page_title: Roan (horse)
section_title: Rabicano vs. roan
hierarchical_section_title: Roan (horse) / Roan mimics / Rabicano vs. roan
caption_attribution_description: Horse is a chestnut with extensive Rabicano marking. It is a purebred Arabian. Rabicano is a roaning pattern that is not yet well understood genetically. However, it appears to not be the same as true roan. Also, do not confuse this horse's color with Appaloosa. Rabicano is not a leopard complex color. Purebred Arabians are never Appaloosa or leopard-spotted.
context_page_description: Roan is a horse coat color pattern characterized by an even mixture of colored and white hairs on the body, while the head and "points"—lower legs, mane and tail—are mostly solid-colored. Horses with roan coats have white hairs evenly intermingled throughout any other color. The head, legs, mane and tail have fewer scattered white hairs or none at all. The roan pattern is dominantly-inherited, and is found in many horse breeds. While the specific mutation responsible for roan has not been exactly identified, a DNA test can determine zygosity for roan in several breeds. True roan is always present at birth, though it may be hard to see until after the foal coat sheds out. The coat may lighten or darken from winter to summer, but unlike the gray coat color, which also begins with intermixed white and colored hairs, roans do not become progressively lighter in color as they age. The silvering effect of mixed white and colored hairs can create coats that look bluish or pinkish.
context_section_description: One pattern of roaning is rabicano, also called white ticking.  While true roans have an even intermixture of white hairs throughout the body, except the extremities, the white hairs of a rabicano are densest around the base of the tail and the flank. Rabicano roaning frequently forms rings of white hair around the base of the tail, and in extensively roaned rabicanos, the white hairs may converge to form vertical stripes over the ribcage. Rabicano is found in many breeds, and may account for some "roan" Arabians.
caption: An extensively expressed rabicano Arabian horse.
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