<![CDATA[The Colorful Chincoteague

<![CDATA[The Colorful Chincoteague - Blog]]>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:07:25 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Tested Pony: Lainey]]>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 14:25:58 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/tested-pony-laineyLainey is a 2025 filly by Don Leonard Stud II and out of Milly Sue. Both of her parents are still on Assateague and she's a full sister to 2024 buyback Jan's Little Piece of Heaven. Lainey looks quite a bit like her full sister. Since Lainey is now in Etalon's database we'll be able to parent verify other foals of her parents and the future foals of her sister. Thanks to her owner Brianne for testing her and sharing the results!
Lainey's color test results: A/a, e/e, nd1/nd1, SW1/n, TO/n, W20/n

Lainey is a chestnut, e/e. She carries an unseen copy of the bay causing agouti, A/a. Since she doesn't have black agouti down't have anything to do so can only be found via testing. There's quite a lot of evidence that her sire Don Leonard Stud II has two copies of agouti. He's never sired a black foal, even out of black mares like Milly Sue. His tested foals like Lainey have had agouti.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/chestnut.html
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/bay.html

She has two copies of nd1 which can cause primitive markings like dorsal stripes.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/primitivemarkings...

Lainey is heterozygous for tobiano or TO/n. Only her sire is a tobiano so only he could pass it on to her.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html

Lainey has quite a lot of white and a partial blue eye which indicates she has more white patterns than only tobiano. Her dam is a Riptide daughter so I wasn't too surprised to see she has one copy of Splashed White 1. She also has White 20! Lainey's the 2nd Chincoteague to test as having W20. The first was a Riptide daughter, perhaps it comes from him. Something to think about!
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/splash.html
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/white20.html

]]><![CDATA[Wildest Dreams]]>Sun, 05 Apr 2026 14:24:26 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/wildest-dreamsWildest Dreams was born in 2008 and her sire was the bay tobiano Miracle Man and her dam was the bay Natural Innocence. Have had a soft spot for her since she gave me a good look-over when she was a foal in the old south corral. She's a year older full sister to Miracle's Natural Beauty. They went on the lam together when they were young, earning the nicknames Thelma and Louise. The two swam the channel and were spotted headed towards town before being apprehended by the authorities. She also picked up the nickname American Girl before we knew the name her donor gave her. Unlike her sister who's had 4 buybacks, Wildest Dreams has only had one; the short lived black tobiano Mariner's Elegy. She's had limited foals because for quite a few years she was in the herd of Little Dolphin, aka Neptune, who went sterile. But thanks to her sister there's no lack of her bloodline in the herd.

Wildest Dreams is a bay like both of her parents. Since she's had a black foal that tells us that she has one copy of the bay causing agouti. She might have two copies of black, aka homozygous, since she hasn't had a chestnut. Looking at Natural Innocence's foals her dam may have been homozygous for black also.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/bay.html

She's a dark bay and can be considered a brown. Her sire Miracle Man was a similar dark shade of bay. Right now there isn't a known genetic difference to brown, but there very likely could be. But for now they test the same as bays.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/brown.html
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/colorshade.html

Since only Wildest Dream's sire was tobiano she has one copy of tobiano. Three of her six foals have been solid and three have been tobiano.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html

She's one I've eyed for having something other than just tobiano. Contemplated it since she was a foal with that big blaze and the irregular look of her pinto pattern. Can't know for sure without testing but another daughter of Miracle Man tested to have Eden White 3. I think it's extremely likely she has it too.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/eden-white.html

Wildest Dreams probable color genetics: possible E/E, A/a, TO/n, possible EDXW3

]]><![CDATA[Tested Pony: Merry Teapot's High Bid]]>Sun, 05 Apr 2026 14:19:59 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/tested-pony-merry-teapots-high-bidMerry Teapot's High Bid was born in 1991 and had quite an influence on today's herd. I've featured most all of her family so I figured I should finally write about her! Merry Teapot was sired by buckskin Gunner's Moon and her dam was bay tobiano Sweet Mischief, aka Goose. Her 2000 buckskin daughter Salt Water Taffee (laying by her head in the first photo), 2004 bay daughter Daisey, and 2010 buckskin tobiano daughter Molly's Rosebud were all kept as part of the Assateague herd. All three of those daughters have had daughters kept also. Merry Teapot's devoted buyback donor Karen Peck owns her 2008 son (he's at her feet in the second photo). Karen is also the donor of her granddaughter Rosie's Teapot. Another son, the buckskin Spirit of the Wind, is owned by the current managers of the Chincoteague Pony Centre.

Merry Teapot was a buckskin like her sire Gunner's Moon. She was a bay with one copy the cream dilution. Two of her buyback daughters are buckskin and she passed cream along to about half her foals. She never had a black foal so she it appears she had two copies of the bay causing agouti. Merry Teapot also carried recessive chestnut, her palomino foals tell us that.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/buckskin.html

Only her dam Goose was a tobiano so Merry Teapot could only have one copy of tobiano. She also had several solid colored foals to tell us that.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html

Merry Teapot was a minimal tobiano and that's something that can be seen in many of her descendants. The inheritance of that isn't testable but we can see how it can be inherited in her family.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/minimaltobiano.html

]]><![CDATA[Tested Pony: Misty's Summer Rainstorm]]>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 23:15:51 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/tested-pony-mistys-summer-rainstormMisty's Summer Rainstorm is a flashy Misty descendant stallion that lives at 4S Chincoteague Ponies. See more of him and his foals here: Chincoteague Ponies for SALE. One of Shiloh's foals is accomplished dressage pony Chip - Legacy's Island Renegade. His first daughter Navaeh got some attention last year when she adopted the filly born on Assateague missing a hoof. Shiloh's sire is the chestnut tobiano Misty's Rainstorm and his dam is the bay tobiano Island Jazz. We're happy to have his genetics in Etalon's database in case some of his foals need identification in the future and if the foals of one of his half brothers who was also a stallion do too. Thanks to his owner Deanna for letting us test him!

Misty's Summer Rainstorm's test results: A/a, E/e, nd1/nd2, TO/TO, EDXW2/n
Shiloh is a bay with one copy of agouti, A/a. He carries chestnut recessively from his chestnut sire, E/e.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/bay.html

His primitive markings test shows as nd1/nd2. This means he and some of his foals might have primitive markings like a dorsal stripe.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/primitivemarkings...

Both of Shiloh's parents are tobiano and he inherited it from both of them, it shows as TO/TO. That's also called homozygous for tobiano. Because of that all of his foals are tobiano.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html

He has cat tracks and tobiano roaning. These are not exclusive to homozygous tobianos but are more common on them.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/cattracks.html
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/roaning.html

Due to the flashy look of his tobiano pattern and that big blaze I always figured he had something other than just tobiano. My guess was splashed white but nope. He has one copy of Eden White 2! EDXW2 is also likely why a couple of his foals have had a blue eye as it's been found to cause those.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/eden-white.html

]]><![CDATA[Molly's Rosebud]]>Sun, 15 Mar 2026 23:25:48 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/mollys-rosebudMolly's Rosebud is a 2010 mare who is sired by the Maryland born chestnut tobiano Spirit of Assateague. Her dam was the buckskin tobiano Merry Teapot's High Bid. Molly is the spitting image of her dam, down to the Arabian characteristics inherited from her damsire Gunner's Moon. Everyone noticed her resemblance to her dam when she was born! Three of Molly's foals have been kept for the herd, all by different sires: her first foal in 2013 Rosie's Teapot, 2021 mare Ms Shampine, and 2022 mare Miss Holy Smokes.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/assateague-horses...
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/arabian.html

Molly is a buckskin so she's a bay with one copy of the cream dilution. She has black and one copy of agouti which restricts her black to her legs and mane/tail. She's had 3 black foals so that's why we know she has one copy of agouti. Because her sire is chestnut she carries chestnut recessively. Her one chestnut foal also tells us this.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/bay.html

The cream dilution lightens her body color to it's golden color. She inherited cream from her buckskin dam who inherited it from her sire. Roughly 50% of her foals will also be cream dilutes.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/buckskin.html

Molly is a tobiano pinto like both of her parents. She inherited one copy and we know this because she's had a solid foal.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html

She's a pretty minimal tobiano. Almost a cryptic tobiano like her dam was. Molly's only white is on her legs, a star, snip, a large spot on her rump, and stripe across both sides of her neck. Several of her foals have also been minimal. Something is suppressing their white to make her and the ponies in her family minimal, but research hasn't found it yet.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/minimaltobiano.html

]]><![CDATA[Historical Pony: Nosey]]>Sun, 08 Mar 2026 21:05:15 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/historical-pony-noseyNosey, also known as Nag Me Not or Spots was born in 1984 or 1985. Her old ID number was 78 which was branded on her left shoulder. I have a feeling that she was nosey to the folks that were naming the ponies back in the mid 90's! Her parents are unknown at this time. Her only known offspring kept for the herd was the buckskin tobiano Honeybee who was the most recently featured historical pony. Nosey is one we have to use her foals to figure out things about her genetics since we don’t know what her parents colors were.

She was a chestnut so she passed chestnut on to all her foals. Nosey was recorded as having one chestnut foal and two palominos. May have had more but records get thinner as time goes back. Since she was chestnut that means both of her parents either were chestnut or carried it recessively.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/chestnut.html

Nosey had a black in 2000 so that means she didn’t have the bay causing agouti or she only had one copy. She had 3 buckskin foals and one bay, all by buckskin stallions.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/bay.html

One of Nosey’s nicknames was Spots, and you can see why by her extensive cat tracks. That’s the main thing I remember about her before I knew anything else about her. That many cat tracks is often an indication that a pony has two copies of tobiano. It appears to be the case with her as all of Nosey's foals that we know of were tobiano. If she did have two copies of tobiano that means both of her parents were tobiano.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/cattracks.html

]]><![CDATA[Tested Pony: Xanadu of Chincoteague]]>Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:08:02 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/tested-pony-xanadu-of-chincoteagueXanadu of Chincoteague is a 2025 filly that was sold at the Pony Penning auction. Her sire is the bay Thunderbolt and her dam is the bay tobiano Amari's Journey. Both are living on Assateague. She's the first foal of both of her parents to be tested. Many thanks to her owner Barbara for testing her!

Xanadu of Chincoteague's test results: A/a, E/E, nd1/nd2, TO/n, EDXW3/EDXW3
Xanadu is a bay and since both of her parents are also it was a possibility for her to have two copies of black and the bay causing agouti. However, both of her parents carry recessive chestnut and her older full sibling is chestnut. Xanadu's test results show that she didn't get the chestnut and has two copies of black, E/E. And she only inherited one copy of agouti, A/a.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/bay.html

She has one copy of non-dun1 that can cause primitive markings like dorsal stripes.Then also one copy of non-dun2 which can remove them. This showed on her test as nd1/nd2.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/primitivemarkings...

Only her dam Amari's Journey is tobiano pinto. So she inherited one copy of tobiano from her dam, TO/n. Her dam might have two copies, we'll have to wait and see.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html

What I found really interesting is she's homozygous for white pattern Eden White 3, aka EDXW3/EDXW3. While several Chincoteagues have been tested to have EDXW3, Xanadu is first Assateague born tested to have two copies. Her test result means that both Thunderbolt and Amari's Journey have Eden White 3. I have hair from two more Thunderbolt foals so I'm interested to see if either or both have it too. Whenever I get around to testing it. The Eden group of white patterns are one of the newest discovered and we're still learning what they do. So far it seems they will add white markings and boosts other white/pinto patterns. It didn't really do that on Xanadu because...
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/eden-white.html

It's not testable at this time but she appears to have something that's stopping/suppressing the amount of white tobiano and eden white 3 are trying to put on her. Xanadu's considered a minimal tobiano pinto since her only white is on her legs and a strip across her neck.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/minimaltobiano.html

Thanks to this test we can now verify parentage from both of her parents through Etalon's ancestry program!

]]><![CDATA[Tornado's Prince of Tides]]>Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:05:09 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/tornados-prince-of-tidesTornado’s Prince of Tides is one of the 2007 stallions, who are now becoming seniors. His sire was buckskin tobiano Tornado and his dam was solid chestnut Sand Cherry. You can watch his auction here: https://youtu.be/1h-fBkAMON4. Prince has had a bunch of foals kept for the herd: Badabing, Calceti’n, Dakota’s Promise, Little Miss Sunshine, Marina’s Marsh Mallow, Randy, Tidewater Princess, CLG Bay Princess, Judy’s Sunshine, Cher’s Hope, and CLG Apollo.

Prince is a chestnut with one copy of the cream dilution. Cream turns the chestnut into palomino. Like many palominos Prince’s winter coat is quite a bit lighter than his summer coat.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/palomino.html

It appears he has one copy of agouti. Agouti is what causes bays, but it has nothing to do on a palomino so it’s visually hidden. Prince has sired bay/buckskins out of black mares. And he has also sired black foals. Prince couldn’t do either of these things if he two copies of agouti. So the conclusion is he has one copy.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/bay.html

Prince’s dam was solid so he could only have one copy of tobiano. He has also sired solid foals so that would tell us he has one copy if we didn’t know what his dam looked like.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html

]]><![CDATA[Historical Pony: Honeybee]]>Sun, 15 Feb 2026 21:15:44 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/historical-pony-honeybeeHoneybee was a buckskin tobiano mare born in 1990. Her sire was a solid buckskin Quarter Horse and her dam was chestnut tobiano Nosey. Her parents were only recently discovered! Her donors originally named her Misty Morning and she was named Honeybee by the Chincoteague Pony Association several years later. Her ID number was A29 which was branded on her shoulder. She appeared to have only had one foal kept for the herd, 1999 buyback God’s Grace. Her 1995 son Spur Decision was an off island stallion. Honeybee passed away the winter of 2013/2014.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/quarter-horse.html

Honeybee was a buckskin like her sire. A buckskin is a bay with the cream dilution. About half her foals were palomino or buckskin, which is what’s expected. Her only buyback was a buckskin.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/buckskin.html

Honeybee never had a black foal so it’s possible she had two copies of agouti. Agouti is what results in a bay so a pony with two copies of it can’t have a black.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/bay.html

She carried chestnut recessively because her dam was chestnut. Before knowing her dam was Nosey her chestnut and palomino foals told us that.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/chestnut.html

Honeybee was a tobiano pinto with one copy. Since only her dam was tobiano she could only inherit one copy. She had both tobiano and solid foals, her buyback was a solid. Another thing we could figure out using offspring before knowing who her parents were.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tobiano.html

She was considered a minimal tobiano, almost a cryptic tobiano. Honeybee’s only white was her four white legs, standard for tobiano, and a stripe on her neck that gave her a white streak in her mane. Something was restricting the amount of white tobiano was wanting to put on her. Interestingly she has a lot less white than her dam did.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/minimaltobiano.html

]]><![CDATA[Tested Pony: SurfersRedHot&Blue]]>Sun, 08 Feb 2026 14:59:55 GMThttps://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/tccblog/tested-pony-surfersredhotblueSurfersRedHot&Blue, nicknamed Buddy, is a 2019 gelding born at Walnut Hill in Pennsylvania. Buddy has a lot of family on Assateague. His sire is WH Salt Marsh, a son of Archer's Gambit and Surfer Dude's Gidget. His sire also sired WH Surf and Sun, better known as Surfette, who lives on Assateague and is a full brother to SCC Surfer's Point Break, a young stallion on Assateague. Buddy's dam was WH Fire Ball, a daughter of Ken and Kimmee Sue, who is a full sister to Assateague mare Sue's Crown of Hope. Now that he's in Etalon's database he'll connect with all this family in ancestry family testing! Buddy lives at Kerkaken Acres and is an up and coming young riding pony. Here's a video of him strutting his stuff at Kerkaken's open house last July: https://youtu.be/oXVvbboC2oY His owner/trainer Kerra is riding him.
SurfersRedHot&Blue test results: A/a, e/e, nd2/nd2, SW1/n, W35/n, EDXW3/n

Buddy is a chestnut like both of his parents, shown on his test as e/e. He has one not visible copy of agouti, shown as A/a.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/chestnut.html

He doesn't have any primitive markings like a dorsal stripe. Buddy's test showed he doesn't have the mutation for it as nd2/nd2. It does run in his family but he didn't get it.
Splashed White 1 is on both sides of Buddy's family so it wasn't a surprise when the test revealed he had it. Me and some friends had speculated he might have two copies of SW1, but he only has one. Instead Buddy has both White 35 and Eden White 3! Having these two plus SW1 is likely why he's so flashy and has two blue eyes.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/splash.html
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/white35.html
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/eden-white.html

Buddy is quite a dark chestnut, something common in his sire's family. There's every indication it's from sooty which adds black hairs and darkens a pony's coat. It isn't testable but appears to be inherited as we can see in the Surfer Dude family.
https://www.thecolorfulchincoteague.com/sooty.html

There was some question as to Buddy's damsire back when his dam was born, Ken vs Courtney's Boy. His ancestry test answered the question when a Ken x Kimmee Sue daughter showed up as a 2nd degree relation. So that told us that mare is his dam's full sister.

]]>