Breed/Color I'm confused

If a horse is registered with any organization AQHA, APHA etc. does that make it a breed? There are so many registrys out there, the paint horse, the pinto horse, the palamino horse associations etc. I always assumed they were just color types but not individual breeds. But one being a registered what-ever has gotten confusing. I never really thought about it till I started reading some threads and now I'm confused. For example a palomino is a color but they have a Palomino Horse Association to register them so does that make them a breed as well?

There are some registries that have specific breed standards, and are therefore registries for an actual breed. There are other registries out there that are simply for color or some other aspect. There are so many registries out there that is does get confusing, and I just know about a select few of them.

AQHA
APHA
ApHC (I think - appaloosa)
Jockey Club
Arabian,
Etc... are all breed registries with specific breed standards required for registry.

Pinto
Blue eye horse association (or something)
Some palomino registries
Sport horse
Etc...are registries that horses fitting a particular color or trait (coat color, eye color, etc) fit into - they are not breed specific.

There is a palomino horse registry that has breed standards (must be AQHA, etc), but there is also simply a palomino registry out there for color.

It is all very confusing :)

Okay, AQHA is a breed association for Quarter Horses, and so on and so forth with the APHA and what not. But in those registrys the horses can be any color. Like a palomino quarter horse and a horse can be a palomino of any other breed so to say. But both of those horses can be registered in the Palomino Horse Association. So to be a Palomino your horse doesn't have to be a specific breed. They have color registrys and breed registrys, so technically you could double register the horse.

So technically I could have a grade horse of a certain color and register it with some associations?

You sure could...... go for bucskin and Dunn assoc...... they take anything

Thanks everyone, that really cleared it up for me :)

Well...one more question. If I had a horse registered with say the Buckskin Association. Could I then say, if asked what breed of horse I had, that it is a buckskin since it is registered?

I don't think you would say your horse's breed is a buckskin. You'd say its a crossbreed or grade registered to the bucksin assoc.

Abby is right, if you had a horse registered buckskin, you would not say you had a buckskin (referring to the breed), you would say you had a buckskin QH, or buckskin QH/Arab, or buckskin whatever. You wouldn't even necessarily say buckskin - breed, but just the breed.

In contrast, though APHA is a registry for color and breed, I would say, "I have a paint", or "I have an APHA stallion". This would describe his breed. If I had a pinto, or if I registered my paint as a pinto as well - saying he is a registered pinto would not describe his breed.

I can't even keep all of this straight, but I think the above is the case :)

You gave me a chuckle anyway. It really is confusing, but I get it I wonder what the criteria is for establishing a new breed.