Roan or Rabicano?

Roan

Occasionally, an Arabian will be registered as a roan. A roan is defined for registration purposes as a horse with about a fifty-fifty mixture of white hairs with either chestnut, bay, or black hairs throughout the body. In the Arabian breed, the mixture is usually white and chestnut, creating the "strawberry roan."

It may be difficult to tell the difference between a rose grey and a roan at first. Roans show their permanent coat color after shedding their foal coats. Unlike greys, they do not dapple nor do they progressively lighten in color. Most roans will have a dark head, while grey foals will first turn light on the head.

Rabicano

Another unusual color pattern seen on rare occasions in Arabians is rabicano. This is a partial roan-like pattern, often slight, usually limited to the belly, flanks, legs, tailhead, or any combination of these areas. Unlike a true roan, a rabicano horse's body does not have intermingled white and solid hairs over the entire body, nor are the legs or head significantly darker. There is debate over whether roan Arabians actually exists. Some geneticists suggest that roaning in purebred Arabians is actually the action of the rabicano or sabino genes. There are very few Arabians registered as "roan," and fewer, if any, have been DNA tested for the roan gene.