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Caitlin Tan wanted to breed her childhood horse, JP, because she’s been “amazing” — the type of animal any equestrian would be lucky to have once in a lifetime. 

Having access to coveted bloodlines increased the allure. Via the Miller Ranch, she could pair her 18-year-old mare with a stud descendent of Playboy’s Buck Fever. 

“If you’re in that world,” Tan said, “you know that horse.” 

So Tan and JP went down the road of bringing a new foal into the world — a first-time experience for the mother and her human. After a couple of stressful weeks of checking in on JP every few hours, Tan’s black-maned mare went into labor early on a Sunday morning.      

“As soon as he came out, I thought he looked weird,” Tan said. 

Caitlin Tan scratches the back of her new blue-eyed cremello foal on June 17 in Pinedale. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

The minutes-old foal’s eyes were a striking light blue. The skin on his face was pink. His coloration was creamy, touching on completely white.

A true albino animal would have pink eyes, not blue. Still, clearly something different was going on.

“I’ve had a couple old timers come out here,” said Tan, who works as a reporter at Wyoming Public Radio. “Everyone has been like, ‘I’ve never seen a horse like this.’”  

One of the Miller Ranch staff thought the youngster was a cremello. Tan’s vet agreed. A cremello horse, according to True West Magazine, is the result of two creme genes on a horse that would otherwise be red-colored.

A 3-week-old cremello foal butts up to his 18-year-old mother in Caitlin Tan’s backyard pasture in Pinedale on June 17. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

Tan thought about selling her spunky new cremello foal, partly because he’s poorly suited to life in the high desert at over 7,000 feet, where the sun’s strong. She’s a little horse broke, too, and could probably fetch a handsome sum for such a unique-looking stud coming from such renowned bloodlines. 

But Tan’s getting attached. For now, she’s just trying to think up what to call the now-month-old cremello foal. For a registered name, Playboy’s Key To My Heart is the frontrunner. As for the day-to-day moniker, Tan’s thinking something John Wayne-related — the animal and late actor share a birthday. 

“I know he went by The Duke, but I don’t really like that,” Tan said. “Taking suggestions.” 

Mike Koshmrl reports on Wyoming's wildlife and natural resources. Prior to joining WyoFile, he spent nearly a decade covering the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s wild places and creatures for the Jackson...

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  1. Great story and beautiful foal! As for a name for him: how about “Banner” said to be the name of John Wayne’s favorite horse? 😉

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