{{Short description|Horse coat colors and patterns, such as white ticking or roaning}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}} [[File:Dancingcolors.jpg|thumb|An extensively expressed rabicano Arabian horse]] thumb|Classic rabicano markings on flanks and a skunk tail '''Rabicano''', sometimes called '''white ticking''', is a horse coat color characterized by limited roaning in a specific pattern: its most minimal form is expressed by white hairs at the top of a horse's tail,<ref name=ahdaily>{{cite web|last=Caudill|first=Andrea|title=Skunk Tailed|url=http://americashorsedaily.com/skunk-tailed/|work=America's Horse Daily|access-date=28 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922052023/http://americashorsedaily.com/skunk-tailed/|archive-date=22 September 2010|date=25 July 2010}}</ref> often is expressed by additional interspersed white hairs seen first at the flank, then other parts of the body radiating out from the flank, where the white hairs will be most pronounced.<ref name=lyonspress>{{cite book |title=The Lyons Press Horseman's Dictionary: Full Explanations of More than 2,000 Terms and Phrases Used by Horsemen |first=Steven D. |last=Price |author2=Jessie Shiers |author3=William Steinkraus |others=Don Burt |publisher=Globe Pequot |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-59921-036-0 |quote=rabicano: A coat color in which a few, scattered white hairs appear amid a darker-colored background, usually on the hindquarters and dock |page=175}}</ref> Rabicano is distinct from true roan, which causes evenly interspersed white hairs throughout the body, except for solid-colored head and legs.<ref name=ahdaily/>
==Etymology== The word, "rabicano" is of Spanish origin - ''rabo'' meaning "tail" and ''cano'' meaning "white" - thus, it described a horse with white hairs in its tail.<ref name=antologia>Juan de la Cruz Puig. ''Antologia de Poetas Argentinos,''1910. pg. 131. "Rabicano: caballo que tiene cerdas blancas á la raíz de la cola." [Rabicano: a horse that has white hairs at the root of the tail]</ref> The word appears very early in epic poems in Italian literature: In Orlando Innamorato (1495), "Rabicano" is a magic horse originally ridden by Argalia. In Italian, the term simply means "roan" and might therefore have been a descriptive name.
==Characteristics==
thumb|upright|Skunk tail thumb|upright|Flank tickingThe 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.<ref name="Sponenberg 2003"/> Like other patterns and colors, the expression of the rabicano trait varies. Most of the factors affecting these variations are unknown, however, it is known that horses with a chestnut or chestnut-based coat express white patterns such as rabicano more readily; that is, they tend to have more white. Minimal expression may include a few white hairs in those areas, but is often not mentioned in descriptions of an individual horse's color.<ref name="Sponenberg 2003"/> 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,<ref name=UCDint>{{cite web |url=https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/coatcolor.php |title=Introduction to Coat Color Genetics|author=Veterinary Genetics Laboratory |access-date=2008-06-04 |publisher=The Regents of the University of California }}</ref> but are apparently a different genetic mechanism from true roan.<ref name=ahdaily/>
The original definition of "rabicano" referred to the presence of white hairs in the base of the tail, a characteristic called a "skunk" or ''coon'' tail.<ref name=morgans>{{cite web |url=http://www.morgancolors.com/othercolors.htm |title=Rabicano, Roan, Flaxen, and Frame Overo Morgan Horses |work=Morgan Colors |last=Behning |first=Laura |access-date=2008-08-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914113002/http://www.morgancolors.com/othercolors.htm |archive-date=2008-09-14 }}</ref> The term "coon tail" is associated with white hairs in the form of striping at the tailhead.<ref name="Sponenberg 2003"/> 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.<ref name=peters>{{cite news |first=Anne |last=Peters |title=A roan by any other name is a roan |url=http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/weekly-feature-articles/2002/May/04/A-roan-by-any-other-name-is-a-roan.aspx |work=Thoroughbred Times |publisher=Thoroughbred Times Co. Inc. |location=Lexington |date=2002-05-04 |access-date=2008-06-04 |archive-date=2010-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228063910/http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/weekly-feature-articles/2002/May/04/A-roan-by-any-other-name-is-a-roan.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Prevalence and inheritance==
The rabicano pattern is thought to be a dominant gene in some families,<ref name="Sponenberg 2003"/> 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 horses.<ref>Sponenberg 2003, p. 70, indicates that roan has reappeared in Thoroughbreds via a new mutation in a single horse</ref><ref name=overton>{{cite news |first=Rebecca |last=Overton |title=In The Genes |url=http://www.hancockhorses.com/article-roanQHNews.pdf |work=Quarter Horse News |publisher=American Quarter Horse Association |pages=24–6 |date=2004-12-15 |access-date=2008-06-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927040626/http://www.hancockhorses.com/article-roanQHNews.pdf |archive-date=2007-09-27 }}</ref> In the Arabian, rabicano patterning is even defined as "roan."<ref name="Sponenberg 2003"/> Rabicano may occur on any base color and may occur in conjunction with any other white pattern, including true roan or gray.
Higher expression of the rabicano pattern on the flanks may produce a coat easy to mistake for true roan. 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.<ref name=horsecolors>{{cite web |url=http://www.horsecolor.com/white_mixed/roan/rabicano.htm |title=Rabicano |work=The Horse Colors Site |author=B. Kostelnik |publisher=Hippo-Logistics |access-date=2008-08-03 |archive-date=2010-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123230532/http://horsecolor.com/white_mixed/roan/rabicano.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 are poorly understood,<ref name=ucd>{{cite web |url=https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/coatcolor.php |title=Introduction to Coat Color Genetics |publisher=UC Davis |access-date=2008-08-03 |quote=The inheritance of scattered white hairs, sometimes called roaning, is not defined.}}</ref> and has not yet been formally studied.<ref name="Sponenberg 2003">{{cite book |last=Sponenberg |first=Dan Phillip |title=Equine Coat Color Genetics |access-date=2008-08-03 |edition=2 |date=2003-04-11 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-0-8138-0759-1 |chapter=4/Patterns of White Occurring on Base Colors |page=69|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ihTMGxdBXb8C&q=rabicano&pg=PR11}}</ref>
While rabicano itself does not produce white markings on the face and legs, it can be confused with some of the numerous sabino patterns, one of which has been mapped to the KIT gene.{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} Other color patterns mapped to KIT include tobiano and true roan.<ref name=marklund>{{cite journal | last=Marklund | first =S |author2=M Moller |author3=K Sandberg |author4=L Andersson | year =1999 | title =Close association between sequence polymorphism in the KIT gene and the roan coat color in horses | journal =Mammalian Genome | volume =10 | pages =283–288 | doi =10.1007/s003359900987 | pmid=10051325 | issue=3 | s2cid =32790547 }}</ref><ref name=brooks2007>{{cite journal |last=Brooks |first=SA |author2=TL Lear |author3=DL Adelson |author4=E Bailey |year=2007 |title=A chromosome inversion near the KIT gene and the Tobiano spotting pattern in horses |journal=Cytogenetic and Genome Research |volume=119 |pages=225–230 |doi=10.1159/000112065 |pmid=18253033 |issue=3–4 |s2cid=22835035 }}</ref><ref name=andersson1982>{{cite journal |last=Andersson |first=L |author2=K Sandberg |date=March 1982 |title=A linkage group composed of three coat color genes and three serum protein loci in horses |journal=Journal of Heredity |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=91–4 |pmid=7096983 }}</ref> This may explain the close association between rabicano and sabino, which are often observed in the same horse.{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}}
==Vs. roan== {{See also|Roan horse}}
thumb|This horse could be either roan or rabicano; lack of white hairs on forehand and presence of skunk tail suggest rabicano, but overall body pattern is more typical of a roan.
Rarely is rabicano patterning extensive enough to be confused with true roan.<ref name="Sponenberg 2003"/> It is, however, possible for a horse to carry both rabicano and roan genes.<ref name=ahdaily/> 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.
==Vs. sabino== {{See also|Sabino horse}} Sabino patterning usually is expressed with high white legs markings with white sometimes extending onto the belly, face, and chin; sabinos often lack the white hairs at the base of the tail that characterize rabicano. A horse may carry the genes for both patterns, however.<ref name=ahdaily/>
==See also== {{commons category}} *Equine coat color *Equine coat color genetics
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Equine coat colors}}
Category:Horse coat colors