Magical gene / fields and regions

Ladybug Saddle

A pair of wing panels over the barrel split by a black spine, veined in black, with a checkered collar where they meet the withers.

What it can come out as

Outcome	Carrying
Ladybug Saddle	`Lbs/Lbs` · `Lbs/Lbc` · `Lbs/n`
Ladybug Saddle, coloured	`Lbc/Lbc`
Wild type	`Lbc/n` · `n/n`

How each one is actually drawn - region by region, and the layers it is built from - is on the coding tab.

Crossing two of them

Finding one

About 1 in 1,786 wild horses is born showing this. That is the whole of the supply: catch one, or make one with the carrot below. Breeds set their own pools and a breed built around this gene will carry it far more often than the wild population does.

Wild pair	Shows as	How often
`Lbs/Lbs`	Ladybug Saddle	0.002% — 1 in 50,000
`Lbs/Lbc`	Ladybug Saddle	0.008% — 1 in 12,500
`Lbs/n`	Ladybug Saddle	0.038% — 1 in 2,632
`Lbc/Lbc`	Ladybug Saddle, coloured	0.008% — 1 in 12,500
`n/n`	Wild type	99.944%

Its gene carrot

The file

common/src/main/resources/horsegenetics/genes/ladybug_saddle.json — a data-driven gene, not a Java class. It is listed in the index.json beside it and registered by Genes' class initialiser at startup.

Key	`horsegenetics.ladybug_saddle`
Phase	magical — it adds signed colour in phase 3, after the pigment has resolved
Priority	275 — where it sits in the one `(priority, key)` paint order
Alleles	`Lbs` · `Lbc` · `n`
Varies per horse	6 values drawn once off the expressing allele copy, so a foal that inherits the copy inherits the look
Built from	AXIS, CENTERLINE, CRACKLE, SPOTS, TOWARD

Why it is built this way

Imported from the magic-gene intake, 2026-09-08. The panel is one shape with the spine drawn back through it, rather than two panels placed either side - which is what guarantees the split is straight and central however the panel is sized.

The source asked for a black-and-white CHECKERED collar. There is no checker mask; this is a tight spot field on a narrow band at the top of the neck, which reads as broken rather than as squares. Worth a look on a bake before anyone calls it done.

What it paints

Each outcome, described the way the gene file describes it, and then the layers that draw it in the order they are painted. The prose is the part a reader checks a bake against; the list underneath is what the engine actually did.

Ladybug Saddle

The panel is one shape and the spine is drawn back through it, rather than two panels drawn separately - which is what guarantees the split is straight and central however the panel is sized. The veins are a crackle field clipped to the panel, so they stop where it does.

the two wing panels — AXIS × AXIS, painted with TOWARD
the spine stripe between them — CENTERLINE × AXIS × AXIS, painted with TOWARD
forked veins across the panels — AXIS × AXIS × CRACKLE inverted, painted with TOWARD
a checkered collar at the withers — AXIS × SPOTS, painted with TOWARD

Ladybug Saddle, coloured

The same saddle with the panels in a colour the line carries - the pink and red end of the wheel, which is where a ladybird lives. Fully recessive.

the two wing panels — AXIS × AXIS, painted with TOWARD
the spine stripe between them — CENTERLINE × AXIS × AXIS, painted with TOWARD
forked veins across the panels — AXIS × AXIS × CRACKLE inverted, painted with TOWARD
a checkered collar at the withers — AXIS × SPOTS, painted with TOWARD

Wild type

No saddle.

Paints nothing.