# AQHA vs APHA



## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

I was chatting with someone on trail the other day. By chat I mean she goes against EVERYTHING I say, but that's a whole other topic! Lol. Anyway, she said to me paints are just colorful QHs. Then I had nothing to come back at her with because when I thought about it I really didn't know the true difference, besides markings, that separate the QH from the paint. 

Are there any differences between the two??
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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

The short answer is "no", your friend is right. Although each proponent of their breed will tout the fine differences, I believe that any difference is minor and that color is what separates the two breeds.


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Yeah, I read they started registering QH with to much white in their own registery but I was hoping there would be SOMETHING about them that made them slightly different. 

Darn, I guess we will have to bicker about something else, like how she doesn't like shoes or that I changed out the bit I'm riding my friends horse it or she doesn't like the grain we feed out horse... The list goes on! Lol
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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

actually a paint can also be a thoroughbred, or mix of QH and TB, but then again so can current QH's just in a more roundabout way.


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

I seem to recall an article a few years back in a horse magazine (Equus, maybe?) about the fact that the AQHA was now opening up their registry to allow horses with "too much white" to be registered with them. The Paint registry has allowed solids to be registered for years. So, basically a QH with too much "chrome" can now be double registered AQHA and APHA. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong).


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## WickedNag (Sep 7, 2010)

The AQHA does register with to0 much white but notes on the papers excessive undesirable white


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## peppersgirl (Aug 24, 2012)

OMG i have to laugh at the allowing too much white to be registered...there was an uproar about that lololol. I think its a good thing..i worked at a cutting barn up in nebraska and every once in a while one of their foals would have stockings too high or a blaze too wide.. where do these horses go when their parents are high quality QH's yet they have to much white to be registered? I can understand not wanting something with spots but too wide of a blaze? just dumb in my book..


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

First of all, tobiano does not exist in Quarter Horses and never will. 

Quarter Horses are descended from breeding shorter, stockier Thoroughbreds. Paint Horses are descended from spotted horses brought over by the Spanish, then bred with TBs and, yes, QHs. 

The two breeds (along with Thoroughbreds/JC) are so intermingled that distinguishing the two can be difficult, but yes, they are all 3 different breeds. Many APHA horses are entirely QH due to the AQHA's old rule about excessive white. The APHA eventually did put a stop to it and required that to be registered APHA, there must be at least one APHA parent. 

Since the excessive white rule has been repealed, you can also take your APHA registered horse and get full AQHA papers for it too, which leads to APHA/AQHA horses. 

Lots of confusion..but I hope that helps.


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Ah Hah!! That will spice up my next trail ride! Thanks Poseidon!
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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Note that the APHA Registration committee has proposed a rule change that would 'relax' the one Paint parent rule with regard to cropouts. Note the 4 inches of white in this case instead of the normal 2 inches.

The Registration Committee debated several rule change proposals regarding the registration of cropout horses. The proposal would permit registration of foals with American Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred parentage who have at least four inches of qualifying white in a prescribed zone that’s less lenient than that used for horses with one Paint parent. The Registration Committee passed this rule to Convention for voting.

This will be voted on at their 2012 convention in October.
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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

PaintHorseMares said:


> Note that the APHA Registration committee has proposed a rule change that would 'relax' the one Paint parent rule with regard to cropouts. Note the 4 inches of white in this case instead of the normal 2 inches.
> 
> The Registration Committee debated several rule change proposals regarding the registration of cropout horses. The proposal would permit registration of foals with American Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred parentage who have at least four inches of qualifying white in a prescribed zone that’s less lenient than that used for horses with one Paint parent. The Registration Committee passed this rule to Convention for voting.
> 
> ...


Only to add more confusion between the three registries. That new proposal would be under a different type of registration though, not Regular papers. It would be somewhere between Regular and Solid.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

^^^ yes...as you say, just to add more confusion ;-)
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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Poseidon said:


> First of all, tobiano does not exist in Quarter Horses and never will.
> 
> Quarter Horses are descended from breeding shorter, stockier Thoroughbreds. Paint Horses are descended from spotted horses brought over by the Spanish, then bred with TBs and, yes, QHs.
> 
> ...


I read this and didn't agree so I went off and did some research. I had always believed that QH's were actually created from a variety of breeds and I found this article to back it up:

AQHA: Breed History

Looks like they started off by trading their horses with the Chickasaw Indians. These quick Indian ponies were Spanish Barbs. It go's on to include TBs, mustangs and others... 

pretty cool...


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## dbarabians (May 21, 2011)

The Paint Horse Association originated from horses of stock type that had too much white. If at first they were from different breeds after the last few decades of heavily using QH's to establish the breed any difference would be bred out.
Take the spots off the average paint and place it beside a qh i do not see how anyone could see the difference. Unless it was a TB registered with the JC.
I have never seen a Paint horse without QH's on its papers.
to me it is and always will be a colour breed. Shalom


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## Milo (Aug 30, 2012)

Then how can there be solid paints? Are they just qh?


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Milo said:


> Then how can there be solid paints? Are they just qh?


Because breeding color to color doesn't always result in color. Say you have two tobianos that are heterozygous (only carry one copy of the gene), you will have a 25% chance of a foal not inheriting the tobiano gene from either parent, leaving a solid foal.

There are also white patterns that don't always show themselves obviously. My mare is N/O for frame (Lethal White Overo gene), but is registered Solid and appears solid. Only a keen eye would say that the way her blaze spreads at the top might indicate frame. Splash and sabino can also be very minimal, appearing to be just "normal" markings.

Phenotype does not always reflect genotype.


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## Jessahorselover (Sep 20, 2012)

Poseidon you are right. The true paint also became known as an indian pony because of their height and the short back. Other breeds can have paint markings but they are not Paints they are pintos. My Toby is a registered Paint and I wanted to know the difference so I looked it all up.


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## TheAQHAGirl (Aug 10, 2012)

APHA are Quarter Horses with coloring.

APHA can be registered with AQHA (AQHA registered with APHA ONLY

If the foal has BOTH a Paint Parent and a Quarter Horse parent. The One Paint Parent rule. 

So....

APHA + AQHA= Double Registered APHA/AQHA
AQHA + AQHA= Only can be registered as AQHA
APHA + APHA= Only can be registered as APHA

At one point AQHA didn't accept horses that had too much white. So they were considered APHA and were only registered as APHA (not with AQHA). 

NOW, AQHA does allow Quarter Horses with excessive white in their registry. However on the horse's papers it is stamped 'Undesirable White'. Which (from what I've been told) isn't going to help them in the show ring.


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## TheAQHAGirl (Aug 10, 2012)

Milo said:


> Then how can there be solid paints? Are they just qh?


Solid Paints are allowed. As long as both of their parents are Paints then the foal will be considered a Paint. Just because a Paint is solid doesn't mean its automatically a Quarter Horse. You can see that from my previous post.


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## Jessahorselover (Sep 20, 2012)

My Toby is a registered Paint and to see her in person it is easy to see she is of Spanish Barb decent. 

The horses are generally short coupled and deep bodied, but narrow from the front so that the front legs join the chest in the shape of an "A" rather than the shape of a "U" that is seen in the stock horse breeds. The croup is sloping and the tail is set low. The horses have broad foreheads and narrow faces, and the profiles may be either straight or convex.*Height:* 13.2-hands to 15-hands (54”-60” at the withers) 



*Weight:* 700-900-pounds.
*Gaited:* Some strains show lateral and horizontal gait.
*Colors:* All
*Descendants*

The Spanish horse has also made substantial contributions to the American gaited breeds and to the American Quarter Horse and other stock horse breeds. They are also close relatives to the Paso Fino and Peruvian Paso horses.

*Morgan*
*Missouri Fox-Trotter*
*American Quarter Horse*

*Tennessee Walking Horse*
*Rocky Mountain Horse*
*American Paint Horse*
*American Saddlebred*
*Appaloosa Horse *
*Spotted Saddle Horse*
*Standardbred Horse*

*Racking Horse*
*
[*]Azteca
*


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## Jessahorselover (Sep 20, 2012)

Registered Spanish Barb


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## Jessahorselover (Sep 20, 2012)

A true paint is not a qh with colorful markings.


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## dbarabians (May 21, 2011)

The APHA was started in Gainesville Texas to register stock horses that were not eleigilble for registration in the AQHA.
The paint and qh both came from spainish stock mustangs and TBs.
The origins of both breeds are the same. That is why for years any QH with excessive white was accepted for full registration into the APHA even without one registered APHA parent. TBs with enough white can also be registered. Until the early 80's horses were still inspected and registered if they met the stock horse requirements. Shalom


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