Buckskin Color

The first unique horse coat color is buckskin. If you’ve ever seen the animated movie “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” or the Netflix original series “Spirit Riding Free,” then you’re already familiar with the most famous buckskin horses of recent history. Spirit’s color is one of the things that makes him so distinctive and able to stand out from the herd.

Buckskin horses are striking with the combination of a light coat and dark mane, tail, ears and legs. Many buckskins are cream-colored, but some are more golden or tan—it’s the dark points that count. Genetically speaking, a buckskin is a bay horse that has a cream gene, which lightens its base coat to that creamy buckskin shade.

It’s easy to get confused by the terms “dun” and “buckskin,” but duns often have additional dark markings called “primitive” markings. These can include a dorsal stripe along the backbone and stripes above the black points on their legs.

Buckskins can be found in many different breeds, but they can also be registered with the American Buckskin Registry Association, Inc. (ABRA) or the International Buckskin Horse Association (IBHA). Duns and grullas are also included. Grulla (pronounced “grew-yah”) is a mousy grayish-brown shade of dun.

Palomino Color

Our second unique horse coat color is palomino. The golden stars of the horse world, palominos always manage to catch your eye with their flashy coats and flaxen manes. It seems as if they were made for the spotlight. After all, palominos have long been a top choice for TV stardom: Trigger was cowboy Roy Rogers’ constant companion, and kids in the 1960s loved to tune in to watch the lovable Mister Ed.

Like buckskin, palomino is not actually a breed but a color, and palomino horses that meet the requirements can be registered with the Palomino Horse Breeders Association (PHBA).

In the olden days, breeders wanted to develop a breed of horse that was always born with a palomino coat, but they discovered that color genes just didn’t work that way. Remember how we said that a buckskin is essentially a bay horse with a cream gene? Well, a palomino is a chestnut horse with a cream gene.

Palomino coats can range in color from light buttery cream to a darker golden yellow. In fact, the PHBA says that “the ideal body coat color is approximately the color of a United States gold coin.” But I think we can all agree that any shade of palomino is a good shade!

Pinto & Paint Coat Color Patterns

Finally, our third unique horse coat color or pattern is pinto and paint. Be careful not to use these words interchangeably—even though pinto and Paint Horse markings look similar, there’s actually a distinction when it comes to bloodlines and registration. The American Paint Horse is a breed of horses known for their striking patterns of white markings that have Quarter Horse breeding, while the word “pinto” can refer to horses of many breeds (including Paints) that display patterns of white markings.

Like palominos and buckskins, pinto horses have their own registry, the Pinto Horse Association of America, Inc. (PtHA).

Pintos and Paint Horses display a variety of beautiful, colored coat patterns, but two of the most well-known are tobiano and overo. A tobiano can usually be identified by minimal white markings on the face, four white legs, and white markings on the body. Overos, on the other hand, often have a lot of white on their faces, sometimes even possessing completely “bald” (white) faces.

The PtHA registers horses and ponies in five different size classifications and six different type classifications, so there’s truly a pinto horse to suit anyone’s fancy!

Learn More About Unique Horse Colors!

Check out the groups that register, show and promote these colorful horses.

◆ American Paint Horse Association
◆ American Buckskin Registry Association, Inc.
◆ International Buckskin Horse Association
◆ Palomino Horse Breeders Association
◆ Pinto Horse Association of America

This article about unique horse coat colors originally appeared in the March/April 2019 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Horses of Many Unique Colors appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Over the past few months, we’ve explored the beauty of black horses, the allure of palominos, the delight of chestnuts, and the wonder of grays—and it goes without saying that we’re also extremely fond of buckskin horses. After all, what’s not to love about the stunning coloring of a beautiful buckskin? Read on to discover 10 fun facts about buckskin horses.

1. A buckskin has a cream-colored body with black points (mane, tail, ears, and legs). That said, the exact shade of the body color can vary widely. Some buckskins are a dark tan, while others are a lighter cream color.

2. A buckskin is a bay horse that possesses one copy of the cream gene. The presence of the cream gene lightens the body color to buckskin. (If the same bay horse had two copies of the cream gene, the horse would be perlino.)

3. Buckskin and dun are not the same color. Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. (True dun is not controlled by the cream gene.)

4. Buckskins sometimes exhibit amber-colored eyes. It is common for buckskin horses to have this unique eye color. The same is true of palomino horses.

5. Dale Evans’ horse, Buttermilk, was a buckskin. Buttermilk, an American Quarter Horse gelding, appeared in many episodes of The Roy Rogers Show and lived until past the age of 30.

6. The International Buckskin Horse Association (IBHA) is the official registry for buckskin horses. The IBHA was established in 1971 as a registry for buckskin, dun, and grulla horses from a variety of breeds, although stock-type horses make up a good portion of the horses in the registry.

7. Buckskins do not have primitive markings like duns. Although primitive markings (like a dorsal stripe and leg barring) are associated with duns, buckskins typically do not exhibit these characteristics. (This is not always the case, however.)

8. The buckskin color is found in a wide range of breeds. These breeds include the American Quarter Horse, the Andalusian, the Mustang, the Morgan, the Peruvian Paso, the Tennessee Walking Horse, and all sections of Welsh Ponies and Cobs.

9. Buckskin horses have long been a part of television Westerns. This includes Ben Cartwright’s horse on Bonanza and Trampas’ horse on The Virginian. Buckskin horses have also appeared on the big screen, in Dances with Wolves and The Man from Snowy River (I and II).

10. Buckskin horses can be more expensive to purchase. Because of their rare and beautiful coloring, buckskin horses are often priced a bit higher than horses of other colors.

Key Takeaway

The buckskin horse is known for its stunning coat color, which has made it a standout among other horses.

How much do you love buckskin horses? Share your stories in the comments!

The post 10 Fun Facts About Buckskin Horses appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.