The Arabian Horse Association recognizes purebred horses with the coat colors bay, gray, chestnut, black, and roan. Bay is the most common color, followed by gray, and then chestnut. Black is somewhat rare. As noted below, true roan may not actually exist in Arabians; rather, roaning in the Arab could simply be a manifestation of the sabino or rabicano genes.
All Arabians, no matter the coat color, have black skin, except under white markings. Black skin provided protection from the hot desert sun.
Although many Arabians appear "white," this is the natural action of the gray gene. Gray horses are born bay, black or chestnut, then get progressively lighter as they age, until their hair coat eventually turns pure white or becomes "flea-bitten" gray. Their skin is black and remains so throughout their life. Therefore, all "white" Arabians are actually grays. There is no such thing as a genetically "white" Arabian, although there have been an extremely small number of Arabians registered as "white" for other reasons.
Black Arabians are not common. There are assorted and contradictory myths about black horses alleged to come from the Bedouin. Some areas considered black Arabians to be a bad omen, in other areas they were a valued treasure. One scientific reason that black is not common is that the black gene is genetically suppressed by the more dominant Agouti gene that creates the black points of a bay horse. Some breeding farms now use DNA testing to increase the probability of producing black Arabians.
The Bedouin had other assorted beliefs about color. It is also said that a particular type of "flea-bitten" gray with localized aggregations of pigment, known as a "bloody-shouldered" horse, was prized as a superior animal, particularly if a mare. Yet another myth is that the first "bloody shouldered" horse was a mare who mourned her rider, killed in war, and forever kept the stains left from the blood of her long-lost companion.
All Arabians, no matter the coat color, have black skin, except under white markings. Black skin provided protection from the hot desert sun.
Although many Arabians appear "white," this is the natural action of the gray gene. Gray horses are born bay, black or chestnut, then get progressively lighter as they age, until their hair coat eventually turns pure white or becomes "flea-bitten" gray. Their skin is black and remains so throughout their life. Therefore, all "white" Arabians are actually grays. There is no such thing as a genetically "white" Arabian, although there have been an extremely small number of Arabians registered as "white" for other reasons.
Black Arabians are not common. There are assorted and contradictory myths about black horses alleged to come from the Bedouin. Some areas considered black Arabians to be a bad omen, in other areas they were a valued treasure. One scientific reason that black is not common is that the black gene is genetically suppressed by the more dominant Agouti gene that creates the black points of a bay horse. Some breeding farms now use DNA testing to increase the probability of producing black Arabians.
The Bedouin had other assorted beliefs about color. It is also said that a particular type of "flea-bitten" gray with localized aggregations of pigment, known as a "bloody-shouldered" horse, was prized as a superior animal, particularly if a mare. Yet another myth is that the first "bloody shouldered" horse was a mare who mourned her rider, killed in war, and forever kept the stains left from the blood of her long-lost companion.
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