American Paint Horse

American Paint Horses is a unique breed that is known for their beautiful coloring and gentle demeanor.

If you’re interested in learning more about this breed, keep reading.

American Paint Horse Breed Info

Here are some of the key things you need to know about the American Paint horse:

American Paint Horse Facts & Information (Breed Profile)

The Paint Horse is a very popular breed, with about 100,000 members in around 40 different countries.

The American Paint Horse originated in North America when Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes brought 17 horses with different coat patterns to the New World in 1519.

Many experts think that Hernando Cortes brought to North America a specific sorrel-and-white stallion from which the contemporary Paint breed may have originated.

A good number of these horses were eventually let free to run wild over the continent, where they caught the attention of Native Americans.

They adopted and bred the horses, admiring their coat patterns, energy, and pleasant dispositions.

The introduction of Thoroughbreds to the gene pool by British colonists led to the development of a hardy working horse with a high level of intelligence and stability on the trail.

While some of these horses retained their markings, others were solid in color.

Paint Horses and Quarter Horses shared a gene pool until 1940, when the American Quarter Horse Association was established, at which time horses with too much white were excluded from the association’s registry.

This meant that horses with multicolored markings could no longer be registered.

However, the popularity of the multicolored horses continued to grow, which ultimately led to the formation of the American Paint Quarter Horse Association as well as the American Stock Horse Association.

1965 saw the two organizations come together to establish what is now known as the American Paint Horse Association, which is responsible for maintaining the breed’s registry.

The word “pinto” or “pintado” was often used in Spanish to describe a horse that was multicolored or dappled.

People often mix up the words “paint” and “pinto.”

Pintos may be of any breed or mix of breeds, but American Paint Horses must be the offspring of registered American Quarter Horse, American Paint Horse, or Thoroughbred parentage.

Therefore, Paint horses may be registered as pintos, but not all pintos can be registered as Paints.

If you’re interested in learning more about this fascinating breed, keep reading!

Alternative Names

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Temperament/Personality

They are gentle, friendly, relaxed, and very sociable horses with a natural intelligence that makes it easy and rewarding to train them.

Physical Characteristics

Muscular, strong, well-balanced body with powerful hindquarters; colorful coat patterns.

The chest is wide, and they have a great sense of balance.

Colors

The trademark of the American Paint Horse is his white and dark coat in broad pinto patterns.

The registry (APHA) recognizes the American Paint Horse as a horse breed with specific qualities, not only as a color breed, and therefore permits certain non-spotted horses to be listed as “Solid Paint Bred.”

The following are the three primary color patterns that are seen in Paint Horses:

Tobiano: These horses often have a coloration on either one or both of their sides, and they have circular white patches around their withers and tail.

Markings, such as stars, blazes, or stripes, may be seen on the head.

The mane and tail hair may be in two different colors.

Overo: This pattern is characterized by the presence of sporadic white patches all over the body of the horse, with the exception of the back, which is solid in color.

The legs are colored, however white stockings appear.

The majority of the face is white.

Tovero: For the most part, Tovero horses are white, with a different color on the top of the head, chest, and flanks.

Tovero horses may have blue eyes.

White hairs, known as roan, may be seen in any coat pattern.

Paints may also have any of the general face and leg markings seen in horses.

Spots may be any form or size, with the exception of leopard complex patterning, which is undesirable.

Height (size)

14.0 – 16.0 hands high

Stallions

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Mares

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Weight

950 – 1,200 lb (430 – 550 kg)

Blood Type

Warm

Common Uses

It is a versatile breed that excels in various Western riding disciplines, and also as working horses, or general riding horses.

Health

The Paint horse is a low-maintenance breed that thrives in a wide variety of environments and climates.

However, Lethal White Syndrome is one of the genetic diseases that may affect them.

For the most part, affected horses are born with a white coat and bright blue eyes.

Because their intestines haven’t completely formed, the foals display indications of colic quite fast.

Considering that there is no cure for the illness and the foals typically die within a few days, euthanasia is recommended.

In addition, it is possible that certain Paints are predisposed to Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis, a hereditary condition that manifests itself as twitching and weakening in the muscles.

Some are also at risk of hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia, a condition that weakens tissue.

Popular Traits

The multi-colored coat patterns.

Feeding/Diet

It is important that you do not overfeed your Paint horse since this breed is predisposed to obesity and the health issues that come along with it, most notably laminitis.

Country of Origin

United States of America

Ancestors

Spanish Colonial horses, Thoroughbred