Palomino horses and ponies are genetic chestnuts (red) that carry one copy of the code
responsible for diluting red coat pigment to gold.
"Long
ago, when the world was still young, before the beginning of time
The sun and the moon chanced to meet and created a legend divineIt was love at first sight, and the stars know the tale of the wedding of silver & gold
A love that has lasted through centuries past, a romance that will never grow old
The sun and the moon chanced to meet and created a legend divineIt was love at first sight, and the stars know the tale of the wedding of silver & gold
A love that has lasted through centuries past, a romance that will never grow old
PALOMINOS were born from the union of the sun and his sweet silver bride
Manes & tails of sugar spun moonlight with the purest of gold for their hide
Fairy tale creatures of beauty born from a legend of old,
Gracing this earth to remind us of the legend of silver and gold"
Lyrics by Lady Anne Wentworth.
Welcome to Palomino Horses and Ponies, a page for everyone who loves what is surely the fairytale horse of the equine world.How often do you see palomino horses or palomino ponies featured on children's products??
As the poem suggests, palomino horses and ponies sure are fairytale creatures (or at least in this person's eyes). Barbie has one, just about every kid's book about horses features a palomino (or a pinto). Every horse crazy child wants one.
Some of us are fortunate enough to have realised their dream to own one (or two... or three....!) of these fairy tale creatures.
On this page you'll find
- tips on feeding palominos
- handy hints for showing palominos
- photos showing some of the coat colour shades of palominos
- illustrations and explanations of colour faults
Standard of Colour Excellence
Palomino colour registries often have a Standard of Colour Excellence by which palomino horses and ponies are evaluated for registration and judging purposes. This standard is unique amongst the dilutes. Most of these standards incorporate something along the following:
- The well known phrase – coat the colour of newly minted gold coin or X number of shades lighter or darker
- Mane and tail of white, silver or ivory with not more than X number of dark hairs present
- Coat must be clear and free from blemishes such as roaning, ticking, flecking, smutting (sooty/chocolate) etc
- No white markings permitted outside certain guidelines
Feeding Palominos
Ahh yes ...... feeding palominos! Colour is bred into a palomino but feeding can certainly affect it.
Jessica's breeders always maintained that palominos were the easiest horses to feed because you just kept it simple. The huge range of processed feeds available in your local feed store these days though means some tough decisions.
Do you grab that bag of really yummy looking stuff that looks more like it belongs in your cereal bowl with milk poured over the top of it....
.... or do you stick with the tried and true rather than risk putting black hairs through that beautiful clear gold coat your palomino currently has.
It is an unfortunate fact that a horrid
little thing called the 'smutting' gene can wreck havoc with a
palomino's coat. If a palomino carries it, it will smut to some degree.
Careful feed management can certainly reduce and keep it to a minimum
though.
 | |||
| Smutting refers to the chocolate coloured hairs which are apparent on the hocks, stifle and thigh of this horse. |
The main culprits for smutting appear to be green feeds (lush spring pasture, lucerne etc), molasses and anything 'dark' in colour (ie dark coloured vitamin supplements). So ...... rule of thumb if you have a palomino that smuts and you want to keep the smutting under control - feed white feeds.
White feeds are cereal chaffs, cereal hays, white or light coloured vitamin supplements, light coloured oils and so on. Also keep them off those rich green pastures....
Always check the ingredients in feeds (you should be doing this anyway so you know what you're feeding) and make sure there aren't things like molasses, lucerne and so on in them.
The cardinal rule is to introduce new feeds one by one. Keep an eye open for any detrimental changes in your palomino's coat and if you see any stop feeding the likely culprit immediately .... this is why you don't start several new feeds together. If one of them causes an issue you'll find it almost impossible to figure out which one caused it. Remember too that it always takes a lot longer to get rid of the problem than it did to put it there.
Botton line though .....
If you are
rearing a baby or you aren't showing as a palomino then you need to
figure out if that all important clear golden coat is REALLY that
important....
Is it REALLY worth compromising your horse's health and well being for the sake of some black hairs?
Personally,
I've never thought so but of course that's just my opinion. As a judge
and breeder myself I would rather see a healthy youngster with a bit of
black than a scrawny, underfed one with a magnificent coat.
Starting out checklist....
Showing palominos and how you do it really depends on where you live and what your palomino association's regulations are.
Palominos are usually judged on a number of factors over and above the usual conformation, paces and manners. This pretty much makes judging them unique, particularly in the dilute world.
Where the other dilutes are all judged along the same lines as most other breeds, palominos have a colour standard of excellence which is supposed to come into consideration in the show ring.
This standard of excellence includes:
Traditionally colour standards did play a big part in judging palominos, sometimes to the point where inferior quality horses were put over better quality ones purely because of colour.
These days though conformation tends to play a much bigger role which is exactly how it should be in my opinion. After all, you don't ride the colour.
Mind you, I've seen palominos that shouldn't even have been accepted for registration on colour standards, winning and placing over much better coloured horses of equal or only slightly lesser quality, generally because the judge just happened to prefer that type.
Sometimes you may find a series of 'promotional' classes on a palomino show program. The idea behind these classes is to promote the 3 main factors that go into making the ideal all round palomino -
This class is judged exactly as the name suggests....purely on conformation. Coat colour, mane and tail etc are not taken into consideration.
Best coat colour classes are judged on the overall correctness of shade and purity of the coat. Colour faults such as smutting, dapples, spotting and ticking will all be penalised in a Coat Colour Class.
Mane and tail classes are judged on the quality, purity, cleanliness and colour of the mane and tail. The purer and whiter the mane and tail are, the higher the palomino will place. Dark or dirty hairs throughout the mane and tail will be penalised.
These are a turnout class for in hand exhibits. Cleanliness of horse and handler, suitability of attire and horse gear and so on are what is judged.
Showing Palominos - here we tell you the DO's and DON'Ts.
Starting out checklist....
Showing palominos and how you do it really depends on where you live and what your palomino association's regulations are.
- are they allowed to be plaited (or hogged) for led classes / under saddle
- what are the rules around showing freshly clipped palominos
- is there a particular dress standard for handlers
- what are the requirements for showing colts and stallions
How are palominos judged....
Palominos are usually judged on a number of factors over and above the usual conformation, paces and manners. This pretty much makes judging them unique, particularly in the dilute world.
Where the other dilutes are all judged along the same lines as most other breeds, palominos have a colour standard of excellence which is supposed to come into consideration in the show ring.
This standard of excellence includes:
- shade and purity of the coat compared to that newly minted gold coin
- iridescence of the coat
- purity and quality of mane and tail
Traditionally colour standards did play a big part in judging palominos, sometimes to the point where inferior quality horses were put over better quality ones purely because of colour.
These days though conformation tends to play a much bigger role which is exactly how it should be in my opinion. After all, you don't ride the colour.
Mind you, I've seen palominos that shouldn't even have been accepted for registration on colour standards, winning and placing over much better coloured horses of equal or only slightly lesser quality, generally because the judge just happened to prefer that type.
Here are some of my tips for showing palominos:
- do make sure the horse is squeaky clean. Don't leave dirty spots on the coat or through the mane and tail. Palominos are judged in part on their colour. It is not really the judge's responsibility to try and figure out if the black patch on your palomino is smut or dirt!
- do make sure the mane and tail are squeaky clean and DON'T bleach them. Not only this is a big NO NO with a lot of palomino registers, it can also wreck the hair. Palominos have an almost translucent quality to their mane and tail hair courtesy of the red pigment dilution which bleach can really damage the hairs
- if you are not permitted by your palomino registry to plait when showing palominos under their registration then don't plait
- do NOT dye the coat or try to artificially enhance it in any way. When showing palominos as palominos this is a big NO NO
- do NOT use a false tail, false plaits, hair extenders etc in palomino breed classes. I'm pretty sure most palomino registers don't allow it. If they do, fine but check first.
- use coat glosses sparingly if at all; iridescence is supposed to be taken into consideration when judging palominos and if you have used a coat gloss that enhances this factor you could be penalised.
- do limit the makeup. Simple is best
- try not show a freshly clipped palomino. You may even find that your association doesn't allow it anyway
Palomino Promotional classes
Sometimes you may find a series of 'promotional' classes on a palomino show program. The idea behind these classes is to promote the 3 main factors that go into making the ideal all round palomino -
- Conformation
- Coat Colour
- Mane and Tail
Palomino Best Conformed Classes
This class is judged exactly as the name suggests....purely on conformation. Coat colour, mane and tail etc are not taken into consideration.
Palomino Best Coat Colour Classes
Best coat colour classes are judged on the overall correctness of shade and purity of the coat. Colour faults such as smutting, dapples, spotting and ticking will all be penalised in a Coat Colour Class.
Palomino Mane and Tail Classes
Mane and tail classes are judged on the quality, purity, cleanliness and colour of the mane and tail. The purer and whiter the mane and tail are, the higher the palomino will place. Dark or dirty hairs throughout the mane and tail will be penalised.
Palomino Best Presented Classes
These are a turnout class for in hand exhibits. Cleanliness of horse and handler, suitability of attire and horse gear and so on are what is judged.
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