The Truth About The Buckskin Horse
The buckskin horse is not a breed, though they can and should be registered with the American Buckskin Registry Association for recorded evidence of the presence of the cream gene. The buckskin color can occur in nearly any breed of horse, and is much sought after by breeders and hobbyists alike. The cream gene which produces the distinct color features of the buckskin horse can be extremely illusive to the untrained eye, making it difficult to successfully breed for this rare color.
The buckskin horse is not to be confused with the dun horse, as they are very different from one another. The easiest way to pick out the dun horse, for the novice, is to find the dorsal stripe. This telltale marking is dark and runs down the entirety of the spine. The body color of the dun tends to be consistent, which is to say that the color of the body, neck, and face usually don’t vary from one area to the other. The points, which would be the ears, the muzzle, and the eye areas, aren’t usually darker than the rest of the body either. The legs, however, are horizontally striped with black that leads down to a solid black near the bottom, matching the mane and tale. A beautiful color, but not as rare as the buckskin.
The buckskin horse boasts a completely different shading and under glow than does the dun. The presence of the cream gene turns a sorrel, bay, chestnut, or black into a buckskin, which omit’s the possibility of a dun stripe altogether.
Just as the palomino is not a breed but a color created by a recessive gene, the buckskin horse was intended to be a dark horse, but the gene mutation has diluted the dark hair follicles everywhere except for the mane, tail, legs, ears, and nose. This dilution is not consistent, which gives the beautiful buckskin that wavy, under glowing creamy appearance, no matter how dark the horse is. The cream gene can occur in blacks, and the result of this is tentatively called a “smokey grullo.” This is possibly the most rare color mutation associated with this breed, and is quite a sight to behold.
The buckskin does not have a dorsal stripe, he does not have the zebra leg stripes, and he tends to have a wavy, inconsistent tone to his coat. All points are darker than the main mass area of the body, and one should be able to positively identify a true buckskin horse based on these facts. If you should be graced with the honor of meeting a true buckskin, give him a nice friendly pat for me.