Rukaans exhibit four key base coat colors: White, black, liver and red. 

Evolving in a wintry, primarily monochrome environment, bright colors made individuals visible to predators against the stark landscape. Due to this, bright animals rarely survived and so saturated coats became rare in the overall population. Richly colored individuals are prized in the outer reaches of civilization, where the climate provides shorter winters and thicker vegetation and their saturated coats provide more camouflage from predators, as well as offering more stealth for their rider's movements. 

Base Colors

White (Wh)

White Rukaans may vary from soft creamy colors to pale grey colors, and may also completely fade to a bright white color. This white is not due to pink skin, but instead due to the way the hair pigment is structured. White Rukaans are born with a slightly darker coat to blend in with the undergrowth; however, this color lightens to their adult shade within the first month and cannot be displayed on the import. 

Black (Bk)

Black Rukaans must always be visibly black and never resemble a liver animal, nor can it be blue-tinted without the blue modifier.  A black Rukaan with lightening markings should still be identifiable as a black-based Rukaan at a glance- lightening markings should not be highly saturated or resemble liver tones. This can be accomplished by any of the following:

• Keeping markings desaturated

• Keeping markings darker than the range of the liver swatches

• Keeping markings covering less than half of the base coat

Liver (L)

Liver Rukaans will always be a dark chocolate colour. It should never be light enough to confuse with a red animal, and should never be dark enough to be mistaken for a black animal. These animals are perfect for blending into thick forests and dark vegetation.

Red (R)

Red Rukaans are the rarest of all. Prized for their bright flame-colored coats, they are as hard to breed as they are difficult to find in the wild. They can range from bright oranges to rich red hues, and are the the mount of choice when riding into battle against an enemy. Red Rukaans should never be golden colored and mimic the Champagne gene.

Base Color Inheritance

Rukaans have two copies of their base color gene which allows them to pass on a color which they may carry but not show.  Rarer genes are less likely to pass and more likely to be carried rather than displayed.