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Andalusian Approved Colors In 1765, the Spanish registry contained approx. 73% greys, with the remainder primarily bay and black. The Royal Stud maintained a preference for grey until the French invasion, at which point the fashion for the bay color was preferred over grey. In 1928, the Stud Book showed a mere 19% grey horses. Tracking back to the 1700s, blacks were more common in the past, according to Juan Carlos Altamirano. His Book "History of the Carthusian Horses" states that the registry of the Carthusian stud in Jerez contained 30% blacks in 1747. Roughly fifty years later, about 16% were black, a decline thought to have been related to the fact that black horses were mainly used to pull funeral processions. Presently in Spain, grey represents 60-70% of the PREs. In the USA, the number is closer to 80% grey, 15% bay and 5% black. The color chestnut was not accepted in the Spanish Stud Book and had been a disqualification for over 30 years. Then in 2002, Cria Caballar agreed to allow chestnuts into the book, including older horses who's parents were revised. All solid colors, including buckskin and dilutes, are now accepted in the stud book although still quite rare. [See the photo album section: Sicab 2005 for photos of PRES in buckskin, crème and isabella]. Grey Coat Color Technically grey its not a color gene, but a masking agent that acts upon and is dominant over every other color. There is no commercially available DNA color test for the grey factor. Any horse that carries the grey factor will eventually become grey. A horse can be heterozygous or homozygous, carrying either one or two grey factors. A grey horse is born with a base coat color of black, bay, chestnut, buckskin, etc. The horse will exhibit white hairs that may appear at birth around the eyes, face, top of the tail or legs. It is also possible that the white hairs may not appear until many months later. Eventually, the coat becomes grey to white and may transform anywhere from 3 to 15 years. A variety of shading affects are seen, from a rose grey, slate or silver; to a dirty color with different patches and shaded areas. The mane and tail may go yellow or brown, and the coat may or may go through a dapple phase with either light dapples on a black background or dark dapples on a white background. Dapples may be accompanied by black points, mane and tail or a white mane/tail. Bay Coat Color Bay comes in a variety of shades and genetically contains the agouti factor that suppresses black to the points. Bay is dominant over black. A bay foal is born with a black mane and tail & legs the same as the body coat or lighter. Once the foal coat sheds out, black legs will appear. Body coloring may vary from a light chestnut shade to very dark or from a distance can even appear black. It may be copper, reddish mahogany, dull brown or golden like rich honey. Black bay is almost indistinguishable from black from a distance. They will typically have brown shading behind the eye, around the muzzle, behind the elbow or in the groin. On rare occasions, a bay coat may have a reflective metallic sheen that glows in the direct sunlight. This is reportedly very rare and sought after in Spain. DNA testing is available for the bay coat color. |
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William Cavendish, The Duke of Newcastle |
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The Andalusian is strongly built, yet extremely elegant. The typical Andalusian stands 15.0 to 16.2 hands. The head is of medium length, rectangular and lean. The head in profile is slightly convex or straight with a broad forehead and well-placed ears. The eyes are alive, oval, and placed within an orbital arch. The face is straight or softly convex, moderately narrow, and without excess flesh. The neck is reasonably long, broad, yet elegant and well-crested in stallions. The mane is thick and abundant. Well defined withers precede a short back; the quarters are broad & strong. The croup is rounded and of medium length. The tail is abundant, set low, and lies tightly against the body. |
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Avatar M Is a honey bay yearling with a reflective metallic sheen that glows gold in direct sunlight. |
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Colors: Color-- Capa Grey-- Tordo Bay--Castano Black--Negro Buckskin--Bayo Chestnut--Alazan Rabiano--Roaning |
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Black Coat Color Black Andalusians are never born black. They are likely to be a mousy color (at left) or sometimes fawn colored at birth with light legs. They eventually shed out their foal coats at 4-6 months depending on the time of year and black. Some lines of Andalusians will not go fully black until they are 4-6 years old and will mistaken for a black bay. The coat may easily sun fade with a reddish or golden cast, darkening each year until the horse is obviously black. The black gene can be DNA tested. Rabicano Bay coats and on the rare occasion blacks may have roaning with white hairs dispersed in clusters appearing on the body coat, or frosted in the mane and tail--called rabicano. The black colt at left has a rabicano chestnut dam and he inherited some frosting on the top of his tail. |
