Red Arabian Horses

The red Arabian horse is one of the purebred colors that can be traced back thousands of years. Arabian horses have five basic hard coat colors. They are chestnut, bay, gray, black and roan. What is interesting to note is the fact that within these colors are many variations and shadings. This can actually make it difficult to classify a horse color at times, especially when still a foal, unless you know the differentiating signs.

A Rainbow of Colors

The shade of a horse is determined by genetics. The skin of an Arabian horse is always black, but the coats can significantly vary by shade. The shading gives the coat a different appearance on different areas of the horse, or in the lighting. For example, the red Arabian horse may have a chestnut coat that is golden-red, but the hair around the eyes or underbelly is lighter.

A chestnut Arabian horse can have a coat of hair that varies from the golden color with red tones to a dark brown. A bay Arabian horse can have a brown coat with red shading or overtones. The red Arabian horse in this case will have black points.

There is also a red Arabian horse called a strawberry roan. The strawberry roan has a coat that is half white and half chestnut, which gives the coat a reddish color.

The bay Arabian horse has a brown coat. But the coat may also be brown with overtones of red. Arabian horse colors all fall within the original five, but it is quickly apparent that the actual shadings can be as varied as the colors in a rainbow.

Showing True Colors

The roan Arabian horse is not as common as it used to be. The beautiful red Arabian horse has a red coat that is uniform over the whole body of the horse. Because a roan has a mixture of white hairs and chestnut, black or bay colored hair, the coat can have a silvery look. A true red Arabian horse has become fairly rare.

When you register a horse, it must be registered with one of the five colors. Getting the color right is important for documentation purposes. The Arabian Horse Association has rules concerning the genetic production of colors. For example, a chestnut color foal requires that two chestnut Arabians mate. Determination of the color of a red Arabian horse is done while the horse is a foal.

Arabian horse color and markings, including the red Arabian horse, are carefully defined so that the horse can never be confused with another horse as it ages. This is indicative of the careful control kept over the Arabian lines. The Arabian horses are usually described by country of origin, but the fact remains that the original five strains are the foundation strains of a true Arabian horse. It is the careful adherence to bloodlines and colors that has maintained Arabians as the purest of all horses.

It doesn’t matter whether you own a red Arabian or a gray Arabian horse. They are all equally beautiful, and they all equally bring the mystery of the Bedouin desert to our life.