Because of the unique aspects of Pearl, there are several different variations or names. They are: Classic Pearl (Black with homozygous Pearl), Smokey Black Pearl (Black with one Cream and one Pearl), Amber Pearl (Bay with homozygous Pearl), Buckskin Pearl (Bay with one Cream and one Pearl), Gold Pearl (Chestnut with homozygous Pearl), and Palomino Pearl (Chestnut with one Cream and one Pearl).
{Silver} Silver is dominant and only expresses or affects black or bay pigment. A chestnut horse can still have the gene, but it will be "hidden". Similar to Agouti which restricts only black pigment, Silver only dilutes black pigment. Often Silver causes dappling in addition to lightening the coat.
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Black horses usually have their mane and tail lightened and their coat diluted to a chocolate colour. Bay horses will have a lightened mane and tail and diluted pigment on the lower legs. Both black and bay horses may exhibit dappling as well.
{Mushroom} Mushroom is recessive and known for diluting red pigment to a distinctive sepia-toned coat colour, often with a lightened mane and tail. Black or Bay horses can have the gene but will not express and are instead considered carriers. While typically this dilution is only found in Shetland Ponies, here on Tempered Calamity any horse can have this gene if purchased from The Shop.
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Possible Alleles: [break] mumu or nmu
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White Patterns
We can't talk about White Patterns without first discussing the KIT gene. This gene is responsible for the development of pigment cells in utero. Mutations to the KIT gene can often cause a lack of pigment in the skin and hair follicles which leads to some of the white patterns we see in horses.
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Notably, the white patterns that are a result of a mutation of the KIT gene share an allele space. This means that a horse cannot be homozygous for more than one white pattern on the KIT gene. Patterns that have been mapped to this KIT gene are Tobiano, Sabino, and Dominant White or White Spotting.
{Tobiano} The Tobiano pattern is a dominant gene and is characterised by large white areas that cross the topline anywhere between the ears and tail. The skin under the white areas is pink while the normally pigmented areas is black or grey with the exception of lighter skin caused by a dilution.
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Typically, a Tobiano horse's face is solid coloured barring any face markings typical of a horse and all four legs are white below the knees and hocks. The tail may also be two-toned which is not often seen in horses who are not Tobiano.
{Frame/Overo} Frame, or sometimes called Frame Overo, is dominant and characterised by white patches that do not cross the topline, leaving the base pigment to "frame" the white. Frame horses often have irregular facial markings and solid legs barring any leg markings a regular horse might have or the presence of additional white patterns. They also commonly have blue or partially blue eyes. Some even have heterochromia.
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One very important note about Frame is that it is lethal when homozygous or when two copies of the gene are present. Take care when crossing two Frame Overo parents as there is a possibility the foal will die shortly after birth.
{Splash} Splash is incomplete dominant so only one copy is needed for it to express but with two copies present it will express more dramatically. It is characterised by large, uninterrupted patches of white and is often compared to a horse being dipped in white paint feet first. The amount of white varies from horse to horse and sometimes can be so minimal the horse doesn't appear to be Splash at all. Splash horses commonly have blue or partially blue eyes.
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Splash also has several various genes that have been mapped and linked to the pattern ranging from Splash 1 through Splash 8. For simplicity's sake, here on Tempered Calamity we only have one Splash gene.
{Sabino} Sabino is a white spotting pattern that is identified by irregular white markings on the legs, face, and belly that are often accompanied by white ticking or roaning. Sabino is considered incomplete dominant which means that while only one copy is needed for the pattern to express, two copies will make the expression much more extensive.
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Commonly the pattern can be distinguished from Dominant White because with one copy a horse usually has two or more white legs or feet, often with white running up one part of the leg, an extensive blaze, and spotting on the belly. All white markings exhibit jagged or irregular edges significant roaned margins. Horses with two copies are often 90% white or more with the same distinct characteristics.
{Tovero} Tovero is not its own colour but is instead a term that simply refers to any horse that is expressing Tobiano and any of the Overo patterns (Frame, Splash, or Sabino). This is a bit of a misnomer as Overo was originally a catch-all term for any white pattern that wasn't Tobiano.
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It is however still a useful term as it's not common to refer to a horse as both a Tobiano and a Splash for example. Here on Tempered Calamity, we will do the same and any horse expressing Tobiano and either Frame, Splash, or Sabino can be referred to as Tovero.
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Possible Alleles: [break] ToTo/Oo, nTo/Oo, ToTo/SWSW, nTo/SWSW, ToTo/nSW, nTo/nSW, nTo/nSb1 (Remember because Tobiano and Sabino are both mutations of the KIT gene, a horse can only have at the most one copy of each)
{Roan} Roan is thought to be dominant and is a white pattern identified by the white hairs intermixed throughout the body while the head, lower legs, mane, and tail remain solid or unaffected. The white and coloured hairs are mixed evenly which helps distinguish it from other patterns that mimic true roaning. Roan affects all base colours and even their diluted variations as well.
{Dominant White} Like its name would suggest, Dominant White is dominant and only needs one copy to express. Some refer to Dominant White as White Spotting and use it to identify any number of white spotting patterns that have yet been identified. It's also often confused with Sabino or vice versa. Dominant White, and all its variations, are all mutations on the KIT gene.
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So far, there have been at least 14, but possibly up to 30, different alleles identified that have been linked to the Dominant White mutation and the pattern itself has a huge variety between extensive facial or leg markings with or without sabino-like patterns such as jagged edges or roaning, to very minimal expression that can often pass as regular non-patterned horse markings.
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Because of the large range and number of alleles associated with Dominant White, we will try and simplify as much as possible. Only W4 (completely white), W5 (mimics Sabino), and W20 (mimics regular markings or minimal Splash) will be used on Tempered Calamity. A horse may be able to have one copy of more than one Dominant White gene but the resulting colour will always be solid white. Because they are all a mutation on KIT, a horse with more than one pattern may only have at most one copy of each.
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Possible Alleles: [break] W4W4, nW4, W5W5, nW5, W20W20, nW20, W4W5, W4W20, or W5W20
{Leopard Complex} Leopard Complex/Varnish [break] Leopard Complex is distinguished by the mottled skin around soft areas such as muzzle and eyes, striped hooves, progressive roaning with age also known as Varnish or Varnish Roan, short or thinned mane and tail, and easily visible white sclera of the eye.
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Leopard Complex is considered incomplete dominant so having two copies present will increase the intensity of the expression. When the Pattern 1 gene is present, white areas will be expressed. The density of the white area is controlled by the Lp gene. One copy will result in coloured spots throughout the white areas and two copies will result in uninterrupted white.
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Horse with homozygous Lp have congenital stationary night blindness which limits their ability to see in low light conditions. They also have a higher risk for equine recurrent uveities which is a progressive condition that does lead to permanent blindness.
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Pattern 1 [break] Pattern 1, or PATN1 for short, is a modifier of the Leopard Complex gene and controls the amount of white that is present on the horse. It is incomplete dominant so will always express, but will have stronger expressions when two copies are present.
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The amount of white is expressed in a range and does not have a hard set rule. For one copy, it might be very minimal to as much as 60% or for two copies from 60%-100%. So while one horse with only one copy of PATN1 might have a blanket, another with only one copy might only have very minimal spotting along their croup. Meanwhile two copies could result in either a leopard appaloosa or simply an extended blanket.
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Possible Alleles: [break] LpLp, nLp, LpLp/PATN1, nLp/PATN1, LpLp/PATN1PATN1, or nLp/PATN1PATN1
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Modifiers
Modifiers do what the name would suggest: They modify the base pigment. This can be in a subtle way, or it can be extreme. Modifiers are not just limited to the body, they can also affect the mane and tail or sometimes only the mane and tail with no affect on the base colour.
{Grey} Grey is dominant, and so only one copy of the gene is needed for a horse to be affected. Grey is written with the letter “G” and is considered to be the strongest of all modifiers as it is dominant over every other colour gene there is. Grey will always express itself over any colour, no matter what.
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Very importantly, grey horses are NOT born grey. Think of it like an old person. When a person gets older, their hair starts to lose pigment. Some people only lose a little and get a “salt and pepper” look, while others will lose pigment until their hair is completely white. Horses are exactly the same. The grey gene causes a horse to gradually lose pigment in their coat over time. Some horses will grey faster than others, while some may never completely grey out.
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A horse who does not completely grey out is most commonly known as a flea-bitten grey. The “flea-bite” markings are merely just speckles of pigment not affected by the grey gene. Another example is mottling. This is caused by the depigmentation of the skin itself. As the skin loses its pigment, the horse might appear mottled until the skin is completely faded.
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You might have heard the term “dapple grey”. This is NOT a colour, merely an effect the grey gene causes. The pigment may fade in spots or smudges, instead of uniformly or smoothly, and can result in what we know as dapples.
{Flaxen} Flaxen is a modifier that affects only the mane and tail. It is written with the letter “F”. In a genotype, it could be written “ee/aa/FF, ee/aa/Ff, or ee/aa/ff”. It is recessive. This means that a horse will only be flaxen if it carries two copies of the recessive flaxen gene (ff). A horse with either “FF” or “Ff” are considered carriers of the flaxen gene. Remember, a carrier is a horse who does have the gene in its genotype, but does not express it visibly. A horse with homozygous dominant “FF” will never produce flaxen offspring because it can only pass a dominant copy of the gene to offspring.
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Further, flaxen is a gene that only affects chestnut horses. Bay or black horses can be a carrier of the gene, or can even have two recessive copies of the gene, but it will not be expressed. Flaxen chestnuts are sometimes mistaken for palominos because of their lighter mane and tail, especially in the case of lighter chestnuts.
{Sooty} Named for the way it looks like someone dumped a bucket of ash over a horse’s back, the sooty gene causes black hairs to be mixed in with the coat. The black hairs are generally most dense over the back, hips and shoulders. Occasionally they can also be over the neck, affect the mane and/or tail, as well as the ears and head.
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Sooty is dominant; only one copy of the gene is needed to be expressed. Sooty is written “STY” and can express itself uniformly, or be sporadic and appear in smudges, patches, stripes, spots, or dapples. This can result in all that gorgeous dappling, or in rarer cases brindle or dun-like striping. As a note, dapples are NOT a colour.
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Sooty can appear on any number of coats from chestnut, to bay, to palomino, to even appaloosa, tobiano, and roan. However, for white patterned horses, it will be under any present white hairs or markings. Sooty can also be present on black horses, but as expected, is a lot harder to see. Two copies of the sooty gene usually results in a stronger or more intense expression.
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Possible Alleles: [break] STYSTY or STYsty
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Oddities
Anything that is either extremely rare or not well known or understood. The genes that cause some of these have not yet been identified, or for some cases they are unique mutations or simply don't exist in real life horses.
{Rabicano} Rabicano is thought to be recessive and is characterised by white hairs intermixed in the body on the flanks. Sometimes white hairs may be present at the root of the tail and in rare cases a horse might have a fully two-toned tail. Rabicano must be purchased from Our Shop.
{Pangaré} Pangaré, sometimes called Mealy, is a modifier that seems to only affect chestnut or bay horses. The gene causes lightening along the flanks, belly, inner legs, around the muzzle and around the eyes. It's currently thought that it does not express on black horses and it is not currently known whether or not the gene is dominant or recessive.
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For the purposes of Tempered Calamity, it will be considered recessive and does present on black horses. In order to have a black Pangaré horse however you must purchase the gene from Our Shop.
{Chimera} Chimera is the result of two embryos fused in utero resulting in one horse with two separate or unique geneotypes. While the conjoined genotypes may not always express, when they do it is thought to do so in one of two patterns: Mosaic or Brindle. Additionally, because Chimera is the result of a random occurance, it cannot be inherited by any offspring. Chimera can only purchased from Our Shop.
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Brindle is characterised by vertical striping along the horse's body. Sometimes the stripes can cover the legs and face as well. The colour of the stripes will vary dependant on the genotype(s) causing them. For example if a foal who was chestnut and a foal who was black fused, then resulting brindle phenotype would be copper striping on black or vice versa.
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Mosaic Chimeras are characterised by solid patches of mismatched colours. Sometimes these can be mistaken for Somatic markings but in the case of a Chimera, the patches might appear in multiple locations and be consistent in colour. For example you might have a black horse with chestnut patches, but they wouldn't randomly also have a bay or grey patch.
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Possible Alleles: [break] None. A Chimera will have two distinct genotypes made up of any normal colours, dilutions, or modifiers. Potential offspring will only inherit genes from one genotype at a time, not both.
{Albino} Albino does not actually exist in horses. Marked by a lack of pigment and red coloured eyes, no such horse currently exists. Horses who are born white such as double dilutes, maximum sabinos, or dominant white horses with a complete expression for example are often mistaken as Albino but they are in fact the result of various genes themselves and not a true lack of pigment.
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For the purposes of this roleplay, Albino horses may exist but must be purchased from Our Shop and will be in limited supply. Albino is recessive in humans and so will be here as well.
