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Paint vs Pinto...Confused?

16K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  JustAwesome  
#1 ·
Hey everyone.
So I'm a little confused as to the differences of a paint horse and a pinto horse. I know that a paint is a breed. Some people have told me that a paint is just a QH with a pinto coat. So 'pinto' is a paint-like coat, right? My friend told me a pinto is a breed.. I am hopelessly confused! Please help!

Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
Paint is a breed. It's where QH's with too much white go to be registered, or did until QH rescinded the excessive white rule.

Pinto is a color registry which encompasses many breeds. To keep like with like they register types, as in, Pleasure Type, Saddle Type, Hunter Type, Stock Type for the large horses.

For instance, I have Pintos, but I have NO paints because they are not QHs or Thoroughbreds.

Paint must be pure QH or Appenix or Thoroughbred.

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7/8 Arabian, 1/8 QH but is reg'd Pleasure type Pinto

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2 Saddle type pintos, top one is 7/8 Saddlebred X 1/8 Arab and bottom is his mother, 3/4 Saddlebred X 1/4 Arab
 
#3 ·
In the 80's I was at a select sale for Paints & QH's. The pedigree man giving background, said & I quote "Paint horses are basically Quarter Horses with chrome". Everytime I say that, I am told no, so I dunno!
 
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#5 ·
In the 80's I was at a select sale for Paints & QH's. The pedigree man giving background, said & I quote "Paint horses are basically Quarter Horses with chrome". Everytime I say that, I am told no, so I dunno!
That's pretty much how I was told. Back when QH had the excessive white rule, they wouldn't register horses with white in certain areas or those who came out mostly white with dark patches. You should have heard the old stallion owners shove all the blame off onto the MARES.....oooh, it was funny. Anyway, some folks got tired of not being able to get papers on the purebreds they had who were 'touched with the paint brush' and started the Paint horse registry. They allowed Appendix and Thoroughbreds as well, because they couldn't get papers either.

Here's the CURRENT requirements for Paint horse registry from their site:
he American Paint Horse
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The American Paint Horse's combination of color and conformation has made the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) the second-largest breed registry in the United States based on the number of horses registered annually. While the colorful coat pattern is essential to the identity of the breed, American Paint Horses have strict bloodline requirements and a distinctive stock-horse body type. To be eligible for registry, a Paint's sire and dam must be registered with the American Paint Horse Association, the American Quarter Horse Association, or the Jockey Club (Thoroughbreds). At least one parent must be a registered American Paint Horse. To be eligible for the Regular Registry, the horse must also exhibit a minimum amount of white hair over unpigmented (pink) skin.

I want to say that even 30 years ago they didn't need a registered Paint parent to be regsiterable. That's a fairly new requirement. Since the QH & TB folks no longer have the excessive white rules, I'm going to say that within the next 25 years, I'll be surprised if they don't close their books to anyone who isn't from BOTH paint parents.
 
#9 ·
ND is right - a Paint is not just a QH with colour. It is a specific breed with its own standards. It does allow cross breeding, and it did once take in the "crop outs" from the QH stud book, but that is not the only stock the breed was formed from. As pointed out, tobiano is very much present in Paints, but not at all present in QHs or TBs.

As for Paint vs pinto. Paints are horses that are registered with the APHA. I will extend that to say that you can say an unregistered horse whose parents you know were APHA registered could also be called a Paint, but if you don't know the parantage of the horse, it's just a grade.

Pintos are horses with a white pattern. It doesn't matter what breed they are, or what registry they are listed with. They don't need to be registered at all. Any horse with a white pattern (not counting appaloosa and roan in this BTW) is a pinto. A lot of Paints are also pinto, but not all of them. However, the vast majority of pintos are not Paints.
 
#12 · (Edited)
excerpt from wikipedia sums it up pretty well::D about the "paint horse" breed
The American Paint Horse shares a common ancestry with the American Quarter Horse and the Thoroughbred. A registered Paint horse should conform to the same "stock horse" body type desired in Quarter Horses: a muscular animal that is heavy but not too tall, with a low center of gravity for maneuverability, and powerful hindquarters suitable for rapid acceleration and sprinting.
When the American Quarter Horse Association emerged in 1940 to preserve horses of the "stock" type, it excluded those with pinto coat patterns and "crop out" horses, those born with white body spots or white above the knees and hocks. Undeterred, fans of colorful stock horses formed a variety of organizations to preserve and promote Paint horses. In 1965 some of these groups merged to form the American Paint Horse Association.///end of quote:wink:

I'll add to that: :wink:
So many your older stock/ranch type horses that had excess of color/white were the beginnings of APHA{paint horse} association formed similarly to AQHA in type of horse they looked for only these horses had more white.Tobiano marked horses among them. The early AQHA had criteria about how much white a horse could have if horse was born with too much white even though both parents where registered with association they would not accept them{these basically make up what we class the "overo" marked paints} .Many of these "crop out" AQHA where accepted to this new paint horse registry hence why the 2 associations are so closely related by bloodline & conformation criteria:). Several years ago now AQHA reversed their "White" rules so now horse that derived from an AQHAxAQHA now =AQHA despite how much white. So there was a influx of those horse who were once rejected d/t excess white now getting their rightful AQHA papers. That is why you now see these double registered AQHA/APHA horse now out there:wink: Well APHA also changed their registration requirements in about the same time not accepting the AQHA crop outs anymore, so now one parent at least must be APHA registered.
+++hope that explains some things or maybe it is still clear as mud now:lol:
 
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#13 ·
Pinto is a genetic trait that affects a horse's coloring. It's not specific to any breed or body type (in fact, most breeds carry pinto pattern genes in their bloodlines to some degree). There are several different pinto patterns out there (tobiano, sabino, splash, etc.), but they all share the common trait that they restrict the horse's 'base color' and leave areas of unpigmented skin and hair. There is a Pinto Horse Registry, but they are a color registry- not a breed registry. They allow any horse with pinto genes to be registered, and do not require any specific body type or traits other than the presence of one or more pinto pattern.

A Paint horse is any horse registered with the American Paint Horse Registry (APHA), whether it carries/expresses pinto genes or not. APHA is a breed registry, which highly favors horses with pinto genes & coloring, but also requires a specific body type. It was originally formed as a way to register Quarter Horses who the AQHA would not allow to be registered because they had 'too much white.' Part of the founding standard for the QH was that it be solid colored- but normal horse markings (like socks, blazes, etc.) are caused by pinto genes, and those genes have the capability of being expressed differently in each horse. Because DNA wasn't understood back then, those QH's who appeared to have inherited pinto patterns seemingly 'out of nowhere' were not allowed to be registered. They could, however, be registered with the APHA. The APHA has allowed in other horses since its original founding, but continues to be a stock-type horse with a preference for pinto coloring. APHA does not 'kick out' horses who don't have enough white. As a result, there are many solid colored Paint horses who either did not inherit a pinto pattern gene or do not express it very loudly. Those horses have a slightly different registration status, but are still considered Paint horses.
 
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#16 ·
These are pinto coat patterns -

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PAINT OR PINTO ?

A pinto differs from a "Paint" solely by breeding. Horses with pinto coloring and verifiable pedigrees tracing to Quarter Horses or Thoroughbreds have been named the American Paint Horse, and are recorded in a separate registry, the American Paint Horse Association. While a pinto may be of any breed or combination of breeds, and some registries for pintos may have additional restrictions (some do not register draft horses or mules, for example), a horse that is registered as an American Paint Horse must be the offspring of registered American Quarter Horse, American Paint Horse, or Thoroughbred bloodlines. Therefore, most Paint horses may also be registered as pintos, but not all pintos are qualified to be registered as Paints.
Thus, it is always correct to refer to a horse with a non-leopard spot pattern as a pinto. A spotted horse should only be called a Paint if its ancestry is known or if it displays conformation that is clearly akin to that of an American Quarter Horse. A leopard spotted horse is usually called an Appaloosa, whether it is a registered Appaloosa or not. However, "paint" or "painted" was also an archaic term used to describe assorted spotted horses bred by various Plains Indian tribes and thus is occasionally used in this context when describing all types of spotted Mustangs.

My paint gelding is Duel registered (Registered Paint and Pinto)
 
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