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Dun is a dilution color. It is caused by the dun gene, D, diluting what would otherwise be a bay horse. It dilutes the reddish brown of the bay's body color to a yellowish color, and adds primitive markings or dun factors. These consist of a dorsal stripe and horizontal "zebra stripes" on the upper legs, and can also include a transverse stripe over the withers and markings on the ears.
A dun horse's genotype is A-E-D-, with E causing black color, A restricting it to the points, and D diluting the body color from red to yellow and adding dun factors.
D will also dilute otherwise black and chestnut horses, causing them to be grulla or red dun respectively. Those colors are featured on their own pages. Regular dun, featured on this page, is is often called "zebra dun" to differentiate it from the other types of dun.
Here are some duns. Sometimes it's hard to see the primitive marks (especially the leg barring) in photos, but they are there.
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Dark dun. Why is this not bay? Because of primitive markings (I know you can't see them here). |
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At left: a dark metallic golden dun. An unusual shade. |
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The horse at right, although he looks bay, is actually a dun. You can see his dorsal stripe in this picture. This shade of dun is sometimes called "peanut butter dun."
