The Horse Colors Site

Pangare, also called Mealy, or sometimes "donkey type shading", or just "lighter shading"

This term refers to a considerably lighter shade of the body color on the muzzle, underbelly, the inner part of the upper hind legs, and so on.  It can be quite variable in amount.  It is most commonly seen on draft and pony breeds, and on almost all mules and donkeys.  (The effect may have an entirely different genetic cause in donkeys and mules, though.  Nobody really knows yet.)  It is very common in Haflingers and Belgians, and similar breeds.  In the past it was suggested that it was caused by a single dominant gene.  However, we now have photos of pangare-marked horses from parents that had none, and horses with no pangare from parents which were both so marked.  This rules out a simple, single gene, either dominant or recessive.  In this respect it is similar to flaxen.  Some have suggested that it may simply be one end of the lighter-to-darker "shade" spectrum, but some horses are fairly dark shades of their color yet still show pangare shading.  At this time there has been no research into the genetic mechanism of this coloring, yet.

Anyone who has bred families of pangare-shaded horses and has any interesting info to share regarding the frequency of its appearance, rate at which it seems to be passed on, varying levels of expression, etc., we would be pleased to hear from you.

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