Description:

The American Paint Horse Association (APHA) is the second largest breed registry in the United States. To be eligible for the registry, a Paint's sire and dam must be registered with either the APHA, The American Quarter Horse Association, or the Jockey Club (the American Thoroughbred registry). Paint Horses must also have a minimum amount of white hair over unpigmented skin.

History :

The evolution of the American Paint Horse can be traced back to the Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortes. Cortes brought 16 war horses to the new world, one of which was a sorrel and white pinto. It was that horse historians believe founded the American Paint Horse breed.Descendants of this unusual stallion soon spread across the western plains, and attracted the attention of the American Indian. The flashy looks and hardy conformation of these horses made them the preferred mount for many of the Plains tribes. It is largely due to this favoritism that the Paint Horse prospered, since pinto coloring was considered undesirable by European Americans until well into the 20th CenturIn the late 1950s, an association called the Pinto Horse Association was established to help preserve the spotted horse. A decade later, the American Paint Stock Horse Association was founded, this time with the aim of preserving both color and stock horse type. In 1965 this latter group merged with the American Paint Quarter Horse Association to form the American Paint Horse Association.

Colors:

Pinto markings in overo, tobiano, or tovero coat patterns. Specific colors include bay, black, brown, dun, chestnut, buckskin, palomino, grullo, sorrel, grey or roan.Overo-The white usually does not cross the back of the horse; at least one and often all four legs are dark; the white is irregular, and is rather scattered or splashy; head markings are distinctive, often bald, apron or bonnet-faced. They may be either primarily dark or white.Tobiano-The dark color usually covers one or both flanks; usually all four legs are white, at least below the knees; the spots are regular and distinct as ovals or round patterns that extend down over the neck and chest; head markings are like those of a solid-colored horse-solid, or with a blaze, strip, star or snip. They can be either primarily dark or white.Tovero-There is dark pigmentation around the ears, which may expand to cover the forehead and/or eyes; one or both eyes are blue; there is dark pigmentation around the mouth that may extend up the side of the face; chest spots vary in size and may also extend up the neck; flank spots range in size and are often accompanied by smaller spots; there are spots of various sizes at the base of the tail.

Height:

14.2 - 16 hands.

Pinto Means "Paint"

Pinto is the Spanish word for "paint". Most Paints are also Pintos, but not all Pintos are Paints, since the Pinto Horse Association of America allows different breeding restrictions than the American Paint Horse Association.