silver coat.pdf

N ancy Harris had no doubt she had a horse of a

in the Morgan and searching for individuals of colors previously

unknown in our breed is a big part of that endeavor. For many

years I suspected that the rare silver gene existed in Morgans. One

of the horses I most wondered about was a mare named Orcland

Youlenda. She looked exactly like a classic

black silver in her black and white photos

in old issues of The Morgan Horse . At the 2000 AMHA Convention

held in Atlanta, Nancy Caisse of Townshend Farm presented a slide

show of historical Morgans from the New England area. In her

presentation was a color slide of Youlenda’s dam, Paleface (Squire

Burger, chestnut x Zona Skinner, registered as chestnut but now

known to have actually been a silver dapple). The mare was clearly

a bay silver! I was very excited to see this picture as it conirmed my

belief that silver had indeed been present at one time in the breed.

The question was, did it still exist—or had the gene died out?

different color.

But when the oddly colored illy toddled to her feet

that day in April of 1983, little did Nancy know that

she would become a cornerstone mare in

the salvation of a color which was hanging

by a thread in the Morgan breed. Nancy was not sure what color

her new illy was, though she had very strong suspicions. But time

has an interesting way of revealing the facts, and nowhere is that

more apparent than in our ever-evolving knowledge of equine

color genetics.

By Laura Behning

So, What Color iS it?

One of my favorite pastimes is researching and writing about

color in Morgans. Ferreting out the sources for each color present

Above: Foxton Felicia and Chip Cooper competing in the 1992 Top of the World Competitive Trail Ride in Foxton, CO;

Insets: Foxton Felicia with her irst foal, the dark bay or brown based silver illy Foxton Fawn (by Society Statusmaster). Fawn is registered

as black, “with silver mane and tail, silver dapple” in the markings section, as her registration was changed in 2002, which was before silver

was offered as a registration option; Foxton Felicia in the spring of her yearling year. Yearling black silvers are often very dappled, with a pale

mane and tail. The mane and tail may darken over time, as Felicia’s eventually did.

34 March 2011

Foxton FaWn & Foxton Smokey DaWn

Left to right: The dark bay or brown based silver mare Foxton Fawn (Society Statusmaster x Foxton Felicia) in retirement in Georgia;

Foxton Smokey Dawn (Topside Midnight x Foxton Felicia), 1990 black silver mare (registered as a chestnut). As they age, many silvers lose

the bright white mane and tail they had as youngsters. It is easy to see how they can be confused with the chestnut color.

The answer came in February 2002 when John and Bobbie

Zeulner’s stallion, Zeulners’Sunka Wakan (S Bar B Blksaddle

Chester x Zeulners’Marvelous Melody), became the irst conirmed

silver Morgan via DNA color testing. The world inally knew that

for sure, silver existed in Morgans! Silver Morgans are still very

rare—there are only about ifty alive at present—but their numbers

are growing due to the attraction of this undeniably beautiful color

and the dedicated breeders who wish to preserve it.

Silver, sometimes called silver dapple, is a dilution gene (like

cream and dun) that only affects black pigment. It turns a black

horse’s body to a chocolate color, and the mane and tail to a silvery

gray. On a bay horse only the leg points are diluted to chocolate,

again with a silver mane and tail. Silver has no effect on chestnut,

as there is no black hair to dilute, but chestnuts can carry—and

pass on—the gene if they inherited it from at least one parent.

Often silvers are mistaken for laxen chestnut (and vice versa),

but genetically, they are two entirely different colors. In North

American light horse breeds, silver is the signature color of the

Rocky Mountain Horse, where it is called ‘chocolate.’ It is also a

common color in the Shetland and Miniature Horse.

I had seen pictures of Sunka’s paternal grand-dam, Foxton

Fawn (Society Statusmaster x Foxton Felicia), and knew she must

be a silver and the source of Sunka’s unusual coloring. And so my

search for more information—and ultimately, a silver Morgan

of my own—led me to Foxton Morgans, owned by Tom and

Barbara Butterield, their daughter Nancy Harris and Nancy’s

husband Thom.

Foxton Morgans, located in Foxton, Colorado, is comprised

of some 4,000 acres in the Rocky Mountains, much of it now

preserved in conservation easements. The terrain is rugged, an

environment that gifts the Foxton horses with strong feet and legs

and a hardy constitution. Originally the ranch had been a livery

stable for many different breeds of horses. The family became

involved with breeding Morgans in 1976 with the purchase of

SH Crescent (H-Ken x Flashy Bess), a chestnut mare who was,

in Nancy’s words, “a sensitive, high-stepping mare, so we sought

out steady temperaments and dispositions to cross with her.” That

search for stallions ultimately led the family to Pegasus Persuader

(Topside Jolly Roger x Dainty Dot), owned by Jack and Ginny

Muse of Pegasus Morgans in nearby Parker, CO.

Persuader was registered as a chestnut, but is now known to

have actually been a bay or brown based silver. His sire, Topside

Jolly Roger (Kings-Haven Senator x Yampa Sue), was a chestnut

who carried the silver gene inherited from his dam. Yampa Sue

traces in an unbroken line of chestnuts carrying silver—or actual

silvers mistakenly registered as chestnut—to the source of silver in

the Morgan breed, Dan (Headlight Morgan x Kate B). Dan, foaled

in 1916, was a chestnut that carried the silver gene.

The Butterields knew Persuader was an unusual color; he

reminded them of the silver dapple Shetland they had. But silver

was not known to exist in Morgans at that time.

In the spring of 1983, SH Crescent foaled an odd colored illy

by Persuader that the family named Foxton Felicia. “She was a pale

silvery-grey, like an old fence rail. I was excited to have a ‘charcoal

palomino’ as I thought of the color,” Nancy remembers. “The

Morgan people told us to just register her as chestnut, even though

that didn’t seem right,” adds Barbara. Indeed, because Felicia was a

black silver. We now know that at the time of her birth, there were

just a handful of them in the breed.

A bit more quiet than her dam, Felicia was still a sensitive,

The Morgan Horse 35

high energy animal, both on the ground

and under saddle. “We always rode her with

just a halter, though she was also ine with a

snafle bit,” Nancy recalls. “I never had any

troubles with her, so didn’t hesitate to ride

her down to be bred in 1989. I was pregnant

with my second boy. We were just a quarter

mile from the corrals. Beavers had been

making ponds along the stream below the

road. As a consequence, ducks had located

those ponds that spring. As Felicia and I

came along, the ducks lew noisily quacking

into the air. All of a sudden, we were six foot

above the road, facing the other direction!

My heart pounding, I was very glad to still

be on her back. But, I was quick to hop

off to lead her back onto the road. Nearly

home, I was happy to proceed on foot, due

to my own interesting condition.”

Besides being used as a broodmare,

Felicia also dabbled in competitive trail

riding. In 1992 the mare was leased to Chip

Cooper, and the team competed in the

NATRC Top of the World competitive trail

ride. “They did pretty well together, as he

was a novice,” Nancy says. “Felicia drew the

line at his looking at his map while on his

back; she never did like crinkly sounds!”

As she got older, Felicia’s mane and

tail darkened, which is not uncommon in

silvers as they age. It is easy to see how they

are mistaken for chestnut. At age 15, Felicia

foaled her third and inal offspring. This

was a silver tobiano part Morgan mare, RV

Serena, by the ranch’s part Morgan tobiano,

RV Eagle Feather.

In 2001, 18-year-old Felicia went to

a friend of the Harrises as a companion

horse. Sadly she colicked the following

winter and did not survive. Felicia would

produce only two full Morgan offspring in

her short lifetime, but both were silvers and

would found silver dynasties of their own.

in her current retirement home with Lisa

Bock-Holec of Senoia, Georgia. Fawn had

six foals, at least four of which are known

to be silvers like their dam. They include S

Bar B Blksaddle Chester (by H-Saracen),

1994 brown silver stallion (later gelded)

owned by Spruce Hill Farms in Westkill,

NY; Whitings Bright Star (by Foxton Black

Jack), 1998 black silver mare owned by

Karleen Gose of St Onge, SD; Whitings

Fancy Star (by Foxton Debonair), 1999

black silver mare owned by Joyce Urroz of

Custer, SD; and Whitings Smoky Debonair

(by Foxton Debonair), 2000 black silver

gelding owned by Carroll Whiting of Blue

Rapids, KS.

When Bobbie Zeulner irst saw S Bar

B Blksaddle Chester, she thought he was

a dark palomino—“that’s what I get for

doing my own thinking,” Bobbie quips.

Chester only sired two offspring before

being gelded, but one of them was the

previously mentioned brown silver stallion

Zeulners’Sunka Wakan—the horse who

ultimately proved to all of Morgandom

that yes, silver did exist in Morgans when

he DNA tested as being black based, not

red based, in 2002. Sunka sustained an

injury to his front legs as a youngster,

so he never had a formal career under

saddle, but he could be trusted to carry the

Zeulners’ grandchildren safely. Everyone

who knew the stallion remarked upon his

sweet and kind nature. Sadly, Sunka’s last

owner Carrie Duff of Hazel Run Morgans

in Georgetown Lake, MT, found him

entangled in a gate one morning in April

of 2010. He did not survive. Fortunately,

the Zeulners had frozen semen from

Sunka, so he may yet contribute more

silvers to the breed.

Sunka sired just 10 offspring in his

too-short lifetime, four of which were

silver. The irst was Zeulners’Marvelous

Robert (x Zeulners’Marvelous Melody),

a 2001 chestnut (carrying silver) stallion

owned by Angie Nadon of Anfarra

Morgans in Bailieboro, ON. Robert is a

multi-champion in hand and Western

pleasure horse. Angie had previously

purchased Robert’s chestnut (also a silver

carrier) daughter, Zeulners Linda Lee. “I

was looking for a smaller Morgan mare

with an outstanding temperament for our

six–year-old daughter to eventually ride

Foxton FaWn: the

Beginning oF a legaCy

Felicia’s irst foal, Foxton Fawn (by Society

Statusmaster), was born in 1987. Registered

as chestnut like her dam, she was actually

a brown-based silver—proven not only

by her offspring’s colors, but by the fact

that—many years later—she would test

homozygous for black base color! Sold as

a yearling, the high tempered little mare

went through six owners before landing

36 March 2011

DeSCenDantS oF Foxton Smokey DaWn

Right: Foxton Frosty Dawn (Foxton Society Beau x Foxton Smokey

Dawn), 2002 brown silver mare, with her 2006 bay silver colt

Unconventional (by Gone Gold). Below, left to right: Lisa Holec

with the author’s 2007 smoky black silver illy, Positively Charmed

(Gone Gold x Foxton Frosty Dawn). Lisa owns “Charli’s” aunt,

Foxton Fawn; The yearling buckskin silver illy, Edgeield Vermeil

(Edgeield Sun Gold x Foxton Frosty Dawn) and Rachel Longacre

compete in a halter class at an open 4H show; Coulee Bend Pure

Silver (Unconventional x Dody Little Bell SRDA), a chestnut

(carrying silver) 2010 colt, is now living in Alaska with Pat Kearney;

Coulee Bend Orion (Unconventional x Coulee Bend Contessa),

a 2009 chestnut (carrying silver) colt pictured here as a weanling,

will stand his irst season in 2011 for owner Linda Sterling.

and show,” Angie says. Linda Lee it the bill. Then Robert became

available, and Angie purchased him as well. Robert’s irst foals for

Angie will arrive this year, and Linda Lee’s irst foal was born in

2010, a chestnut (carrying silver) illy, Anfarra Carrera (CN), by

Anfarra Que Barbaro.

Schaenzer’s Silver Eagle (x Granaway Bonne Amie), a 2004

brown silver stallion, was Sunka’s second silver offspring. He is

owned by Ken Thomas in Richield Utah, where he is adding the

silver dilution to Ken’s band of gaited mares, the goal being to

produce gaited silver Morgans. Eagle’s 2009 black silver son, KTM

Shadowlax (x KTM Shadow Dancer), is now owned by Silver

Eagle’s breeder, Susanna Schaenzer of Eugene OR. He will be bred

this year for a few 2012 foals.

Sunka’s next silver son was Zeulners Silver Legacy (x Oregon

N Blacksaddle XTC), a 2005 black silver who was owned by Linda

Sterling of Sterling Morgan Horses in Chino Valley, AZ. Linda

recalls how she came to ind him: “Looking around for my very

own stallion in 2005, I came across an ad for a weanling stallion,

Zeulners Silver Legacy, who had the silver dapple gene. All this

‘silver’ and ‘Sterling’ seemed like the hand of providence, and this

little guy sure was cute! Several potential buyers were considering

him, but they wanted him tested to see if he was homozygous black

irst. I jumped in and bought him. He later tested homozygous

black with one silver gene (EEZz). He was the only silver Morgan

stallion who was also homozygous black. I had hit the jackpot!”

“Legacy had a quiet calm disposition and always passed this on

to his get,” Linda continues. Of his 18 foals, the handsome stallion

sired eight silvers, all illies except for his last foal, LMSterling

Shining Knight, a 2010 black silver colt Linda is keeping as his sire’s

replacement. Sadly, on December 19, 2009, Linda found Legacy

dead in the pasture. “It appeared he had died suddenly and quietly:

there were no thrash marks around him. A necropsy later revealed

he had an intestinal hernia into his diaphragm,” she says. Zeulners

Silver Legacy left the breed a grand “legacy” of eight additional

silvers for the breed. However, in the space of a few short months

the Morgan world had lost two of its rare silver stallions—quite a

blow to such a tiny genetic pool.

The last foal sired by Sunka is the appropriately named Zeulners

Last Hurrah (x Renwood Lila B), a 2008 chestnut (carrying silver)

stallion bred by the Zeulners and recently sold. Shortly afterwards

the Zeulners disbanded their Morgan herd. Their small breeding

program had made a huge contribution to the Morgan world, and

without their efforts we might never have discovered that silver still

existed in the Morgan breed.

The only other silver offspring of Foxton Fawn that has bred

on is Whitings Bright Star. She has had two buckskin silver colts

for her owner Karleen Gose: Inyan Silver Sage (by HMSTD Rum

Runner) in 2006 and Inyan Silver Buckshot (by HMSTD Electric

Cowboy) in 2008.

the Foxton Smokey DaWn Family

Foxton Felicia’s other registered Morgan daughter is the 1990 black

silver mare, Foxton Smokey Dawn (Topside Midnight x Foxton

Felicia). Dawn’s sire, Topside Midnight, was the 1982 AMHA Open

Competition winner at irst and second level dressage, ridden by

14-year-old Laura Paling-Claborn. “I regret that we didn’t have

Topside Midnight long enough to produce more silver dapples

from Felicia. There wasn’t the interest in the color at that time,”

38 March 2011

Nancy muses now. The black stallion’s quiet

disposition was a good cross for Felicia.

Foxton Smokey Dawn has the laidback

personality of her sire. She is used as a

pony horse for youngsters, and for moving

horses around the ranch.

This is the smaller of the two branches

of the Felicia family, but it is a growing

one! Dawn has had 5 registered Morgan

offspring for Foxton Morgans. Her irst foal

was a silver illy that unfortunately did not

survive. Her second foal is Dawn’s only other

silver offspring to date, the 2002 brown

silver mare Foxton Frosty Dawn (by Foxton

Society Beau). Purchased by the author at

three days of age from Foxton, Frosty has a

friendly, people loving personality and an

amusing love of water. On hot days she will

“volunteer” for showers by standing by the

pasture gate and begging to be hosed off.

Frosty has gone on to carry the torch for

her dam in a big way— she has had four

foals so far, and all four have been silvers!

Frosty’s irst foal was born in 2006

and was by the palomino stallion Gone

Gold. Bred by the author, the colt was

named “Unconventional,” both because of

his unusual color—he is a bay silver—and

because of the circumstances surrounding

his birth. I was scheduled to speak on

Morgan color genetics at the AMHA

Convention in February 2006. Frosty went

overdue and I could not leave her to go to

Convention. Hence the colt was my UN

Convention!

“Connor” as he is known to his friends,

is now owned by Lyle and Cindy Dietz of

Coulee Bend Morgans in Galahad, Alberta.

“When we started our search for a new

colt to add to our breeding program, we

looked for all the usual things,” Cindy

says. “The colt had to be outstanding

Morgan type, be an easy, natural mover

showing great athleticism—length of

stride and impulsion. He had to have

great conformation and that little extra

‘something’ that drew your eye back for a

second, then a third look. He had to have

a soft eye, chiseled features, and of course,

the Morgan attitude—that is curious,

willing, personable and very trainable. We

found those attributes in Unconventional.

These were all irst and foremost—and as

an added bonus—‘Connor’ is a rare silver

dapple bay.”

Connor has sired three registered

Morgan foals so far and two have inherited

his silver gene. The eldest, a chestnut (silver

carrier) Coulee Bend Orion (x Coulee Bend

Contessa), is now owned by Linda Sterling

of Sterling Morgan Horses. A two-year-old

in 2011, Orion will breed a few select mares

for Linda this year. Connor’s other silver

offspring is the 2010 colt Coulee Bend Pure

Silver (x Dody Little Bell SRDA), also a

chestnut silver carrier, now living in Alaska

with Pat Kearney.

Foxton Frosty Dawn was bred back to

Gone Gold and in 2007, Positively Charmed

was foaled. ‘Charli’ color tested to have both

her sire’s cream gene and her dam’s silver

gene, on a black base coat, making her the

irst (and so far only) smoky black silver

in the breed. Charli’s friendly personality

endears her to everyone she meets, and

she inherited her dam’s love of water—no

water trough is safe from her attempts at

swimming! Charli is owned by the author,

and plans are to eventually breed her.

In late 2007 Char Cook of Edgeield

Morgans in Goshen, IN leased Frosty,

and the following year the plucky little

mare added a third silver to her incredible

production record. Edgeield Vermeil is a

beautiful buckskin silver illy by the Cook’s

Sunup Neptune son, Edgeield Sun Gold.

“Maddie is a real diva,” Charlene says.

“Whenever anyone comes to visit, she

knows they are here to see her, and runs to

the barn for attention. She has a heart of

gold, and loves people.” Maddie has been

successfully shown in open halter classes

by Rachel Longacre, one of Char’s young

riding students. Her color has attracted

much attention at those shows!

Frosty was leased again, this time to

Candi Rousseau of Tocara Farm Morgans

in North Bennington, VT. “The spunky,

sweet brown silver dapple mare Foxton

Frosty Dawn came to us simply by good

timing,” Candi says. “I decided in 2009

that I would like to add a little silver into

our small herd of mostly duns here. I just

happened to mention to Frosty’s then-

owner Laura Behning what I was looking

for. Bloodlines are always an important

part of my decisions of what mares to

permanently add into our program and I

love what Laura has done with her silver

dapples. I love a good blend of Jubilee

King, Flyhawk and Lippitt. When she

offered Frosty to me for a lease, I jumped

at the chance.” It did not take long before

Frosty was part of the family. “We run a

youth program here and one of the girls

took a liking right away to Frosty,” Candi

says. The mare endeared herself to the

youngsters, not only because of her friendly

nature but because her smaller size was less

threatening to the more timid children.

Candi purchased Frosty shortly before she

gave birth to her fourth foal, who was—

40 March 2011

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