There are many in the equine world who believe that a Buckskin horse is merely a color of a horse. However, the Buckskin horse is noted for several qualities that are characteristic to only the Buckskin and not other types of equines. The color of the Buckskin is indicative of a superior and genetic heritage that they alone possess.
The Buckskin horse has been noted for quite a long period of time for their strength and qualities which are considered to be superior. They are thought to possess a greater stamina and determination than many other horse breeds. They are also believed to have feet which are harder and a better bone and are considered to be hardier than other equines It is believed that the Buckskin horse originated from the Spanish Sorraia horse. The Sorraia horse blood has been filtered into almost every horse breed that is found in today's world. This is the reason that the Buckskin horse can be found in nearly all breeds.
It was believed in the past that if a Buckskin and a Dun Horse were bred to each other that an Albino foal would be the result. This was believed to be because of the dilution gene that both breeds are believed to possess. Through further study, this has been proven to be a false belief. A legitimate Buckskin horse will be able to trace his lineage through a direct line of Buckskin or Dun colored ancestors.
The Buckskin horse will not breed true as they are heterozygous for a dilution gene that is cream in color. They will only be able to produce foals which are a cream dilute or base color when they are bred together. If two Buckskin horses are bred together, then there is a 25% chance that the foal will be a base color. This base color could be brown, black, chestnut or bay. This will depend on the genotype of the agouti and extension loci. There is also a 25% chance that the foal will be a double dilute in color. This could be manifest in a foal which is cremello, smoky cream or perlino. Then there is a 50% chance that the foal will be a single dilute. This happens if the foal inherits a dilution gene from the mare and the stallion. These foals will be buckskin, palomino or smoky black in color.
The only way to guarantee that a Buckskin horse is produced is to use one parent that is perlino in color and one parent that is either brown or bay in color. One of the parents must be homozygous for the wild type allele at the extension locus. This can be tested by using a red factor test. It is also important that one of the parents does not carry the black allele Aa at the agouti locus. There is a molecular test that can determine this for you.
Another idea is to try using a stallion that has never sired a foal which is chestnut, cremello, palomino, smoky cream, smoky black or black. This will increase your odds of a Buckskin foal, but there is not a guarantee that you will get one.
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