Mushroom

Basic coat colours may be diluted by different genetic variations like cream, pearl, champagne, sunshine, snowdrop, dun or silver.\n\nMushroom is a dilute coat color found in Shetland Ponies that is characterized by a distinctive sepia-toned body hair color, often accompanied by a flaxen mane and tail. The genetic variant is inherited in an autosomal recessive mode.\nMushroom dilutes red pigment (phaeomelanin) so it is mostly seen on a chestnut coat colour. The mushroom phenotype shows wide variation in shade and has similarities to cream and silver dilutions, although it is genetically distinct from both. \nOn a basic colour bay the mushroom variant shows a sepia coloured body hair but no influence on the black mane and tail, because here the colour is caused by eumelanin. \nBlack horses phenotype is not modified even if the horse is homozygous for the mushroom variant. \n