Grullo or Grulla

Explained in as simple of terms as possible!

Three different shades of grulla, sunbleached (late summer)

  [Definition] [Finding a Grullo] [Silver Grullo] [Foal Colors] [Grullo Links] [Genetics] [Request Color Help]

Grullo (pronounced "grew' yo" or "grew' ya") is the most rare color of quarter horses registered with the American Quarter Horse Association (2002), and because of its rarity, horses of this color command a premium price when offered for sale.  This increase in price varies from just a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars more than a sorrel or bay of equivalent quality.  Because so many of us like to stand out from the crowd, horses of non-typical colors have become highly sought after.  This is unfortunate for those of us who wish to buy these rare-colored horses, because good ones are hard to find!

What is a Grullo?

Simplest terms:  A grullo is a black horse with the dun gene.  Grullos range in color from light silvery-white to dark chocolate brown, and some almost look black.  

Grullos MUST have the following characteristics:

Grullos will often have other characteristics such as:

Grullo is the result of the dun factor "gene" on a black horse.  Grullo (used here for both masculine, and the feminine "grulla") is to black as dun is to bay, and as red dun is to sorrel.  They are just the colors that result when the dun factor is applied to the base coat colors.  This dun gene acts similarly to the creme gene in that it dilutes the base color, but not quite the same.  The following table shows what color results from three base horse coat colors when the dun or creme genes are passed by a parent to an offspring.  Back to Top

Combinations of the above colors, and others, exist.  For example, see Baileys Badland Buck, a palomino red dun (dunalino).  She carries both the creme and the dun genes on a base sorrel color.  Our late stallion, Blue Yahooty Hancock, is a base color black with the dun gene (making him grullo) AND the roan gene (making him a blue roan).  Most of the year, he looks grullo, but for a couple months of the year he is a blue roan with a dorsal stripe.  The same is true with Crowheart WYO Boy.

Genetics of the Grullo Color

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How Can I Get a Grullo?

1. Buy One.  Your best bet is to buy one from a reputable breeder who specializes in grullos (like us) if you want a foal, or to buy a mature grullo whose color is easy to determine.  Non-grullo specialists (breeders) often "think" they have a grullo foal, but the buyer ends up with a dun, gray, or a black in many cases.

2. Make One.  The other way is to try to breed for one.  There are few guarantees on this route, however!

To have a grullo foal, the best bet is to breed two grullos, or even to breed a black to a grullo.  The chance of having a grullo foal from two grullo parents has averaged less than 50% in some studies, but can be 100% in certain circumstances.  This varies, depending upon whether the dun factor and/or the black gene (lack of red factor) are homozygous in the sire and/or the dam, however. 

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[Definition] [Finding a Grullo] [Silver Grullo] [Foal Colors] [Grullo Links] [Genetics] [Request Color Help]

The Elusive Silver Grullo

Two silver grullo fillies at www.grullablue.com

Many people are looking for a silver grulla, and many breeders claim to have them. 

If you are looking for a silver grulla foal, educate yourself.

If you see a young foal that is silver-colored, you can about bet that it will be a black, a dark slate or medium slate grulla (or even a gray that will turn white and not even be a grulla at all!) at maturity.  Silver grulla foals are usually born a VERY light buff/cream color, and not a light gray color.  True silver grullas may have dark blue eyes (so dark that they look brown from a distance) according to some sources, but I think this is generally true only in the foal's early life. This is because one definition of a silver grullo is a "grullo that also carries a creme gene." The creme gene usually gives the foal blue eyes at birth.

Buy cautiously if you are trying to buy a silver grulla foal.  Many breeders advertise "silver grulla foals" who later shed out black or dark grulla.  Don't get taken!  Your best bet is to visit the farm and look at the under-color of the foal coat, or at the back of the foal's buttocks where it has begun to shed.  Even at that, grullas change so much in their first few years that luck will have to be considered a factor.  The only sure way to buy a silver grulla is to buy a mature horse that is silver!  Back to Top

Examples of Foal Coat Colors  

Grullo foals are often mistaken for dun foals, and even long-time breeders can be fooled.  Grullo foals have even been born red dun, only to shed out grullo within the first year.  Many black foals have been called grulla, only to shed off black around the age of 4 months.  We hope buyers will beware of buying such foals...how disappointing to pay a premium price for a grulla, only to find they have a black later in the year.

Generally, grullo foals are born a light tan color with a distinct dorsal stripe.  

To tell the difference between a grullo foal and a dun foal, look at the face.  Usually, a grullo foal will have black hair around the eyeballs and a black or gray mask of hair across the face/bridge of the nose.  A dun foal will have golden, orange, or brown hair in those two places.  Also, grullos will have black dorsal stripes, while dun foals will often have dark brown or dark red dorsal stripes.  Still, this doesn't always hold true!  Other grullo foal colors...click here

Grullo Foals

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Non-Grullo Horses

What color is YOUR foal?

The most common mistake people who contact me
make is in trying to get others to believe
that their foal or horse is the color they WANT him to be.

Many, many people have asked me over the past few years what color their foals were, and then have refused to accept my opinion because they so badly wanted their foal to be a different color.  As you try to figure out your foal's color, leave your personal preference out of it....go by the facts first.  Hopefully, you'll be pleased in the end!  But if not (for example, if you wanted him to be a grulla and he turns out to be a sooty buckskin), take comfort in the fact that you know the truth and can educate others about the differences between similar colors.

[Definition] [Finding a Grullo] [Silver Grullo] [Foal Colors] [Grullo Links] [Genetics] [Request Color Help]

To learn more about grullo and dun colors:

Click here to request help determining your horse or foal's color

Click here to request help determining your horse or foal's color

[Definition] [Finding a Grullo] [Silver Grullo] [Foal Colors] [Grullo Links] [Genetics] [Request Color Help] [Top]

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