The most desirable
White. One of the rarest colors, a true genetic white horse has white hair and fully or largely unpigmented (pink) skin. These horses are born white or mostly white and remain white for life.
The rarest horse breed on this list is the Camarillo horse breed. With only 22 Camarillo horses living today, it is by far the most in danger of extinction. The Camarillo family cultivated and coveted the Camarillo horse breed for many decades.
Black is a relatively uncommon coat color, and it is not uncommon to mistake dark chestnuts or bays for black. True black horses have dark brown eyes, black skin, and wholly black hair coats without any areas of permanently reddish or brownish hair.
Khadi is a Perlino horse, an usual breed defined by their cream coats and pink skin and their blue or glass eyes. Because of this, they are sometimes called pseudo-albino horses. The cream colour can vary from a very pale off white to a pale coffee colour, but shines through pink under their short summer coats.
strawberry roan in American English
noun. a horse with a reddish coat that is liberally flecked with white hairs.
The Akhal-Teke (/ˌækəlˈtɛk/ or /ˌækəlˈtɛki/; from Turkmen Ahalteke, [axalˈteke]) is a Turkmen horse breed. They have a reputation for speed and endurance, intelligence, and a distinctive metallic sheen. The shiny coat of the breed led to their nickname, "Golden Horses".
Gray is common in many breeds. Today, about one horse in 10 carries the mutation for graying with age. The vast majority of Lipizzaners are gray, as are the majority of Andalusian horses. Many breeds of French draft horse such as the Percheron and Boulonnais are often gray as well.
Breed origin: This rare breed of horse developed in the early 20th century and can be traced to a single foundation sire named Sultan. Known as a 'Stallion of a dream', Sultan was of Spanish descent and bright white with brown eyes.
A white horse has mostly pink skin under its hair coat, and may have brown, blue, or hazel eyes. "True white" horses, especially those that carry one of the dominant white (W) genes, are rare. Most horses that are commonly referred to as "white" are actually "gray" horses whose hair coats are completely white.
The metallic-looking coat is the most distinctive feature of a Golden Akhal-Teke. In the eyes of many horse enthusiasts, the Golden Akhal Teke is the most beautiful horse breed. This horse is native to Turkmenistan. It earns the name Golden horse due to its shining yellowish-gold coat.
The Akhal-Teke horse is considered to be one of the most beautiful horse breeds in the world due to it's metallic-like shine to it's fur, giving this breed the appearance of golden and bronze statues almost. In Turkmenistan, this breed is the national horse breed and there is even known as 'the golden horse'.
In fact, the biggest horse ever measured is the Shire gelding Sampson, who is now called Mammoth. Mammoth was born in England in 1846 and stood at 21.2-1/2 hands, over 7 feet 2.5 inches tall! That is more than 4 inches taller than the world's biggest Clydesdale, Poe.
The dilution genes include the wildtype dun gene, believed to be one of the oldest colors extant in horses and donkeys. Depending on whether it acts on a bay, black, or chestnut base coat, it produces the colors known as bay dun, grullo, and red dun.
Tricolored or tricoloured: In BE, it is a term for a horse with three colors (usually bay and white). It is usually incorporated into the term skewbald.
Rose gray or rose grey may refer to: A horse with a grey coat with a pinkish tinge.
If you've seen a picture of a shiny, exotic-looking golden horse, you were probably looking at an Akhal-Teke. These horses are stunning. This is a rare horse breed, with only around 6,000 in existence. While they are bred worldwide, they are primarily concentrated in their country of origin, Turkmenistan.
The best color for a horse depends on its discipline. In Western riding, sorrels, bays, and buckskins are preferred; in English riding disciplines, bay, grey, and chestnut colors are considered the best – but the rarest color across all breeds is true-white or brindle.
Smoky Black Horses are Rare. Smoky Black Horses are fairly rare- occurring in only a few horse breeds where the dilute gene is allowed. As mentioned in our price analysis, out of 3785 horses listed on a popular equine classified site in spring 2023, only 13 were smoky black horses!
A Peacock Appaloosa is a specific type of Appaloosa coat pattern. Peacock Appaloosas have spots and speckles surrounded by a halo of hair in a contrasting fur color.
(It's interesting to note, however, that when a black foal is going to go gray, it is usually born a deep, jet-black. Black foals that do not carry the gray gene are often born a mousy-gray color, which is why people sometimes joke that “black horses are born gray, gray horses are born black.”)
Dapples look like round spots of lighter coloring on a darker coat. For a gray, this means a dark gray base and lighter gray circles. On a palomino, a golden coat with pale yellow or almost white circles. In bays, dapples can be harder to see as sometimes they are only a shade or two lighter.
Horses (Equus caballus) were introduced with European settlement both in Australia and New Zealand. Over time, animals escaped and were released and were first recognised as pests in Australia in the 1860's. In contrast to Australia, the New Zealand population is protected.
“The Akhal Teke is one of the oldest horse breeds in the world. It represents the purest version of the Turkmen horse and is a direct descendant of the famed Central Asian mounts of antiquity: the horses of the Massagetae, the Niseans, and the Parthians.”
Palomino is a genetic color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail; the degree of whiteness can vary from bright white to yellow. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called the cream gene working on a "red" (chestnut) base coat.