What is a Coon-Tailed Horse?

A horse with a white patch at the root of its tail is known as a coon-tailed horse. The coon-tailed marking is also known as skunk-tailed, and is part of the rabicano color pattern.

Rabicano horses are characterized by some amount of roaning (white hairs mixed into darker coat hair), especially on the flanks and under the elbows, though they do not carry the gene for true roan coats. Some rabicano horses also show vertical white stripes on the barrel.

The sabino color pattern is somewhat similar, having roan patches but no white at the base of the tail.