Paints!

Paints, can I get some info on them? I am trying to learn all that I can about different kinds of horses. If anyone has a good source that I could use I would like it.

What are there characteristics?
Are they smooth gated usually?
How tall do they get?

They are just QH with alot of white, but some have alot TB bloodlines in them as well.
The American Paint Horse Assocation would a good place to start.

Paints are not "just" QH with a lot of white. Paints are a separate breed. You can google the term paint horse and get a lot of information. The APHA site is a good place to start.

American Paint Horse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just like any other breed you get all sorts. I think even more so with paints. They come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, conformations, personalities, temperaments, etc. A lot of them tend to have more of a QH type build (I think that's the breed they're most closely tied to) but like I said, you get all sorts!

The APHA website is a good start for info and history. Paints do have QHs and TBs in their bloodlines. Like QHs, they have roots as cattle working horses, sure footed, quick to start, stop, and turn. They are typically shorter (14.2hh - 15.2hh), muscular, and stocky (1000-1100 lbs), low maintenance/easy keepers, eager to learn with very good dispositions.

May I also add that they are also well known in the racing world!

I second the APHA website. That is a great place to start out and go from there. Also google your state for a paint club you can get in touch with and find more out about them!

Many of us could spend all year here going over standards of the Paint Horse breed, in some parts it can get quite technical especially when it comes to color classifications, LOL!

Paints were originally "crop out" quarter horses. The cowboys would shoot a foal if it had too much white, so someone (I forgot who) made an association for them. This made them of more value and they became more popular.
They come in many, many different styles now because they're used for so much. It's almost ridiculous! (and I mean that jokingly, not seriously)
My black paint horse, Bo, is a wonderful ride english (or western, but not as much) and the sorrel, Ronnie, is the most uncomfortable thing ever at the lope if you have him trying to do his old western pleasure thing. So I'd have to say whether or not their gait is smooth depends on training and breeding.
As for heighth in paints, the famous stud All Time Fancy is 16.1, but my mother's mare is 14.1. So basically, paints are extremely versatile and there are hundreds of various types.
Hope I helped :]