I could go either way with him. Rabicano or roan. Do you know the colors of his parents?
Yes, but they are probably not well known. Her sire is Rojo Lightnin Bar and her dam is King Skippin Bar. She was bred in North Dakota.
No, got him from a horse trader who got him at an auction.
Lots of dun in that pedigree on both sides. I would guess that the sire was either dunskin or misregistered as dun when he was buckskin.
Thank you for that color infused pedigree! I did not buy her for her color. In fact, I really was looking for a 14-hand, plain bay gelding. 
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She’s buckskin. She doesn’t have the “washed out” dilution that dun creates. Plus, no dorsal = no Dun
The head looks awfully solid compared to all the white ticking in the body, so roan is possible. There’s too much white above the knee to see any inverted V that Roans have. You’d have to test. There’s enough ticking in the neck that suggests not Rabicano as the sole source of the ticking. The white at the tail is her pinto pattern, which also means you wouldn’t be able to see any white from rabicano
sorry, I mean, Roan nearly always, like 99.999% of the time, has a solid head as in no roaning. White markings are entirely different genetics
Cute face!
Yeah, no white ticking on his face
Thanks, I think he’s the absolute cutest
@JB or @jvanrens I’m super curious to know how Appaloosa coloring affects this dun/buckskin conversation. If the horse or pony has a blanket that reaches from tail to withers, do you have to genetically test?
As I typed this, I seem to recall some that had a dorsal stripe through their blanket. Hmm… Not sure.
I am fascinated how the spotted/spotting genes overlay the basic colors - which already aren’t always easy to determine!
Depends on a few things. How the pattern is dispersed on the hindquarters. If it’s not a solid white blanket, the dorsal can show through the spots. If the horse is white along the dorsal, it often shows in the tail, but depending on the colour of the tail (if it’s varnishing) it might not be as obvious than if the tail isn’t varnishing and is a solid, if that makes sense to you. The appaloosa genes don’t have rules really, like one group I follow says, LP (Leopard Complex) does what it wants to. Been a long day today, hoping this makes sense.
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The love of my life was a bay roan with varnish marks, blanket with peacock spots. National inspector (this is 1987ish) told 14yo ME to figure out how to name his color 
I’ve come to all of these color conversations so late, but they are really fascinating! Thanks to everyone who has shared their knowledge 
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That one would be a fun one to describe all right. Now it would be best to leave out the roan, since that is usually what varnish does, and to separate it from the other roan, but I can picture what he looked like from that!
To go back to the dun expression on a blanket appaloosa usually you can see the dorsal up on their neck and withers if they haven’t varnished out either.
Like I said, it’s been a busy day, and our filly is racing shortly, so I’m extra distracted and things are coming to me randomly.
The good news is I’ve ordered new tires for the truck and car that won’t break the bank this afternoon, so life is good.
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The Dun dorsal is there no matter what, as long as there’s enough color for it to show. Obviously, white patterns remove that color, whether it’s a PATN, Tobiano, or some overo pattern (of which there are many).
LP does often cause color shifting, which can make it incredibly difficult to know the actual color of the horse. It has literally taken Grullas and made them look palomino
Tested Grulla, Ava’s Minted Design
How she looked as a foal, very grulla
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That is gorgeous!
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This thread has blown my mind! I would say pinto, paint, or appaloosa are the colored horse types before I read it. 
Had no idea there were so many variants.
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just back from the barn…here is my filly who is just starting to shed out her foal coat (50 days old) This is roaning on her head, yes? So, because she is currently showing roaning over her whole body including her face…she’s not a roan? fwiw…She has a couple of high stockings and a white lower lip. Plus her wide blaze.
Please refresh me, her sire is black and her dam is bay right? Her dam looks to have a sabino type pattern, which may or may not be SB1. The white is likely just white flecking associated with the white pattern of her dam. Roan does not skip generations unless it’s a new mutation.
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