Genetics

All horses in ETG have a DNA string that makes up their identity regarding both visual appearance and personality. Horses have genes for both coat color and markings, but also temperament and traits.

Appearance genes

Base coat color

The coat color is determined by the red gene (E) which determines if the horse should be black or chestnut (red). The gene can be either dominant (E) or recessive (e). Recessive e results in a chestnut horse, while dominant E results in a black horse. The dominant Agouti gene (A) brightens hair on dark horses, but leaving the legs black — creating a bay from a black horse. While recessive Agouti (a) makes the horse entirely black.

Dilution genes

Other genes dilute and affect the coat in different ways, such as Cream (Cr) or Dun (D).

These coat genes exist in the game today:

E/e - red gene

A/a- Agouti, brightens the body but keeps legs and mane/tail black

G - grey gene, dilutes the coat into a grey (white) color

Cr - cream, brightens the coat color

D - dun, gives dun characteristics such as dorsal stripe and zebra markings on legs

F - flaxen, brightens mane and tail

P - pangaré, brightens the hair on the belly and muzzle

Coats

These are all possible coat colors in ETG so far:

Chestnut - e

Flaxen chestnut - e, F

Red Dun - e, D

Palomino - e, Cr

Dunalino (Palomino Dun) - e, Cr, D

Cremello - e, CrCr

Black - E, a

Grey Dun - E, a, D

Smoky Black - E, a, Cr

Smoky Grey Dun - E, a, Cr, D

Smoky Cream - E, a, CrCr

Bay - E, A

Bay Dun - E, A, D

Pangaré Bay Dun - E, A, D, P

Buckskin - E, A, Cr

Dunskin (Buckskin Dun) - E, A, Cr, D

Perlino - E, A, CrCr

Grey - G

Other appearance attributes such as eye color and white markings are also determined by genes.

Dominant and recessive genes

The gene tab explains which genes are present and which are dominant or recessive. A grey slot indicates that that gene is not present. A dark pink indicates that the gene is dominant, while light pink indicates that the gene is recessive.

Personality genes

The horse’s personality in terms of Temperament, Defining Trait and Secondary Traits is set by its personality genes, found in the Personality section of the gene tab.

Inheritance

Coat color, manes, tails, eye color, height, potential, temperament and traits are all inherited from the parents.

The offspring’s potential in each stat will land somewhere in between, or slightly above or below the parents' potential in that stat. Likewise, the foal’s height will most often land somewhere between the parents, but can possibly be bigger or smaller.

Pedigree

In the Pedigree tab, the player can see each horse’s family tree, as well as some information about its ancestors.