Technically, you are right, there are no "albino" horses. Your horse is either a cremello or a perlino. I copied the below from Wikipedia since they put in into words better than I can.
Cremello is a horse coat color consisting of a cream colored body with a cream or white mane and tail. It occurs when a horse is homozygous for a dilution gene sometimes called the cream gene acting on a red (chestnut base coat. Such horses have pink skin, blue eyes, and are a light cream or gold color when born, but sometimes fade to almost white as an adult.
Cremellos are not white horses, which have a pure white coat from birth with brown or blue eyes and pink skin, and no genetic dilution factor. Cremellos do not carry any of the genes that produce true white coloring, thus they also will not carry any of the "lethal white" conditions, such as lethal white syndrome. Cremello horses are also not albino: they do not have a white hair coat nor do they have non-pigmented eyes. (True albinism has not been found in horses, it is also believed to be a lethal gene.)
A horse who has a "red," or chestnut, base coat and is heterozygous for the dilution gene, that is, has only a single copy of the gene, or a "single dilution" is a palomino. Most palominos have a golden coat with a white mane and tail, and usually have dark eyes (though occasional individuals have blue eyes due to other factors). A single dilution gene acting on a bay base coat produces a buckskin colored horse.
When such a horse is homozygous for the dilution gene, it will be perlino. Perlino horses have a light creme-colored coat and blue eyes. A Perlino horse will have a mane, tail, and "points" (lower legs, sometimes ear tips, etc.) that are a bit darker than their body hair coat, usually no darker than chestnut (rusty orange) colored. Perlinos differs from red duns because duns usually have dark eyes, and perlinos do not have a dorsal stripe, leg striping or other "dun markings."
When the horse is heterozygous for the dilution gene, it will be a buckskin. Buckskins have a gold body coat with a black mane, tail and legs. They usually have dark skin and eyes.
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Heidi Vanderbilt Sent: Fri 2007-02-02 18:22 To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Albino BLM mare?
I just got a BLM mare whose papers say she's an albino. I believe that's a mistake, that true albinos don't live much past birth. This gal is 7, with pale blue eyes and pale skin on her lips and eyelids. She's in very poor condition, so her coat might change as she gets healthy, but it seems to be truly white.
If anyone knows how to tell color, i'd appreciate advice. I can send photos if that would help. Thanks! Heidi
