A horse is considered a roan when it has white hairs fully intermixed with any other color. The overall effect is that the animal is a completley different color than either base hair. A roan is not splotchy like a pinto, but is solid.
The most common roans are:
blue roan: black hairs interspersed with white.
strawberry roan: red, copper, chestnut hairs mixed with the white. (Mane/tail can be a mix, red, or white.)
bay roan: bay coloring and white, leading to unusual points and markings on the horse due to the color gradient in the bay. (Mane and tail are usually dark.)
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