Our next featured tested pony is another bald faced chestnut that was born on Assateague. This is Wave Runner's Kenzie owned by Wave Runner Chincoteague Ponies in Ohio. As her name implies she's a daughter of Ken and her dam is Kimmee Sue. She's full sister to Sue's Crown of Hope who is the buyback of Kenzie's owner and is named for her late owner Sue Lowery. The last time I talked to Sue was about her new filly she'd just bought, Kenzie. The first photo is a picture I took of Kenzie at the auction.
Kenzie tested as e/e which is unsurprising because she's a chestnut and that's what they test as. More interesting is that she tested as A/A which means she carries two copies of Agouti. Chestnuts have no black for agouti to do anything to but any black based foals she would have could only be bay based. Her bald face and socks are from her having one copy of Splashed White 1. These markings are pretty common for a pony having one copy of SW1. Her sire Ken appears to have SW1 which he likely would have inherited from his dam Star Gazer. But there's some indications that her dam Kimmee Sue may have SW1 too, also inherited from her dam. She's had two foals and both were homozygous splashed white so the test wasn't a surprise. Kenzie has a little bit of blue in an eye which is another common characteristic of SW1. Kenzie tested as nd1/nd2 and as you can see she has a dorsal stripe. nd1 is what causes ponies to have dorsal stripes and other primitive markings. Thanks to Rebekah Hart for her 2023 pictures of Kenzie.
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This beautifully marked 2002 filly is the third from last foal of Strawberry Lady. Her dam was the last sabino roan mare in the herd when she died in 2006. It appears the filly inherited everything her parents had to offer her. She has her dam's sabino and the roan. As she started to shed out right before the auction some roaning can be seen. The filly's sire is chestnut tobiano Cherokee Chief and she inherited his tobiano as well.
As you can see by the watermark, Kelly Lidard took these photos. In her notes she had nicknamed this filly Misty Rose. Can definitely see why since she greatly resembles the cover of Misty of Chincoteague. The filly sold for $3,500 at the Pony Penning auction to a new home. Strawberry Lady was the last sabino roan in the Virginia herd when she died in 2008. She was better known as Rosie and her CVFC ID number was 19. Rosie has no known descendants in the current herd. She's thought to be a daughter of A Touch of Dust, they looked a great deal alike and spent much of their life together. If they were mother and daughter then she's a half sister to current herd mare Tuleta Star.
This is Rosie's 1999 filly. She inherited his dam's sabino and her sire's tobiano. Can't really tell if she inherited the roaning too. The filly was sold at the auction for $1,600 to a family from California and was named StormWatch. You can faintly see Rosie's number #19 on her rump. This gorgeous stallion was a popular foal when he was born on Assateague in 2014. He's a son of Surfer Dude and Diamond's Jewel and is named Wave Runner's Phantom of the Waves. He lives at Wave Runner Chincoteague Ponies in Ohio. The first photo is one I took of him as a foal.
Phantom tested as e/e so he's a chestnut. All chestnuts test as such. He passes one copy of chestnut on to all of his foals and all of his foals with chestnut mares are chestnut. He tested as a/a which means he does not carry agouti. He can't sire a bay without a mare providing agouti. Any foals with black mares will be black or chestnut (if the mare carries recessive chestnut). Phantom has a half bald face which gave him his name and the test tells us why he has that marking. He tested as having one copy of Splashed White 1. His sire and half brother Surfer's Riptide also appear to have SW1. Interestingly his dam appeared to have SW1 too so Phantom could have received it from either parent. Phantom has a 3/4 brother, a daughter, a granddaughter and another close relative that are homozygous splashed white so the test result wasn't a big surprise. Phantom has a couple things that we can't test for at this time, sooty and flaxen. Both run in his sire's family so it seems to be genetic in some way. Thanks to Rebekah Hart for the 2023 pictures of Phantom of the Waves! There's a new major discovery in horse color! Eden White is a new pinto or white pattern that was found on the HPS5 gene. What makes it a major discovery is it was found on a gene that white patterns hadn't been found on before. Chincoteague Ponies were included in the initial study and is one of the breeds it was found in. This is the first time Chincoteagues have been in an initial study of a major color discovery!
Etalon Equine Genetics researchers found three types of Eden White: EDXW1, EDXW2, and EDXW3. Even though Eden White is a new discovery it appears to be very old because it was found in a wide variety of breeds. It's found in Welsh Ponies, Shetlands, and Quarter Horses that have been crossed into Chincoteagues. It appears to be what gives draft horses such as Clydesdale and Shires their white markings. And like the Shire foal in this Etalon graphic. The white in drafts has been long sought after. The horses identified as having Eden White have a wide range of the amount of white they have. From minimal amounts, such as only markings like stars and socks. To large amounts, such as obvious body spotting. Roaning is possible. Blue eyes have been found. Its interactions with other pinto patterns is still being looked at. Chestnut horses with EDXW1 and EDXW3 will have more white than black or bay horses. The individual Chincoteague Ponies that have tested positive for Eden White haven't been identified. When I know of any I'll definitely share! My website has been updated to add this new discovery. For more information: https://www.etalondx.com/news-media/etalon-equine-genetics-discovers-three-new-white-marking-variants-in-a-new-gene/ Recommend listening to Etalon's podcast episode about Eden White. Chincoteagues get a mention! https://geneticsunbridled_horse_dna.buzzsprout.com/2238205/14108529?fsuid=%2317HZ9P%23104ed1e6-69e2-4bcd-9941-fd83542a36e9%3Aa5817356-0a8f-4082-9b16-6fe02a93d90d%3A1711457988631%3A%3A5%23%2F1742993998 Link to the research study abstract: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871141324000611 A Touch of Dust was the next to the last chestnut sabino roan mare in the herd. She died May 2005 and her last foal Tuleta Star is still on Assateague. Here she is as a young mare in 1987 with a foal. The foal has tobiano, from the sire, and it also appears to have her sabino. The foal has quite a lot of white and the edges of the white are jagged which is indicative of sabino combined with tobiano.
I'm excited to announce that my redesigned and expanded website is now live!
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Amanda Geci
Info and updates about Chincoteague Pony Color. These are also posted to my Facebook Page. ArchivesCategories |