Rabicano
Encyclopedia
Rabicano, also called white ticking, is a horse coat color characterized by limited roaning
Roan (horse)
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 more solid-colored. The roan pattern is dominantly-inherited, and is found in many horse breeds...

 in a specific pattern: interspersed white hairs most dense and originating from the flank and the tailhead. Rabicano is distinct from true roan
Roan (horse)
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 more solid-colored. The roan pattern is dominantly-inherited, and is found in many horse breeds...

, which causes evenly-interspersed white hairs throughout the body, except the head and legs.

Etymology

The word "rabicano" is of Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 origin - rabo meaning "tail" and cano meaning "white" - thus, it described a horse with white hairs in its tail. This definition is consistent with the modern usage.

The word appears very early in epic poems in Italian literature
Italian literature
Italian literature is literature written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian....

: Argalia, a character in Orlando Innamorato
Orlando Innamorato
Orlando Innamorato is an epic poem written by the Italian Renaissance author Matteo Maria Boiardo. The poem is a romance concerning the heroic knight Orlando .-Composition and publication:...

 (1495), rides a horse named "Rabicano". So too does Astolfo. In Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

, the term simply means "roan" and might therefore have been a descriptive name.

Characteristics

The characteristics most often associated with the rabicano pattern are white hairs at the tailhead and the flank, where the body of the horse is joined by the hindquarters. Like other patterns and colors, the expression
Expressivity
Expressivity is a term used in genetics to refer to variations in a phenotype among individuals carrying a particular genotype. The term can be used to characterize qualitatively or quantitatively the extent of phenotypic variation given a particular genotype. The term is analogous to the...

 of the rabicano trait varies. Most of the factors affecting these variations are unknown, however, it is known that horses with a chestnut
Chestnut (coat)
Chestnut is a hair coat color of horses consisting of a reddish-to-brown coat with a mane and tail the same or lighter in color than the coat. Genetically and visually, chestnut is characterized by the absolute absence of true black hairs...

 or chestnut-based coat express white patterns such as rabicano more readily; that is, they tend to have more white. Minimal expression includes a few white hairs in those areas, and for that reason is often not mentioned in descriptions of an individual horse's color. Rabicano is a white pattern that falls into the category of roaning or scattered white hairs, the genetics of which are not yet fully understood.

The original definition of "rabicano" refers to the presence of white hairs in the base of the tail, a characteristic called a "skunk" or coon tail. The term "coon tail" is associated with white hairs in the form of striping at the tailhead. The sides of the tail at the tailhead may have much white hair. Extensively-marked rabicanos sometimes exhibit striations in their pattern on the ribs, giving them a striped appearance.

Prevalence and inheritance

The rabicano pattern is thought to be a dominant gene in some families, however other forms of white ticking not following the rabicano pattern may exist and be controlled by separate mechanisms. Rabicano is present even in breeds which do not possess any true roan individuals, such as Arabian horse
Arabian horse
The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. It is also one of the oldest breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses...

s. In the Arabian, Rabicano patterning is even defined as "roan." Rabicano may occur on any base color and may occur in conjunction with any other white pattern, including true roan or gray
Gray (horse)
Gray or grey is a coat color of horses characterized by progressive silvering of the colored hairs of the coat. Most gray horses have black skin and dark eyes; unlike many depigmentation genes, gray does not affect skin or eye color Their adult hair coat is white, dappled, or white intermingled...

.

Higher expression of the rabicano pattern on the flanks may produce a coat easy to mistake for true roan
Roan (horse)
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 more solid-colored. The roan pattern is dominantly-inherited, and is found in many horse breeds...

. However, in highly-expressed rabicanos, the distribution of white hairs along the barrel may produce faint striping or stippling over the ribs, which is not seen in true roans. Furthermore, the skin of some rabicanos may be slightly mottled with pink, particularly on the abdomen and groin. This trait is not seen in true roans, and suggests that, like the white hairs associated with other white markings and patterns, the white hairs of a rabicano may be rooted in unpigmented skin cells. However, the genetic and developmental controls of such roaning is presently poorly understood, and has not yet been formally studied.

While rabicano itself does not produce white markings on the face and legs, it is associated with some of the numerous sabino
Sabino horse
Sabino is a group of white spotting patterns in horses that affect the skin and hair. A wide variety of irregular color patterns are accepted as sabino. In the strictest sense, "sabino" refers to the white patterns produced by the Sabino 1 gene, for which there is a DNA test...

 patterns, one of which has been mapped to the KIT gene. Other color patterns mapped to KIT include tobiano
Tobiano
Tobiano is a spotted color pattern commonly seen in Pinto horses, produced by a dominant gene. The tobiano gene produces white-haired, pink-skinned patches on a base coat color. The coloration is present from birth and does not change throughout the horse's lifetime, unless the horse also carries...

 and true roan. This may explain the close association between rabicano and sabino, which are often observed in the same horse.

Rabicano vs. Roan

Rarely is rabicano patterning extensive enough to be confused with true roan. Rabicanos are not true roans and can be distinguished from true roans by the following:
  • Roaning on rabicanos is centralized at the junction of the stifle and the flank; true roan is evenly distributed over the whole body except the points.
  • Rabicanos usually have skunk tails or rings of white hairs in the tail, while true roans do not.
  • Rabicano roaning often spreads, while true roans usually become darker.
  • Rabicanos do not develop corn marks when their skin is damaged.

See also

  • Equine coat color
    Equine coat color
    Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings. A specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them.While most horses remain the same color throughout life, a few, over the course of several years, will develop a different coat color from that with which they were born...

  • Equine coat color genetics
    Equine coat color genetics
    Equine coat color genetics determine a horse's coat color. There are many different coat colors possible, but all colors are produced by the action of only a few different genes. The simplest genetic default color of all domesticated horses can be described as either "red" or "non-red", depending...

  • Roan (horse)
    Roan (horse)
    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 more solid-colored. The roan pattern is dominantly-inherited, and is found in many horse breeds...

  • Sabino horse
    Sabino horse
    Sabino is a group of white spotting patterns in horses that affect the skin and hair. A wide variety of irregular color patterns are accepted as sabino. In the strictest sense, "sabino" refers to the white patterns produced by the Sabino 1 gene, for which there is a DNA test...

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