What is Rabicano?

What is Rabicano? . . .

Rabicano is a horse coat color that is a partial roaning pattern. Rabicano horses usually have white hairs intermingled with the base coat color in limited areas, not over the entire body. This roan-like effect is caused by a genetic modifier that creates a mealy, splotchy, or roaning pattern, usually limited to the belly, flanks, legs, tailhead, or any combination thereof. Unlike a true roan, most of the horse's body will not have intermingled white and solid hairs over the entire body, nor are the legs or head significantly darker than the rest of the horse. Instead, the rabicano pattern can appear in a number of limited ways. The most minimal form is when a few white hairs occur on each side of a horse's tailhead. More common is a slightly more extensive expression of the gene resulting in the so-called "skunk-tail" along with roaning along the lower flank at the junction of the barrel and the stifle. In extensively expressed rabicanos, the roaning can extend forward along the barrel, appear as ticking or roaning inside the upper forelegs, and extend in extreme cases as far as the ears and jaws.

Rabicano is thought to be a dominant gene, according to the equine geneticist Sponenberg.

* Above Black Rabicano Sabino purebred mare is Blacklady Shafaandra owned by Nirvana Valley.

.: Patron Supporters :.

Click to join TheAuSableCollection

New horses, tack makers, customizers, Breeders and Show dates/results will be announced directly to members of this group. Our online show series will also be held here.

"The Horse: Friendship without envy, Beauty without vanity, Nobility without conceit, A willing partner, yet no slave."
~ Author Unknown

Legal Information

This is a MODEL HORSE site. Any real horses mentioned on this website are used for entertainment and educational purposes only & are indicated with a -r after their name.