About American Albino Horses

America 'albino' horses are actually not true albinos but instead they are what the American Albino Horse Club (now known as the White Horse Club) calls Dominant White. A Dominant White can be any horse, Quarter, Arabian, Standardbred, etc., that has a white coat with pink skin and dark eyes - black, brown, or blue. A true albino would, of course, have pink eyes, meaning the Dominant White actually carries off-color genes. Given the White Horse Club's immaculate records, breeding for this particular horse has become an almost exact science. Even still, the qualification of dark eyes requires parents who carry genes for off-color coats, thereby creating a 5 percent chance that the off-spring will carry some off-color.  

The main physical characteristic of the American Albino is a white coat, white tail and mane, pink skin, and black, brown, or dark blue eyes. Outside of coloration, the American Albino is separated into a stock type horse, saddle horse type, and Arabian type, with separate categories for ponies. The stock and saddle type stand around 15.2 hands high, with the Arabian type being slightly shorter. Because the American Albino is actually a color breed, it can carry the characteristics of its sires, whether Quarter horse, Arabian, Morgan, or Thoroughbred. For the most part they are known to be smart, tractable, and even tempered.

American Albino horses, based around coloration rather than conformation or pure-blooded breeding, actually follows the origins of whatever horse is being bred. The American Albino Horse Club was formed in 1937 on the White Horse Ranch near Naper, Nebraska. Old King, a white stallion with pink skin and brown eyes, is said to be the foundation horse for the American Albino. Although his background goes untraced, he is believed to be predominantly of Arabian stock with some Morgan. Old King's off-spring tended to follow his color pattern when crossed with Morgans of any color. Since its foundation, the AAHC has made strict breeding standards in an effort to keep a pure white horse. In 1970, the AAHC became the White Horse Club and, at the same time, split to form another classification, the American Cream, for those horses with touches of color.