# Paint or pinto?



## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

I’ve never really been clear on which is which. When I was a kid, the two terms were generally used interchangeably. I think I recall that irregular borders on the white patches indicate paint, while smooth, even borders were pinto. 

Mostly I’m just curious on terminology since our new horse is brown and white.


----------



## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

Photo didn’t load.


----------



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Paint and pinto...one is the color the other the breed registry is what I was taught.


From Wikipedia...
The American *Paint Horse* is a breed of *horse* that combines both the conformational characteristics of a western stock *horse* with a pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors. 
_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Paint_Horse_

The link below is from APHA registry about colors and patterns of coat.
_http://press.apha.com/pdfs/guidebooks/ColorGenGuide.pdf_

The appearance of the coat pattern though of smooth sides is _tobiano_ and jagged sides is _overo _and _tovero_ are a combination of those two... very basic but pretty much works for what you see standing in front of you
These are the ones I know but there are others when you read up on the subject.
The list of "specialties" gets pretty extensive..

I know my paint now owned has a description of 4 names about his color, markings placed where and such...
All I know is he is our guy and loved in this house...
We've had other paints...at one time 4 at once and all were uniquely different in their looks...but everyone of them "a horse"... :smile:
:runninghorse2:...


----------



## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

Thanks! That helped a lot. Not sure it will make much difference to local folks. But if I’m talking to horse folks, I’d like to be accurate in what I say.


----------



## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

If you are really curious you can send in a hair sample and test for the different patterns. As they are caused by different genes or gene interactions you would know what patterns he has.

The apha pattern page hlg linked is really helpful too for sorting things out.


----------



## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

From the APHA (American Paint Horse of America) Rule Book:

RG-015. Bloodline Requirement
A. As of January 1, 1980, all horses for which applications of registration are
submitted must have both sire and dam registered in the APHA, APQHA,
APSHA, the American Quarter Horse Association, the Jockey Club or any
international Thoroughbred Registry recognized by the Jockey Club.
B. AQHA Appendix and AQHA numbered stallions and mares shall have the
same status for registration of Paint foals. 

That's the bloodline requirements for registration, there are other rules about how much color and where the color needs to be in order to qualify, but the blood requirement is the big difference between Paint & Pinto.

Here's a nutshell version of Pinto registration requirements: 

A PtHA® Color Registry Horse must have four square inches of cumulative white in the qualifying zone and underlying pink skin. May be registered with an approved outcross breed or be of undocumented parentage. The color requirement is modified with the size of the equine requiring only three square inches for ponies and two square inches for miniatures. The PtHA® Color Registry does not accept any horses with Appaloosa characteristics, Mules or Donkeys. For example, but not limited to: Pinto, Paint, Quarter Horse, Arabian, Saddlebred, Thoroughbred, Warmblood, Draft, etc. For full outcross list, see rulebook.


----------



## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Paint is a breed, pinto is a catch-all term for any horse that has a broken coloured pattern (except for spots). Your horse is a tobiano pinto.


----------



## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

Cordillera Cowboy said:


> I’ve never really been clear on which is which. When I was a kid, *the two terms were generally used interchangeably*. I think I recall that irregular borders on the white patches indicate paint, while smooth, even borders were pinto.
> 
> Mostly I’m just curious on terminology since our new horse is brown and white.


Still is by a lot of people in SE Oklahoma. Any 'painted' horse is a paint. A Paint (breed) and paint color are usually only differentiated by context or by saying a registered Paint is an APHA horse.

Where does the confusion come from? Read the last part below.

From Wikipedia:


*"Paint" vs. "pinto"*

Main article: American Paint Horse
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 have at least one parent recorded with the APHA and both parents must be only 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, while 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 word used by 19th century writers for assorted spotted horses bred by various Plains Indian tribes and thus is occasionally used in this context when describing all types of spotted Mustangs. 
*


----------



## txgirl (Jul 9, 2010)

Paints come in solid colors, too!


----------



## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

Thanks for all the replies folks. They really helped sort it out for me. I don’t need to get real deep in it. Not going to be breeding or showing. 

Most anything beyond “brown and white horse “ will go over the heads of most of the folks hereabouts. But there are some serious horse folks in the country.


----------



## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

A paint horse is a horse with pinto markings that also qualify to be or are registered with the APHA. Any other horses with pinto markings are a pinto as to referring to it's markings. Could be another breed or mix of breeds.

I remember when I was a kid someone explaining the difference to me referring to the edges of the markings but have since found this is not true.


----------



## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

The history of Paint as a registry is recent, and reflects the modern interest in breeding Quarter Horses (and TB's) for flashy color. There have always been pinto colored QH's but they are excluded from the AQHA if they occur. There is also a Pinto registry, just to make things more confusing, which is purely a color registry with no parentage requirements, hence it is quite a bit less prestigious than the Paint registry.


----------



## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Avna said:


> The history of Paint as a registry is recent, and reflects the modern interest in breeding Quarter Horses (and TB's) for flashy color. There have always been pinto colored QH's but they are excluded from the AQHA if they occur.


This is no longer true. They will register the colorful ones now (discovered just how much money they were giving away by not) but will put the statement “This horse has white markings designated under AQHA rules as an undesirable trait and uncharacteristic of the breed.”. The rule was rescinded in 2004. The statement is also a bald faced untruth, there are lines that are KNOWN to throw lots of white and have been known to do so for a very long time. Those lines are some of the oldest lines in the breed and have been used extensively since its inception. The only difference now is that we understand color genetics better.

This filly is registered both AQHA and APHA. https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/classic+play+style


----------



## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

txgirl said:


> Paints come in solid colors, too!


The horse in my avatar is a registered Paint. Solid. Only white is on her face and a couple of hind socks. She looks just like a solidly built QH,which she mostly is. She has produced color though.


----------



## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

It's a wacky world, registries ....


----------



## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Avna said:


> It's a wacky world, registries ....


It's all about the money. If my filly wasn't reg'd AQHA, I certainly wouldn't have bothered. To transfer ownership cost $20 so I did it. When they decided to take in the highly colored ones, the old school bunch really complained about it, hence the statement on the papers. But I can go way back on those papers and tell you who throws white and how often, just by looking at those names. And they go back to before the registry was in existence, so "uncharacteristic of the breed" my giddy aunt. More some old folks don't like the white and cut up rough about it.


----------

