This is a non-commercial, independent website, owned and written by Nancy Kerson, for the benefit of actual and potential adopters of BLM Mustangs and Burros and similar animals.
DVD or VHS (2-DVD or 2-VHS set) almost 3 hours of instruction!
$39.95 plus $5 shipping/handling = $44.95 total
Lesley Neuman: The First Touch Gentling Your Mustang $45.00
Lesley works with 3 wild horses at a BLM adoption, and very clearly explains what is happening, what she is doing, & what she sees in each horse as it progresses. Study this video and you can learn "pressure and release" gentling techniques to gentle your own new mustang!
Help for Burro adopters! Crystal Ward Donkey Training
All the basics of gentling, handling, and training. A MUST for new burro adopters! Good for domestic donkeys, too!
Dun and buckskin are color patterns that result from entirely different genetic agents, and they are actually easy to tell apart if you can get up close to the horse. From a distance it is hard to tell the difference sometimes. The main problem in identifying them is terminology. For many years, the American Quarter Horse Association did not properly distinguish between them, so many people coming out of that background still get them mixed up.
Both dun and buckskin are the result of DILUTION agents, which both act to bleach to dilute the underlying body coat. For a complete description of dun factor markings, see DUN. The dun gene may also occur with any other base color or pattern, and it will affect that color in the same way: a diluted body coat with the underlying base color showing through for the dorsal and leg stripes, face, tips of ears, etc. Thus there can be a buckskin dun, which would be a horse carrying both dilution factors.
BAY is the base for both Buckskin and the most common Dun color - known variously as "zebra dun" "classis dun" "bay dun" or simply "dun" (although dun can occur on any color base)
BUCKSKIN
DUN
Both Buckskin and Dun result from a Dilution agent (Creme or Dun) acting on a BAY base
Dun horse owned by Carnahan Ranch
BUCKSKIN
DUN
From this distance it is hard to say for sure if this pair is buckskin or "buttermilk" dun; After the herd was captured by BLM in late 2004, we could tell for sure that these are buckskins
This rich orange-ish shade may resemble a light bay, but is seldom seen in buckskins. Even from a distance you can safely guess this is a dun
Here are wild horses in their winter shaggies. This is the most difficult time to tell the difference between dun and buckskin. But in the case of the dun horse (above) the dorsal stripe shows through (although sometimes it is not as easy as this) Although no stripes are visible on this yearling, we can guess that she is a dun (actually a grullo, which is dun on a black base) because of her dark face. When she was adopted and then shed out, this turned out to be true.
The most obvious difference between a dun and a buckskin is the presence or absence of a sharp, clear dorsal stripe. Buckskins sometimes have counter-shading that mimics a dorsal stripe, but in that case the stripe is wider, with fuzzy edges. There are many more components to the dun factor, but the dorsal is the easiest to look for and recognize.
Buckskin is often accompanied by seasonal dappling; Dun is not - a dun horse may have dapples if it carries other genetics, but the dun gene in itself is not associated with dappling
"Wild Bay" legs: Horses with the wild type of bay often have mottled lower legs that can resemble dun striping
Here is an example of sharp, clear "zebra" striping on the lower legs of a dun
Here is a dun with less clearly-marked leg stripes - note that one or two definite stripes can be seen just above the knee
since 9-19-06
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Disclaimer: Horses are inherently dangerous. Use the information contained within this website at your own risk.
