It certainly seems like every year I see more and more people claiming to have “pure bred buckskin” Arabian colts for sale. And for the unlucky few who purchase these animals, it means years of failed breedings to mares that will never bear colored foals. There are some truths to buckskin Arabians that every fancier needs to know, and as someone who has been in the breed as long as I have I can tell you what a little bit of information can really save you, in money, heartache, and years.
The cold reality is that pure bred Arabian horses come in exactly three true colors (with minimal debate as to shade variations), and they are black, bay, and chestnut. Every purebred Arabian on the planet is born one of these three base colors, and some of them carry the modifier to grey out. You will notice in the four colors mentioned that buckskin is nowhere to be found. True dilute does not exist in pure bred animals, and so, as much as it may break your heart to hear it, there are simply no pure bred buckskin Arabian horses. There are a very few registered high percentage animals, but they are extremely rare, and beyond expensive should you actually find one.
Colors Allowed and General Appearance
High percentage buckskin Arabians tend to be exactly that, buckskin, with all the traits, personality quirks, and genetics of pure bred animals. Like all buckskins, they come in several shades, ranging from so sooty they look to be bay, to so lightly colored they are almost white. Being a bay horse with one dilute gene, they will always have darker points and a lighter body, and should they also possess a chestnut gene, can bear palomino foals if bred correctly. Many buckskin Arabian horses have a hint of iridescence to their coat, and silver and buttermilk buckskin are some of the most desirable shades, though I have never seen a bad looking honey gold buckskin either. True buckskins lack primitive markings and shouldn’t have dorsal or leg stripes. Some lighter animals sport amber eyes, though blue is only present in animals with pinto heritage, not something seen in high percentage Arabian buckskins.
Buckskin Arabian History
There isn’t much to say about the history of buckskin Arabians, as they haven’t been popular for very long. You really don’t see them starting to pop up much before about nineteen ninety five or so, as most breeders considered breeding pure bred mares to part bred stallions a poor use for the mare, opting instead to breed the mares to purebred Arabian stallions. This made the business of breeding a quality dilute stallion, regardless of his attributes, difficult and the high cost of pure bred mares was a severe hindrance to such programs. Even today, there are few programs capable of producing many buckskin Arabian foals in any year, though the quality of those foals is better with each generation. DNA testing and color study in equuds has contributed greatly to this, as now breeders are forced to “put up or shut up” so to speak, and random claims of buckskin cannot simply stand uncontested at the altar of doctored photos and carefully done clipping jobs.
Similar Breeds of Horse
As the buckskin Arabian is a color first and an Arabian second, one might consider the less costly buckskin Morgan horse. Though not as flashy, the Morgan is a very talented and versatile companion capable of both showing and working, much like the Arabian. A gaited horse in its own respect, the Morgan has a rich history going back to the glory days of horse ownership, and though he has more humble beginnings than that of the Arabian, it bears mentioning that Morgans do actually come in pure bred Buckskin, and are an icon of the independant American spirit.
Care of the Buckskin Arabian Horse
It goes without saying that the buckskin Arabian will require fresh water and good food twice a day, like any other horse, but I have noticed that some of my diluted Arabians have other needs, which are separate certainly from that of their pure bred and non colored counterparts. The most drastic of which seems to be that the diluted hair, for whatever reason, makes for a poorer winter coat. At first I thought this was simply a condition in the genetic line, as most of mine are related at least in some way, but I have found similar comments made by others in this field, ranging from fifty percent horses all the way up to my highest percentage stallion, who is over ninety nine percent. Odd though it is, the full siblings of these animals who were born either chestnut or bay(both non colored, or non dilute as it were) grow more than enough coat on their own for warmth, and it is my opinion that for whatever reason the diluted hair in both palomino and buckskin makes for a thinner winter coat. A good, well fitting blanket will be a friend to any buckskin Arabian in my experience.
Like all Domestic Horses, the genus for the Buckskin Arabian is Equus Caballus.
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